Idaho Central Arena (originally Bank of America Centre, formerly Qwest Arena and CenturyLink Arena) is a multi-purpose
arena in the
western United States, located in
Boise, Idaho. Its
seating capacity is 5,002 for
ice hockey, 5,300 for
basketball, 5,732 for end-stage
concerts, 6,400 for
boxing, and up to 6,800 for center-stage concerts. With 4,508 permanent seats, it was built for $50 million. In downtown Boise, its street level
elevation is approximately above
sea level.
Opened , it has been the home arena of the
Idaho Steelheads of the
ECHL since 1997. Other tenants include the
Boise Stallions of the
Indoor Professional Football League in 2000 and 2001, the
Idaho Stampede of the
NBA Development League
The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...
from 2005 to 2016, and the
Boise Burn of the
af2
The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...
from 2007 to 2009.
Originally the Bank of America Centre, it became Qwest Arena in 2005.
With
CenturyLink's takeover of
Qwest Communications in 2011, the venue was renamed on August 18 that same year.
On September 16, 2020,
Idaho Central Credit Union purchased the naming rights, giving the building its current title.
Features
The arena features 39 corporate suites, 1,100 Club Premiere seats, standing room space for 200, The Zone restaurant (overlooking the arena), as well as a
Blimpie
Blimpie International, Inc., doing business as Blimpie (stylized as BLiMPiE), is an American submarine sandwich chain based in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was founded in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1964, by three friends, and has since endured three ow ...
franchise among the nine concession stands. The arena is physically connected to the Grove Hotel at the corner of Front Street and Capitol Boulevard; the main entrance is from the Grove Plaza. There are two scoreboards and a Daktronics ProStar videoboard.
The Grove Hotel has of meeting and convention space in addition to the of arena floor space.
Events
Idaho Central Arena hosted the 2006
CBA All-Star Game (while the Idaho Stampede were still part of the CBA) and the 2007
ECHL All-Star Game.
Other events hosted in the facility include concerts, trade shows, conventions, ice shows and various other sporting events, including professional wrestling, MMA, and the
Treasure Valley Rollergirls
The Treasure Valley Rollergirls (TVR) is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 2006, Treasure Valley is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
History and organization
Treasure Valle ...
roller derby
Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played by two teams of fifteen members. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, mostly in the United States.
Game play consists of a series of short scrimmages (jam ...
squad.
On July 14, 2018, the arena was host to
UFC Fight Night 133, the MMA promotion's first event held in Idaho.
Idaho Central Arena has hosted two NBA D-League Showcases in 2008 and 2010. Each Showcase had all NBA D-League teams play for 4 days, and showed their talent in front of National TV (NBA TV) and had scouts all around the country.
On September 18, 2017, the
Big Sky Conference announced that its
men's and
women's basketball tournaments would move to Idaho Central Arena for three years, starting in 2019. The previous three years (
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
–
18) were held in
Reno, Nevada.
Concerts
Many artists and bands have performed at the venue, including
Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...
,
Godsmack,
Five Finger Death Punch,
Shinedown,
Skillet
A frying pan, frypan, or skillet is a flat-bottomed pan used for frying, searing, and browning foods. It is typically in diameter with relatively low sides that flare outwards, a long handle, and no lid. Larger pans may have a small grab ha ...
,
Luke Bryan
Thomas Luther "Luke" Bryan (born July 17, 1976) is an American country music, country singer, songwriter, and television personality. He began his music career writing songs for Travis Tritt and Billy Currington before signing with Capitol Reco ...
,
Yes
Yes or YES may refer to:
* An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no
Education
* YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US
* YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...
,
Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band, and
Rise Against
Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rooted in hardcor ...
.
References
External links
Idaho Central ArenaIdahoSteelheads.com
{{D-League Arenas
Sports in Boise, Idaho
Indoor ice hockey venues in the United States
Idaho Stampede
Arena football venues
Convention centers in Idaho
Defunct NBA G League venues
Sports venues in Idaho
Lumen Technologies
Buildings and structures in Boise, Idaho
Tourist attractions in Boise, Idaho
Ice hockey in Idaho
Sports venues completed in 1997
1997 establishments in Idaho
Continental Basketball Association venues
Indoor arenas in Idaho