The Mohegan Sun Arena is a 10,000 seat multi-purpose

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 ...

Uncasville, Connecticut Uncasville is an area in the town of Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is a village in southeastern Montville, at the mouth of the Oxoboxo River where it flows into the Thames River. The name is now applied more generally to all of the ea ...

, located inside the Mohegan Sun casino resort. The arena facility features of configurable exhibition space and a clear span. It was built by the

Perini Building Company The Perini Building Company is a division of Tutor Perini Corporation. Projects * CityCenter * Trump Las Vegas * Boston Worcester Turnpike *Thomas and Mack Center * Hard Rock Hotel and Casino *Harrah's Las Vegas *Pala Casino Resort and Spa * T ...

, and opened in October 2001.

History

The multi-purpose facility has hosted a wide variety of events; including the American Kennel Club,

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 vari ...

, concerts from major classical, country, jazz, metal, rap, rock, and pop acts, as well as sporting events such as

PBR PBR may refer to: Science and technology * Passive bistatic radar * Partition boot record * Pebble bed reactor, a type of nuclear reactor * Peripheral benzodiazepine receptor, another name for translocator protein * Phosphorus bromide * Photobio ...

events, Bellator,

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 ...

games, PBA tournaments, early

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

bouts, and the

World's Strongest Man The World's Strongest Man is an international Strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of Decem ...

Super Series Competition. The largest event on record to have been held at the arena was the inaugural Barrett-Jackson collector car auction in the Northeast in 2016, for which 90,000 tickets were sold to the multi-day event. Major network and cable television broadcasting companies, including

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, ABC, FOX,

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

and

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

have all produced events through this arena.

Arena football

The arena originally served as home of the Mohegan Wolves

arena football Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller ...

team until it was sold and moved to

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644. Manchester is, along with Nashua, one of two seats of New Ha ...

in 2004. On July 19, 2001, Uncasville was awarded an

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 ...

expansion team. On December 12, 2001, Mohegan Sun and Dr. Eric Margenau, President/Chief Executive Officer of United Sports Ventures, announced that the new expansion AF2 franchise would be named the Mohegan Wolves. Margenau introduced Gary Porter, as the head coach for the team that would first take the field April 5, 2002 at the Mohegan Sun Arena against the Albany Conquest. Gary Porter, previously led the expansion

Peoria Pirates The Peoria Pirates were a professional arena football team that last played in AF2, the minor league to the Arena Football League (AFL). They played their home games at Carver Arena, part of the Peoria Civic Center in Illinois, and were coached ...

to a 7–9 record in 2001. The team name was selected through a "Name the Team" contest sponsored by WCTY, Mohegan Sun and X-Tra Mart. A Jewett City resident, came up with the winning name. The winner won four season tickets for the 2002 Mohegan Wolves season, dinner for four on the night of the team's first home game, and a team merchandise package.

Basketball

On January 28, 2003, the arena was announced as the official home court for the

Connecticut Sun The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut that competes in the Eastern Conference of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was established as the Orlando Miracle in ...

. Prior to the fall of 2002, the NBA operating model precluded any WNBA team without an NBA "brother" counterpart. By the time the

moved in, Val Ackerman was the WNBA president and Mark L. Brown was the chairman of the

Mohegan The Mohegan are an Algonquian Native American tribe historically based in present-day Connecticut. Today the majority of the people are associated with the Mohegan Indian Tribe, a federally recognized tribe living on a reservation in the east ...

Tribe. Though sports betting was legalized in Connecticut on October 1, 2021, the casino has suspended WNBA betting from its sportsbook operation. On September 8, 2005, as a companion to the arena, the Mohegan Sun casino opened a Connecticut Sun merchandise store called "Winter Essentials." It was the first store in the United States that sold professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

goods on casino ground. However, the store was closed when the casino underwent renovations in 2008. Connecticut Sun merchandise would be available in the Arena during games between 2009 and 2019. The Connecticut Sun were not able to play at the arena in the 2020 season, as the entire season was relocated to

IMG Academy IMG Academy is a preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. IMG Academy is set across over 600 acres and features programs consisting of sport camps for youth athletes, adult camps, a board ...

in Bradenton, Florida due to 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 ...

. After the conclusion of the 2020 WNBA season, the arena began holding its first events since the pandemic declaration in November 2020, when it hosted a series of college basketball games where fans were not permitted.

Lacrosse

On April 21, 2002, the Mohegan Sun Arena hosted the 2002

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United States and five in Canada. The N ...

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or d ...

. The North Division (

Calgary Roughnecks The Calgary Roughnecks are a professional box lacrosse team based in Calgary, Alberta. They are members of the Western Division of the National Lacrosse League (NLL) and play their home games on WestJet Field at Scotiabank Saddledome. The te ...

Montreal Express The Montreal Express was a member of the National Lacrosse League during the 2002 season. They played at the Molson Center in Montreal, Quebec. They were inactive during the 2003 and 2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of ...

Ottawa Rebel The Ottawa Rebel was a team in the National Lacrosse League based in Ottawa, Ontario from 2001 until 2003. They initially played at the Corel Centre (now called the Canadian Tire Centre), but part-way through the 2002 season moved to the sma ...

Rochester Knighthawks The Rochester Knighthawks (also known as the K-Hawks) are a professional box lacrosse team in the North Division of the National Lacrosse League. They play in Rochester, New York at the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. The Knighthawks are ow ...

Toronto Rock The Toronto Rock are a professional box lacrosse franchise based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the North Division of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team was the first Canadian franchise in the NLL. Oakville resident ...

Vancouver Ravens The Vancouver Ravens were the original Vancouver National Lacrosse League (NLL) franchise from 2002 to 2004. The team played their home games at General Motors Place, now Rogers Arena, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. At the conclusion of ...

) defeated the South (

Albany Attack The Albany Attack was the name of a franchise which played in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) from the 2000 season through the 2003 season. The Attack played in the former Pepsi Arena in Albany, New York (now known as the Times Union Center). A ...

Buffalo Bandits The Buffalo Bandits are a professional box lacrosse Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in Canada in the 1930s, where it is more po ...

Columbus Landsharks The Columbus Landsharks were a member of the National Lacrosse League from 2001 until 2003. They were based in Columbus, Ohio. After the 2003 season, the franchise moved to Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wa ...

New Jersey Storm The New Jersey Storm were a member of the National Lacrosse League, based in East Rutherford, New Jersey. They played from 2002 to 2003 playing at the then Continental Airlines Arena. The team was an expansion team that was purchased for by an eq ...

New York Saints The New York Saints are a former member of the National Lacrosse League. They played at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, from 1989 to 2003. They became an inactive team after the 2002–03 season and were officially defunct in 2006. T ...

, Philadelphia Wings,

Washington Power The Washington Power were a member of the National Lacrosse League during the 2001 and 2002 seasons. After the inaugural championship in 1987 in Baltimore (as the Thunder) through 1999 and an unsuccessful stint in Pittsburgh (as the CrosseFire), ...

) by a score of 14–10.

Steve Toll Steve Toll (born June 16, 1974 in St. Catharines, Ontario) is a former lacrosse player and current executive in the Canadian Lacrosse League. In his 14-year National Lacrosse League career, Toll won five NLL Championships four with the Toronto Rock ...

, of the Toronto Rock, was named the

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the event.
On August 5, 2014, the National Lacrosse League announced that the Philadelphia Wings would move to the Mohegan Sun Arena and be re-branded as the

New England Black Wolves The New England Black Wolves were a professional box lacrosse team based in Uncasville, Connecticut. They were members of the East Division of the National Lacrosse League and began play in the winter of 2014–2015 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Un ...

for the 2015 season. In their home opener, the Black Wolves defeated the Buffalo Bandits 12–8 in front of 5,768.

The team relocated in 2021 and now play as the Albany FireWolves.

Mixed martial arts

On January 11, 2002, Mohegan Sun Arena hosted its first MMA event,

UFC 35 ''UFC 35: Throwdown'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut on January 11, 2002. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States, and later releas ...

, headlined by

Jens Pulver Jens Johnnie Pulver (born December 6, 1974) is an American retired professional mixed martial artist and undefeated boxer and kickboxer. Pulver was the inaugural UFC Lightweight Champion in addition to serving as the head coach on '' The Ultim ...

vs B.J. Penn. The UFC also held

UFC 45 The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

at the arena, an event headlined by Matt Hughes vs.

Frank Trigg Dewey Franklin Trigg III (born May 7, 1972) is an American retired mixed martial artist, color commentator, pro wrestler, MMA referee and TV host. Trigg is a veteran of the UFC, Pride Fighting Championships, Rumble on the Rock, Icon Sport-(Icon ...

. Bellator MMA has consistently put on events at Mohegan Sun Arena, since 2009 that are shown below. 2009:

Bellator 2 2009 in Bellator MMA was the first installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships (Bellator FC)-produced series. It started broadcasting April 3, 2009, through an exclusive television agreement with ESPN Deportes. The episodes had a one-day ...

Bellator 11 2009 in Bellator MMA was the first installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships (Bellator FC)-produced series. It started broadcasting April 3, 2009, through an exclusive television agreement with ESPN Deportes. The episodes had a one-day ...

2010:

Bellator 15 2010 in Bellator MMA was the second installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships (Bellator FC)-produced series. It started on April 8, 2010 and ended June 24, 2010. Tournaments were held in the featherweight, lightweight, welterweight and m ...

2011:

Bellator 39 2011 in Bellator MMA was the fourth installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in multiple weight classes, including three of the original tournament classes: Welterweight, Lightweight and Feathe ...

Bellator 48 2011 in Bellator MMA was the fourth installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in multiple Mixed martial arts weight classes, weight classes, including three of the original tournament classes: We ...

2012:

Bellator 63 2012 in Bellator MMA was the sixth installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships, which began on March 9, 2012. The sixth season of Bellator was originally scheduled to begin on March 2, 2012. However, the debut was pushed back a week so ...

2013:

Bellator 98 2013 in Bellator MMA was the eighth installment of the Bellator MMA, which began on January 17, 2013 and ended on April 4, 2013. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in five weight classes and all of the champions, except the heavyweight ch ...

2014:

Bellator 110 2014 in Bellator MMA was the tenth season for Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion. It began on February 28, 2014 and aired on Spike TV. The season included tournaments for the Heavyweight, Welterweight, Featherweight, Light Heavyweight, ...

, Bellator 123 2015:

Bellator 134 2015 in Bellator MMA was the seventh year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 16 events in 2015. Background In June 2014, Founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney parted with the company. ...

Bellator 140 2015 in Bellator MMA was the seventh year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 16 events in 2015. Background In June 2014, Founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney parted with the company ...

Bellator 144 2015 in Bellator MMA was the seventh year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 16 events in 2015. Background In June 2014, Founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney parted with the company. ...

2016:

Bellator 153 2016 in Bellator MMA was the eighth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promoter based in the United States. Bellator held 23 events in 2016. Background 2016 is notable for the launch of sibling promotion Bellator Kickbox ...

, Bellator 163 2017: Bellator 178, Bellator 185 2018: Bellator 194, Bellator 207 2019: Bellator 215, Bellator 216 2021: Bellator 262: Velasquez vs. Kielholtz

Professional wrestling

Professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

promotion

began broadcasting its weekly shows, '' Raw'', ''

SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes sim ...

'', and ''

Main Event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

'', and their associated pay-per-views (PPV) hosted the pay-per-views TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs.

Seating

As of 2006, the seating can be configured into 5 common sports configurations. Basketball, boxing, bowling, rodeo, table tennis, lacrosse. It also can be reconfigured to fit many types of concerts: regular, fullhouse, centerstage, and halfhouse. The arena has won awards for being one of America's most modern concert venues. The arena was awarded the 2008 and 2010 Country Music Award for "Casino of the Year". It was also ranked the 4th best venue by ''Billboard Magazine''.

Notable events

WNBA All-Star Game The Women's National Basketball Association All-Star Game, commonly referred to as the WNBA All-Star Game, is an annual exhibition basketball game played in the United States between the best players of the Western and Eastern Conference of ...

– 2005, 2009, 2010,
/ref>

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, 2015 *

2002 All-Star Game. * American Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament (2014–2020) * Big East women's basketball tournament (2021 and beyond) * Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame 2020 enshrinement ceremony – May 15, 2021

NBA games

Strength Athletics Grand Prix

Since 2005, the arena has hosted one of the premier international

strongman In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or similar circus performers who performed feats of strength. More recently, strength athletics, also known as strongman competitions, have grown in popularity. Thes ...

Grand Prix events.

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20080731120733/http://www.mohegansun.com/entertainment/arena-360view-popup.html *http://www.wnba.com/sun/news/winteressentials.html Mohegan Sun Winter Essentials Store {{Authority control Basketball venues in Connecticut Connecticut Sun venues Music venues completed in 2001 Sports venues completed in 2001 Montville, Connecticut Indoor lacrosse venues in the United States Lacrosse venues in Connecticut Arena football venues Indoor arenas in Connecticut New England Black Wolves Mohegan Sports venues in New London County, Connecticut