The American Bank Center is an entertainment complex located in

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi (; Ecclesiastical Latin: "'' Body of Christ"'') is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patrici ...

. The complex consists of an

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...

convention center A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...

and

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

. The facility hosts numerous conventions, trade shows, exhibitions, live performances and sporting events. It is home to the

Corpus Christi IceRays The Corpus Christi IceRays are a Tier II junior ice hockey team playing in the North American Hockey League (NAHL). The IceRays are based in Corpus Christi, Texas, and play in the North American Hockey League's South Division. The "IceRays" mo ...

Tier II Jr. A

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team and the Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Islanders men's and women's

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

teams. It is owned by the city of Corpus Christi and managed by

ASM Global The Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), also known as AEG Worldwide, is an American global sporting and music entertainment presenter and a subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation. It is the world's largest owner of sports teams and sports event ...

. In 2007, the arena was the site for a controversial event in the

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

. The same day as the scheduled ''

Monday Night Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network in the United States. The show fe ...

'' taping, professional wrestler

Chris Benoit Christopher Michael Benoit (; May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He worked for various pro-wrestling promotions during his 22-year career including most notably the WWE, World Wrestlin ...

along with his wife and son were found dead, with the promotion running a tribute show while being unaware of the horrific circumstances surrounding the deaths until the show almost ended. EliteXC: Renegade was held at the arena in 2007 and WEC 39 in 2009. On July 19, 2011, Barney, Baby Bop, BJ, and Riff, performed here during ''Barney Live in Concert - Birthday Bash!'' which was supposed to be filmed here and released on DVD, but it was never made. On May 31, 2015, WWE hosted that year's edition of their

Elimination Chamber The Elimination Chamber is a professional wrestling elimination-based match held in the WWE. The match was founded by Chris Jericho , created and introduced by Eric Bischoff in November 2002. It features a large chain-linked circular steel st ...

pay-per-view event. In 2019, the arena hosted the December 18 episode of ''

AEW Dynamite AEW or aew may refer to: * Airborne early warning, airborne radar system for detecting aircraft * Aerosvit Airlines, an airline based in Kyiv, Ukraine (ICAO airline designator: AEW) * AEW Capital Management, a property investment management company ...

''.

Facilities

American Bank Center Arena

*The American Bank Center Arena is an

indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

located adjacent to the American Bank Center Convention Center. The construction of the arena was a joint effort by Thompson Ventulett Stainback & Associates,

Arquitectonica Arquitectonica is an international architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, and urban planning design firm headquartered in Miami, Florida’s Coconut Grove neighborhood. The firm also has offices in ten other cities throughout ...

and Gignac & Associates. The venue broke ground on November 3, 2002, and was completed in October 2004. Unique to the area is its split-tiered seating system design. This allows the large venue to have the illusion of a theatre setting. The maximum capacity of the arena is 10,000 for sporting events and concerts. The cost of the project was over $49 million.

Selena Auditorium

*The Selena Auditorium opened in 1979, then known as the Bayfront Plaza Auditorium. The venue was the filming location of the '' Johnny Canales Show''. In 1996, the venue was renamed in commemoration of notable resident, Tejano musician

Selena Quintanilla-Pérez Selena Quintanilla Pérez (; April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995), known Mononymous person, mononymously as Selena, was an American Tejano music, Tejano singer. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music#S, Queen of Tejano music", her con ...

, whose memorial and public viewing were held at the venue the previous year. It was renovated in 2004 to connect the property to the other buildings in the complex. The maximum capacity is 2,500. The venue is noted for its acoustics and for being "one of the most attended venues for entertainment in the

Texas Coastal Bend The Texas Coastal Bend, or just the Coastal Bend, is a geographical region in the US state of Texas. The name refers to the area being a curve along the Texas Gulf Coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The largest city of the Coastal Bend is Corpus Chris ...

area".

American Bank Center Convention Center

*First opened in 1980 as the Bayfront Plaza Convention Center, it underwent renovation and was renamed American Bank Center Convention Center in November 2004. The convention center consists of five exhibits halls, two ballrooms and 21 meeting rooms. The main ballroom is called the Henry Garrett Ballroom. The South Texas Oilfield Expo was one of the largest patrons of the convention center in 2012.

References

American Bank CenterDate when arena openedAmerican Bank Center requires bigger deposit than originally thought
{{Authority control 1967 establishments in Texas Indoor ice hockey venues in the United States Basketball venues in Texas Indoor arenas in Texas Mixed martial arts venues in Texas Sports venues completed in 1967 Sports venues in Corpus Christi, Texas Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Islanders men's basketball

Facilities

American Bank Center Arena

Selena Auditorium

American Bank Center Convention Center

See also

References