The Owensboro Sportscenter is a 5,000-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 ...

in Owensboro, Kentucky. It is the home of the

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 ...

teams of Kentucky Wesleyan College and Owensboro Catholic High School. It has been the home to three minor-pro basketball teams, the Kentucky Bisons, the Kentucky Mavericks and currently, the Owensboro Thoroughbreds. In March 2016, the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

approved the relocation of the

Evansville IceMen The Evansville IceMen were a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL in Evansville, Indiana. The franchise was originally a member of the United Hockey League before it merged into the Central Hockey League in 2010. The franchise has won four po ...

franchise to the Sportscenter, pending proposed renovations to the arena, and currently hoping to begin play in 2017. However, in August 2016, team owner Ron Geary still had not taken over management of the Sportscenter and the City of Owensboro announced Spectra would temporarily take over management of the Sportscenter on September 1 with a deadline for Geary set to September 30. If Geary has not begun management by the deadline, then Spectra will begin their own renovations and the agreement with the IceMen will be voided. On the September 30 deadline, Geary sent a letter to Owensboro mayor Ron Payne stating he would not be purchasing the Sportscenter because of too much cost to convert and refurbish the arena and Spectra became the official operators moving forward. The Kentucky Knights, a proposed

indoor American 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 ...

squad, was to begin play at the arena in 2016 as part of the new North American Indoor Football. However, the team had to make an ownership change in late 2015 and then attempted to join Supreme Indoor Football but the Knights were never able to field a team and the SIF failed to launch in 2016.

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* {{Authority control Indoor arenas in Kentucky College basketball venues in the United States Basketball venues in Kentucky Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers men's basketball Buildings and structures in Owensboro, Kentucky American Basketball Association (2000–present) venues The Basketball League venues 1949 establishments in Kentucky Sports venues completed in 1949