Rogers Place is a multi-use
indoor arena in
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, Canada. Construction started in March 2014, and the building officially opened on September 8, 2016. The arena has a seating capacity of 18,500 as a hockey venue and 20,734 as a concert venue.
It replaced
Northlands Coliseum
Northlands Coliseum is a now-unused indoor arena located in Edmonton, Alberta, situated on the north side of Northlands. It was used for sports events and concerts, and was home to the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association (WHA) and ...
(opened 1974) as the home of the
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
's
Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...
and the
WHL's
Edmonton Oil Kings
The Edmonton Oil Kings are a major junior ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, that play in the Western Hockey League. As of July 2008, they are owned by Daryl Katz's Oilers Entertainment Group, which also owns the Edmonton Oilers ...
. The arena is located at the block between 101 and 104 Streets and 104 and 105 Avenues. Public transit access to the arena is provided by the
Edmonton Light Rail Transit
Edmonton Light Rail Transit, commonly referred to as the LRT, is a light rail system in Edmonton, Alberta. Part of the Edmonton Transit Service (ETS), the system has 18 stations on two lines and of track. As of 2018, it is number seven on the ...
system (
MacEwan station
MacEwan station is an Edmonton Light Rail Transit station on the Metro Line in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is located across from MacEwan University on 105 Avenue between 103 and 104 Street. The station opened on September 6, 2015.
History
Con ...
on the
Metro Line
The Metro Line is a light rail transit line on the Edmonton LRT system. The line operates from northwest Edmonton to south Edmonton, and was scheduled to have begun operation by spring 2014 but instead opened on September 6, 2015, at a reduced ...
) and
Edmonton Transit Service
The Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) (previously known as Edmonton Transit System) is the public transit service owned and operated by the City of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada. It operates Edmonton's bus and light rail systems. In , the system had ...
bus.
Development
![Oilers vs](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Oilers_vs._Flames_Pre-Season_%2830113726662%29.jpg)
The arena building was initially estimated to cost $450 million. The City of Edmonton was to pay $125 million, the
Katz Group of Companies
The Katz Group of Companies is a Canadian privately-owned enterprise, with Samantha operations. In sports and entertainment and real estate development. Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG), a subsidiary of the Katz Group, owns the National Hockey Le ...
was to contribute $100 million, and $125 million was to be paid from a user-paid facility fee. The remaining money was expected to come from the province or federal agencies. Estimated cost then increased substantially during continued discussions to a current estimated price of $480 million for the arena, and $604.5 million for the entire project.
On October 26, 2011, the
Edmonton City Council approved a funding framework for the arena by a vote of 10–3. A year later, however, with costs escalating and the
Katz Group
The Katz Group of Companies is a Canadian privately-owned enterprise, with Samantha operations. In sports and entertainment and real estate development. Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG), a subsidiary of the Katz Group, owns the National Hockey Lea ...
making increasing demands, the city passed a motion to end negotiations with the
Katz Group
The Katz Group of Companies is a Canadian privately-owned enterprise, with Samantha operations. In sports and entertainment and real estate development. Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG), a subsidiary of the Katz Group, owns the National Hockey Lea ...
and to seek out a new deal or find other options but would still be open to communicating with
Daryl Katz
Daryl Allan Katz (born May 31, 1961) is a Canadian billionaire businessman and philanthropist. Katz is founder and chairman of the Katz Group of Companies, one of Canada's largest privately-owned enterprises, with pharmacy, sports & entertainmen ...
for future talks.
On May 15, 2013, the Edmonton City Council passed a deal that saw the City of Edmonton, and Oilers owner Daryl Katz each put in more money to offset the $55 million shortfall needed to build the new
downtown arena. Katz chipped in an additional $15 million through the Edmonton Arena Corporation and another $15 million came from the Community Revitalization Levy (CRL).
On December 3, 2013,
Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications Inc. is a Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet, with significant additional telecommunications and mass media ass ...
announced a 10-year
naming rights
Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...
deal for the new arena, henceforth known as Rogers Place. Rogers Place is one of three Rogers-branded sporting facilities in Canada (and one of two in the NHL), alongside
Rogers Centre in Toronto and
Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
![Rogers Place Entrance](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Rogers_Place_Entrance.jpg)
The arena was funded by the following sources:
*$279 million from the Community Revitalization Levy (CRL) and other incremental revenues (increased parking revenue, reallocation of existing subsidy paid to Northlands and new taxes from business in the arena)
*$125 million from ticket surcharge on all events in the new arena
*$137.81 million from lease revenue for the Arena
*$23.68 million in cash from Edmonton Arena Corporation
*$25 million from other government sources
A new agreement was reached on January 23, 2013 between the two parties on moving forward with the arena.
On February 11, 2014, it was announced that the project was completely funded, and would go ahead.
Construction of the new arena broke ground in March 2014.
The arena triggered a "hospitality explosion" downtown before ground was even broken, as businesses competed for properties around the arena site. In early 2014, there were far fewer options to lease or purchase as competition mounted, including Brad J. Lamb, who announced a $225 million pair of new condo towers.
By December, it was estimated that $2.5 billion in downtown development had been directly connected to Rogers Place. On July 13, 2015, it was announced that the arena district would be officially branded as Ice District
Ice District is a $2.5 billion mixed-use sports and entertainment district being developed on of land in Downtown Edmonton and a portion of the neighbourhood of Central McDougall. Its main attraction is Rogers Place, the home arena of the Edmonto ...
, spanning from 103rd Avenue to 106th Avenue. Ice District has ranked as the fastest growing arena district in the history of similar projects.
Homeless population displacement
The development of the arena prompted concerns about the displacement of the homeless population in the downtown area. Edmonton officials consulted cities that had similar construction projects that displaced homeless populations like Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
and Columbus, Ohio in an attempt to ratify these concerns with the local population. City officials were criticized for inaccurate homelessness count in Edmonton resulting in a miscalculated attempt to prevent the displacement of the homeless population. Accounts of police harassment and the busy environment has led the homeless population from staying away from downtown despite the number of services available to them in the area.
History
Rogers Place officially opened on September 8, 2016.
The first hockey game played in the arena featured the Edmonton Oil Kings taking on the Red Deer Rebels
The Red Deer Rebels are a Western Hockey League junior ice hockey team based in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. The Rebels play at the Peavey Mart Centrium.
History
A "Name the Team" contest ran in Red Deer from October 7 to 17, 1991. The top t ...
in a WHL match-up on September 24, 2016. Trey Fix-Wolansky
Trey Kieren Fix-Wolansky (born May 26, 1999) is a Canadian professional ice hockey Forward (ice hockey), forward currently playing for the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Na ...
scored the first goal in the arena at the 0:22 mark of the second period as the Oil Kings went on to win the game in a shoot-out, marking the team's first win in the new building.
The Oilers played their first game on October 12, 2016, against their nearby rivals, the Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...
. Prior to the game, there was a pregame ceremony featuring former Oilers Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...
and Mark Messier, where a statue of Gretzky was unveiled outside of the arena. Patrick Maroon
Patrick Maroon (born April 23, 1988) is an American professional ice hockey left winger for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed the "Big Rig", Maroon has previously played for the Anaheim Ducks, Edmonton Oilers ...
scored the first NHL goal in the arena, as the Oilers went on to defeat the Flames 7–4; earning their first win in the building. The Oilers' first season in the arena saw them qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2006, ending an 11-year playoff drought. The first playoff game was played on April 12, 2017, where the Oilers lost in overtime to the San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...
3–2. Two days later, the Oilers picked up their first playoff game win at the arena by defeating the Sharks 2–0.
The arena was chosen to be one of two hubs for the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs during the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, hosting the Western Conference Playoffs, the 2020 NHL Eastern Conference Finals, the 2020 NHL Western Conference Finals and the 2020 Stanley Cup Finals
The 2020 Stanley Cup Final was the Stanley Cup Finals, championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2019–20 NHL season, 2019–20 season and the culmination of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs. This series was between the Eastern Con ...
.
Events
References
External links
*
City of Edmonton: Rogers Place
{{Authority control
Indoor arenas in Alberta
Indoor ice hockey venues in Canada
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design basic silver certified buildings
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified buildings in Canada
Music venues in Edmonton
Rogers Communications
Oilers Entertainment Group
Sports venues in Edmonton
Ice District
2016 establishments in Alberta
Sports venues completed in 2016
Edmonton Oilers arenas
National Hockey League venues