The RP Funding Center (formerly the Lakeland Civic Center and the Lakeland Center) is a multipurpose entertainment complex in

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal ci ...

, comprising a convention center,

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 ...

and

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

. Currently, it is home to the

Florida Tropics SC Florida Tropics SC is a professional soccer club based in Lakeland, Florida. They are owned by Central Florida Sports Ventures, LLC, led by Dr. Panos Iakovidis, and former USL commissioner and Rochester Rhinos owner Chris Economides. The org ...

of the

Major Arena Soccer League The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a North American professional indoor soccer league. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico. MASL is the highest level of arena soccer in North America. MASL players ...

and the

Lakeland Magic The Lakeland Magic are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Lakeland, Florida, and are affiliated with the Orlando Magic. The Magic began play in the 2017–18 season and play their home games at the RP Fundi ...

, the Orlando Magic's affiliate in the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

About

It was home to the

Lakeland Loggerheads Lakeland is primarily a toponym. It may refer to: Places Australia *Lakeland, Queensland Canada *Lakeland (electoral district), a federal electoral district in Alberta *Lakeland County, a former municipal district in Alberta * District of La ...

of the

World Hockey Association 2 The World Hockey Association 2 was a minor professional ice hockey league created at the instigation of the organizers of the proposed recreated World Hockey Association to serve as its development league. The WHA2 teams — some of which had ...

during the 2003–04 season, the

Lakeland Thunderbolts The Lakeland Thunderbolts were a professional indoor football team. They were a member of the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA). They played their home games at the Lakeland Center. History The Lakeland Thunderbolts began in 2005 as ...

of the

National Indoor Football League The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, ...

and later the

American Indoor Football Association American Indoor Football (AIF) was a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the East Coast of the United ...

from 2005 until 2007, the Lakeland Raiders of the

Ultimate Indoor Football League The Ultimate Indoor Football League (UIFL) was a regional professional indoor football league that began its inaugural season on February 18, 2011 as the Ultimate Indoor Football League before playing as the United Indoor Football League in 2012 ...

(later to be known as the Florida Marine Raiders of

X-League Indoor Football X-League Indoor Football (X-League) was a professional indoor football minor league that began play in 2014. The league was co-chaired by Michael Mink and Kacee Smith. On September 19, 2015, the league announced a merger with the future "North ...

) from 2012 until 2015, and the Central Florida Jaguars of the

American Indoor Football American Indoor Football (AIF) was a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the East Coast of the United ...

in 2016. In 2018, the

Florida Tarpons The Florida Tarpons were a professional indoor football team based in Lakeland, Florida, out of the RP Funding Center. Originally established in Estero, Florida, and playing out of Germain Arena, they began play in 2012 as an expansion team of t ...

of the

American Arena League The American Arena League (AAL) is a professional indoor football minor league that began playing in 2018. The league was initiated by a merger between Arena Pro Football (APF) and the Can-Am Indoor Football League (Can-Am), although the AAL on ...

relocated to Lakeland to use the arena for its home games. The

South Florida Bulls men's basketball The South Florida Bulls men's basketball team represents the University of South Florida in NCAA Division I basketball competition, where they are currently a member of the American Athletic Conference. They have been coached by Brian Gregory si ...

team played many home games at the then Lakeland Civic Center throughout the 1970s, and during the 2011–12 season when the Sun Dome was being renovated. The

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

of the defunct North American Soccer League used the arena for indoor soccer on several occasions including three of their sixteen home games during the 1983-84 indoor season. This would also prove to be the league's final indoor campaign before suspending operations following the 1984 outdoor season. In 1975 and 1976 the arena hosted

National Hockey League 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 ...

exhibition matches between the

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

and the

Atlanta Flames The Atlanta Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta from 1972 until 1980. They played home games in the Omni Coliseum and were members of the West and later Patrick divisions of the National Hockey League (NHL). Along with t ...

. Atlanta won both matches by the scores of 3–2 and 5–2, respectively. Beginning with their inaugural season (1992–93), the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

used the center for training camp and exhibition games for several years. On September 23, 1992, hockey history was made as Manon Rhéaume became the first woman to play in an NHL exhibition game as the Tampa Bay Lightning played against the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

. Elvis Presley played the Civic Center on April 27, 1975 (two shows, a matinee and an evening performance) and another evening performance on April 28, 1975. He played the center again a year later on September 4, 1976 (two performances, a matinee and an evening show). The Grateful Dead performed at the arena on May 21, 1977. The show makes up half of the archival live album, '' Dick's Picks Volume 29''. Duran Duran played here on March 26, 1984 as part of their

Sing Blue Silver ''Sing Blue Silver'' is a documentary about Duran Duran's 1983-1984 World Tour directed by Michael Collins. A sixty-minute edited version of the documentary was aired on MTV (and later other music channels) under the title ''Blue Silver''. ''Si ...

world tour. Bon Jovi performed two back-to-back, sold-out shows at the arena in September 1989 as part of their

New Jersey Syndicate Tour The Jersey Syndicate Tour (also known as The Brotherhood on Tour and New Jersey: The Tour) was the fourth concert tour by American band Bon Jovi, that ran from 1988 to 1990. The massive, highly successful world tour was put on in support of the b ...

. The shows were recorded and some tracks released as B-Sides. Slayer performed here during the

Clash of the Titans tour Clash of the Titans was a concert tour co-headlined by American thrash metal bands Megadeth and Slayer, which took place in September and October 1990 and again from May to July 1991. Launched in support of their respective albums '' Rust in Peac ...

on July 13, 1991, headlining together with Megadeth and Anthrax, and supported by

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...

. Slayer's set was recorded and released as part of a double live-album, entitled '' Decade of Aggression''. U2 started the Zoo TV Tour on February 29, 1992 with a sold out concert with a total of 7,400 people.

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

performed here in 1976 when guitarist

Ace Frehley Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician, best known as the original lead guitarist and co-founding member of the hard rock band Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. Space Ace) and played wit ...

was electrocuted leading him to later go on and write his song "Shock Me", included on the ''

Love Gun ''Love Gun'' is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Kiss, released on June 30, 1977. Casablanca Records and FilmWorks shipped one million copies of the album on this date. It was certified platinum and became the band's first top ...

'' album.

References

External links

Official website of RP Funding CenterThe Concert Database
{{Authority control Arena football venues Basketball venues in Florida Buildings and structures in Lakeland, Florida Defunct indoor soccer venues in the United States Florida Tropics SC Indoor arenas in Florida Indoor ice hockey venues in Florida Indoor soccer venues in the United States Lakeland Magic Music venues in Florida NBA G League venues North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor venues Tampa Bay Rowdies sports facilities Sports venues in Lakeland, Florida Sports venues completed in 1974 1974 establishments in Florida Former South Florida Bulls sports venues