Kia Center
Amway Center (former name) in 2010
Kia Center is located in Florida
Kia Center
Kia Center
Location in Florida
Kia Center is located in the United States
Kia Center
Kia Center
Location in the United States
Former namesOrlando Events Center (planning/construction)
Amway Center (2010–2023)
Address400 West Church Street
LocationOrlando, Florida, United States
Coordinates28°32′21″N 81°23′1″W / 28.53917°N 81.38361°W / 28.53917; -81.38361
Public transitLocal Transit SunRail Church Street Station
Local Transit Lynx 20, 36, 40
Local Transit Lynx Grapefruit Line
OwnerCity of Orlando
OperatorOrlando Venues
Capacity18,846 (NBA)
17,030 (center stage concert)
16,486 (end stage concert)
20,000 (NCAA basketball)
17,192 (arena football)
17,353 (ice hockey)
Construction
Broke groundJuly 25, 2008
OpenedOctober 1, 2010
Construction costUS$480 million
(US$652 million in 2022 dollars[1])
ArchitectPopulous (formerly HOK Sport)[2]
Chand Tarneja Windows
C.T. Hsu + Associates
Baker Barrios Architects, Inc.
Project managerTurner Construction[3]
Structural engineerWalter P. Moore
Services engineerSmith Seckman Reid, Inc.
General contractorHunt Construction
Rey Group
R.L. Burns
HZ Construction
Albu & Associates[3]
Tenants
Orlando Magic (NBA) (2010–present)
Orlando Predators (AFL) (2011–2013, 2015–2016)
Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL) (2012–present)
Orlando Predators (NAL/AFL) (2019–present)

Kia Center is an indoor arena located in Downtown Orlando, Florida. The arena is home to the Orlando Magic of the NBA, the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL,[4] and the Orlando Predators of the National Arena League.

Kia Center hosted the 2012 NBA All-Star Game and the 2015 ECHL All-Star Game. It also hosted some games of the round of 64 and round of 32 of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2014 and 2017.[5] On January 14, 2013, the Arena Football League's Board of Directors voted to award ArenaBowl XXVI to Orlando in the summer of 2013.[6]

The arena has also hosted several local graduations, as well as professional wrestling events by the professional wrestling promotion WWE, notably the 2016 Royal Rumble pay-per-view. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the promotion took a long-term residency at the Kia Center from August 21 to December 7, 2020. During this residency, WWE aired its shows from a behind closed doors set called the WWE ThunderDome. The promotion relocated to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida due to the start of the 2020–21 ECHL and NBA seasons.

History

Prior to Downtown Master Plan 3, the Orlando Magic's ownership, led by billionaire Amway founder Richard DeVos and son-in-law Bob Vander Weide, had been pressing the City of Orlando for a new arena for nearly ten years. Amway Arena was built in 1989, prior to the recent era of technologically advanced entertainment arenas. With the rush to build new venues in the NBA (and sports in general), it quickly became one of the oldest arenas in the league.

On September 29, 2006, after years of on-and-off negotiations, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Orange County Mayor Richard Crotty, and the Orlando Magic announced an agreement on a new arena in downtown Orlando, located at the southwest corner of Church Street and Hughey Avenue. The arena itself cost around $380 million, with an additional $100 million for land and infrastructure, for a total cost of $480 million (as of March 8, 2011 the arena was expected to be within $10 million of the estimated cost[7]). It is part of a $1.05-billion plan to redo the Orlando Centroplex with a new arena, a new $375-million performing arts center, and a $175-million expansion of the Citrus Bowl. When it was announced in the media on September 29, it was referred to as the "Triple Crown for Downtown".

As part of Amway's naming rights to the old Amway Arena, the company received right of first refusal for naming rights to the new venue,[8] and exercised those rights, announcing a $40-million naming deal to name the venue the Amway Center on August 3, 2009.[9]

On December 20, 2023, Amway Center was renamed the Kia Center in partnership with Kia America. [10]

Financing

Kia Center in its basketball-venue arrangement after hosting its first NBA regular season game

The details of the agreement were finalized on December 22, 2006. In the agreement, the City of Orlando will take ownership of the new arena, while the Magic will control the planning and construction of the facility so long as contracting procedures are done in the same public manner as governments advertise contracts. In addition, the city will be paid a part of naming rights and corporate suite sales, a share estimated to be worth $1.75 million the first year of the arena's opening. The Magic will receive all proceeds from ticket sales for Magic games, while the city will receive all proceeds from ticket sales to all other events.[11] The Orlando Magic will contribute at least $50 million in cash up-front, pick up any cost overruns, and pay rent of $1 million per year for 30 years. The City of Orlando will pay for the land and infrastructure. The remaining money will come from bonds which will be paid off by part of the Orange County Tourist Development Tax, collected as a surcharge on hotel stays, which was raised to 6% in 2006. The Magic will guarantee $100 million of these bonds.

The Orlando City Council approved several operating agreements connected with the arena plans on May 22, 2007.[12] The City Council approved the plan officially, 6–1, on July 23.[13] The Venue plan received final approval by the Orange County Board of County Commissioners, 5–2, in late evening of July 26 after a long day of public hearings.[14] Amendments were made by the County Commission which were approved on August 6 by the City Council, 6–1, sealing the deal once and for all. On December 1, 2007, the City and the Magic came to an agreement on nearly $8.5 million in compensation to three owners of the land where the arena is planned to be built. An eminent domain hearing confirmed the agreement and finalized the sale.[15]

Design

Amway Center main entrance at the opening game of 2010–11 regular season Orlando Magic

Populous (formerly HOK Sport) was named the Architect of Record on August 3, 2007, with Smith Seckman Reid and Walter P Moore Engineers and Consultants as planning partners.[16]

California-based art curator Sports and the Arts assembled the Amway Center Art Collection. The collection includes more than 340 works of art, including about 200 museum-quality photographs. Fourteen of the 21 artists housed in the collection represent Central Florida. The Amway Center Art Collection includes over 140 pieces of fine art paintings and mixed media originals, over 200 photographs, and graphic wall treatments highlighting both the Orlando Magic and the spirit of Orlando and Central Florida.

Responsive to a challenging 876,000 SF program, the design intention of the Amway Events Center was to mediate its disparate context of elevated highways, central business district and low-rise housing. The simple, planar form of precast, aluminum and glass presents a timeless civic quality. The solidity of the precast and aluminum skin is punctured in carefully considered locations with expansive areas of glass including a crystalline entry lobby facing historic Church Street, blurring the boundary of inside and outside.

The elevated I-4 freeway bordering the east side of the site posed a distinct challenge, threatening to disconnect the arena both physically and psychologically from the downtown core. In response, the corner of the arena is anchored by a diaphanous feature tower bathed in color changing LED lighting that reveals the color and pageantry of sporting and entertainment activities within while marking the facility within the flat topography of downtown Orlando. This tower is both architectural and occupied – housing the Orlando Magic Team Store, hospitality space, Big Storm Brewing Company – an onsite brewery connected to the atrium, and the "Sky Lounge" or " One 80" rooftop Sky Bar. The latter two are exterior spaces that take full advantage of the warm Orlando climate, commanding views to the plaza below and the greater community beyond. Further city connection is achieved via a 40’ × 60’ LED video feature that addresses downtown from an elevated façade position above the highway.

Kia Center is one of the most technologically advanced venues in the world. Inside the building, a unique centerhung installation, manufactured by Daktronics of Brookings, South Dakota, is the tallest in any NBA venue.[17] It maximizes creative programming options by using high resolution, 6mm-pixel technology on each of the 18 displays, including two digital ring displays and four tapered corners. Additional displays include approximately 2,100 feet (640 m) of digital ribbon boards, the largest of which is a 360-degree 1,100 feet (340 m) display surrounding the entire seating bowl. These displays have the ability to display exciting motion graphics and real time content, such as in-game statistics, out-of-town scores, and closed captioning information.[18] Outside the building, a large display utilizes more than 5,000 Daktronics ProPixel LED sticks, each a meter long, which make up a 46 feet (14 m) by 53 feet (16 m) video display. This display will reach millions of motorists traveling by the Kia Center on Interstate 4.[18]

Comparison to Amway Arena

Kia Center has an assortment of mid-level luxury seats and club seating, located below the upper bowl.[19] This contrasts Amway Arena's design as its luxury boxes are above all seats and suspended from the ceiling. The arena's design was unveiled at Amway Arena on December 10, 2007, with an official press release the next day.[20] The floor of Kia Center is designed with arena football in mind, as it features more retractable sections that will permit squared end zone corners, a feature previously not possible for Orlando Predators games.

Arena Comparison[21][20]
Characteristic Kia Center Amway Arena
Capacity
Ice hockey
Arena football
NBA
NCAA basketball
End stage concert
Center stage concert
17,353
17,192
18,846
20,000
16,486
17,030
15,948
15,924
17,461
17,283
12,592
18,039
Square footage 875,000[22] 367,000
Suites[23] 32 Founders Suites
28 Presidents Suites
68 Loge Boxes
2 Legends Suites(161 seats in each suite)
14 MVP Tables
4 Silver Suites
6 IOA Hardwood Suites
2 All-Star Decks
1 Southwest Flight Deck
1 Kia Deck
3 Club Hospitality Rooms		 26 Skyboxes (suspended from ceiling)
Club seats 1,428 0
Concourses 5 concourses, average 35' width 1 concourse, average 20' width
Public restrooms 18 men's, 19 women's 4 men's, 4 women's
Retail stores 3 0 (4 fixed stands)
Concession points of sale 1:150 spectators 1:215 spectators

Construction of Kia Center

Complete Construction Project[24]

Grand opening

Magic owner Rich DeVos speaking to fans before the first Magic home game in the new arena. (Notice the parquet flooring; only the Boston Celtics currently utilize the same kind of flooring.)
Amway Center's first NBA regular season game tip-off with the Magic hosting the Wizards

The official ribbon cutting ceremony and dedication took place on September 29, 2010, at 10:01 AM. The general public was invited to enter the building where Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer gave his annual State of Downtown address. The first ticketed event was a Vicente Fernández concert on October 8. The Orlando Magic hosted their first preseason game at Kia Center on October 10 against the New Orleans Hornets when they won by a historic margin of 54 points, while the 2010–11 regular season home opener took place on October 28 against the Washington Wizards.

Concerts and notable events

Florida musicians who have performed at the Kia Center include Shinedown in 2010, NKOTBSB (with Orlando's Backstreet Boys) in '11, Rick Ross in '11, Jimmy Buffett in '12, the late Tom Petty in '12, Pitbull in '12 at the NBA All-Star Game, Enrique Iglesias in '17, Florida Georgia Line in '17, and Ariana Grande in '15, '17, and '19, Backstreet Boys again in '19, and Luis Fonsi in '21.

Professional wrestling

Amway Center during the April 4, 2017 broadcast of WWE 205 Live.

On January 24, 2016, WWE hosted its pay-per-view event Royal Rumble at the Kia Center.[26]

From April 1 to 4, 2017, Kia Center hosted multiple WWE shows as part of the festivities for WrestleMania 33 at Camping World Stadium, including NXT TakeOver: Orlando on the Saturday before the event, and the post-WrestleMania editions of Raw and SmackDown.[27][28]

From August 21 to December 7, 2020, WWE produced Raw, SmackDown, and their associated pay-per-views at the arena as part of a bio-secure bubble called the WWE ThunderDome. The programs and events had been broadcast from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando since mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States; as with the Performance Center broadcasts, these programs were produced behind closed doors with no in-person spectators, but featured a larger-scale in-arena production in comparison to the Performance Center (promoted as being at a similar caliber to WWE pay-per-views), a virtual audience (similar to the nearby NBA bubble), and other lighting and pyrotechnic effects.[29][30] Under the arrangement, five pay-per-views were hosted in the arena, including SummerSlam, Payback, Clash of Champions, Hell in a Cell, and Survivor Series. WWE relocated the ThunderDome to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg on December 11 due to the start of the 2020–21 ECHL and NBA seasons.[31] WWE returned to Kia Center for the first time since the ThunderDome for the August 9, 2021 Raw.[32]

Mixed martial arts

It hosted UFC on Fox: Werdum vs. Browne on April 19, 2014,[33] UFC on Fox: dos Anjos vs. Cowboy 2 on December 19, 2015,[34] UFC on Fox: Emmett vs. Stephens on February 24, 2018[35] and UFC on ESPN: Thompson vs. Holland on December 3, 2022.[36]

References

  1. ↑ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  2. ↑ Amway Center Archived 2009-07-22 at the Wayback Machine architect: Populous
  3. 1 2 Muret, Don (November 8, 2010). "Magic's Kingdom". SportsBusiness Journal. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
  4. ↑ "ECHL Approves Orlando for Hockey Franchise". Orlando Sentinel. November 1, 2011. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
  5. ↑ "BHSN: NCAA basketball tournament coming to Amway Center in 2014". Brighthouse Sports Network. November 12, 2012. Archived from the original on November 15, 2012. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Amway Center to host Arena Bowl XXVI this summer". CFN13. Archived from the original on 15 February 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  7. ↑ Damron, David; Schlueb, Mark (March 8, 2011). "Amway Center Construction Ends Up Over Budget". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on September 9, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Topic Galleries – OrlandoSentinel.com". Archived from the original on 2007-01-14. Retrieved 2006-12-13.
  9. ↑ Robbins, Josh (August 3, 2009). "So What's in a Name? $40 Million When It Comes to New Amway Center". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  10. ↑ "NBA.com: Orlando's Premier Downtown Sports and Entertainment Destination to be Renamed Kia Center". NBA.com. NBA. December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  11. ↑ Damron, David (December 23, 2006). "Orlando, Magic Reach 'Fair' Deal on Arena Details". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
  12. ↑ Damron, David (May 22, 2007). "Orlando Council OKs $1.1B Spending Plan". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved May 22, 2007.
  13. ↑ Schlueb, Mark (July 24, 2007). "Orlando OKs Venues; Big Hurdle Awaits". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
  14. ↑ Topic Galleries. Orlando Sentinel
  15. ↑ Schlueb, Mark (December 1, 2007). "Land for Venues in Reach". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved December 1, 2007.
  16. ↑ HOK. "A Global Design, Architecture, Engineering and Planning Firm". hoksport.com. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  17. ↑ "Daktronics Helps Orlando Magic Open Amway Center | SignWeb". signweb.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-03. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  18. 1 2 "Orlando Magic News Headlines". Orlando Magic. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  19. ↑ "Magic's Vander Weide officially takes over reins from owner Rich DeVos". tribunedigital-orlandosentinel. Archived from the original on 2007-11-17. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  20. 1 2 "Orlando Events Center/Amway Arena Comparison". NBA. Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  21. ↑ Amway Center 2012 Production Guide, page 24
  22. ↑ "GEICO Joins Magic And Amway Center as Champions of the Community Partner | THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE ORLANDO MAGIC". nba.com. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  23. ↑ Center, Amway. "Premium Seating | Amway Center". amwaycenter.com. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  24. ↑ "Construction Camera Time-Lapse Documentation – EarthCam.net". earthcam.net. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  25. ↑ Abbot, Jim. "Concert review: Billy Joel at Amway Center". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
  26. ↑ "2016 WWE ROYAL RUMBLE & FAST LANE PPVS WILL BE IN... | PWInsider.com". pwinsider.com. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
  27. ↑ Moore, John (April 5, 2017). "4/5 Moore's WWE NXT TV Review: Drew McIntyre and Bobby Roode post NXT Takeover: Orlando promos, Oney Lorcan vs. El Vagabundo, Aliyah vs. Peyton Royce, Heavy Machinery vs. The Bollywood Boys". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  28. ↑ Reddick, Jay. "The best of WrestleMania weekend: Raw, Smackdown and more". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  29. ↑ Barrasso, Justin. "WWE Turning Orlando's Amway Center into 'WWE ThunderDome'". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  30. ↑ Otterson, Joe (2020-08-17). "WWE to Establish 'ThunderDome' Residency in Orlando's Amway Center". Variety. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  31. ↑ Otterson, Joe (2020-11-19). "WWE to Move ThunderDome to Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay". Variety. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
  32. ↑ "WWE Monday Night Raw is coming to the Amway Center this summer". FOX 35 Orlando. 2021-05-28. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
  33. ↑ "Werdum, Browne Meet For UFC Heavyweight Title Shot". CBS News DFW. 2014-08-18. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  34. ↑ Gerbasi, Thomas (2015-08-13). "Dos Anjos vs. Cerrone 2 headlines on Dec. 19". ufc.com. Retrieved 2015-08-13.
  35. ↑ Tom, Dan (2018-02-20). "UFC on FOX 28 main-event breakdown: Is Josh Emmett a live 'dog against Jeremy Stephens?". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  36. ↑ Mahjouri, Shakiel (2022-12-03). "UFC Fight Night predictions -- Stephen Thompson vs. Kevin Holland: Fight card, start time, odds, live stream". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
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