First Interstate Arena (colloquially known as The Metra) is a 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 ...
located at MetraPark, the
fair
A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks.
Types
Variations of fairs incl ...
grounds of
Billings, Montana
Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metrop ...
. The arena has a capacity of 8,700 for
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
and
indoor football games, 10,500 for
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
, and up to 12,000 for
concert
A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...
s. The arena hosts a variety of local sporting, musical, and other events. It has also hosted professional sporting competitions. In 2005, MetraPark Arena marked its 30th anniversary. The arena was renovated in 2010 and 2011 at a cost of $27 million.
History
![Rimrock Auto Arena damage](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Rimrock_Auto_Arena_damage.JPG)
The arena was completed in 1975 and named the METRA, an
acronym
An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...
that stood for Montana Entertainment Trade and Recreation Arena. It was built at the Midland Empire Fairgrounds, which later was renamed MetraPark, at which time the arena became MetraPark Arena. The naming rights were sold to Billings-based Rimrock Auto Group in 2007 and the arena went by the name Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark. It is owned by
Yellowstone County
Yellowstone County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 164,731. Its county seat is Billings. Yellowstone County is named for the Yellowstone River which roughly bisects the county ...
. On June 20, 2010, the
Father's Day Tornado
A destructive EF2 tornado hit Billings, Montana on Sunday, June 20, 2010 (Father's Day). Known as the 2010 Father's Day tornado, the strong tornado was on the ground for about 12 minutes and took the roof off the Rimrock Auto Arena at Met ...
hit the arena, causing major damage In 2010–2011 the arena was remodeled, resulting in many new amenities such as improved acoustics, more restrooms and concession areas, and easier access from the parking areas. The arena is an energy efficient building with contemporary aesthetics. On April 10, 2011, with the outer arena still under construction,
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
played the first concert in the Arena since the tornado.
Name changes
On February 21, 2007, Rimrock Auto Group announced a 10-year,
US $
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
1 million naming rights deal for the arena. Beginning July 1, 2007 it became known as the Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark. On June 3, 2019, First Interstate Bank announced a 5-year US$875,000 naming rights deal for the arena. The new name of the facility would be First Interstate Arena at MetraPark.
Events
Concerts
The Arena remains the largest indoor concert venue in Montana and hosts an average of 9–12 concerts each year. In 2015,
The Eagles
The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971. With five number-one singles and six number-one albums, six Grammy Awards and five American Music Awards, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s ...
set a record for the largest grossing concert at the venue, grossin
$1.4 million in tickets sold
Other major concert performances at the arena included
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...
,
Beach Boys
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...
,
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
,
Garth Brooks
Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him popularity, particularly in the United States with success on the co ...
,
Johnny Cash
John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...
,
Cher
Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...
,
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1976 in Sheffield. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitar, backing vocals), a ...
,
John Denver
Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, activist, and humanitarian whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singe ...
,
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...
,
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
,
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...
,
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) re ...
,
Foreigner,
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler.
Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled af ...
,
Jethro Tull,
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd ( ) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocalist), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Ju ...
,
Tim McGraw
Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those album ...
,
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
,
Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albums ...
,
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...
,
Nickelback
Nickelback is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta. It is composed of guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan Peake, bassist Mike Kroeger, and drummer Daniel Adai ...
,
Rush,
Bob Seger
Robert Clark Seger ( ; born May 6, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and The Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s, break ...
,
Slayer
Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...
,
George Strait
George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait is considered one of the most influential and popular recording artists of all time. In the 1980s, he was credited for ...
,
Styx,
Carrie Underwood
Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of ''American Idol'' in 2005. Her single "Inside Your Heaven" made her the only country artist to debut atop the ''Bill ...
,
Van Halen
Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...
, and
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sound ...
.
Annual
*Montana State High School Wrestling Tournament – February
*M.A.T.E (Montana Agri-Trade Expo) – February
*Spring Home Improvement Show – March
*MontanaFair – August
*Fall Home Improvement Show – September
*NILE (
Northern International Livestock Exposition {{unreferenced, date=January 2017
Northern International Livestock Exposition (NILE) originated as an idea from the livestock committee of thBillings Chamber of Commercein 1966. In 1967 the Public Auction Yards hosted an event to showcase the regio ...
) Stock Show and Rodeo – October
*Chase Hawks Memorial Rough Stock Rodeo – December
*Every other year MetraPark host a Men's college basketball game between Montana State and Wyoming.
Sporting
![RimrockAutoOutlaws](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/RimrockAutoOutlaws.jpg)
The Arena has been home to two teams with the Indoor Football League
IFL IFL may refer to:
;American football
*Intense Football League, (2004–2008) in the United States, merged into the Indoor Football League
*Indoor Football League, (2008–present) in the United States
*Intercontinental Football League, a European l ...
. The
Billings Outlaws
The Billings Outlaws were a professional league indoor football team based in Billings, Montana. They were a member of the Indoor Football League (IFL), of which they were the 2-time defending champions. They played their home games at Rimrock A ...
played in the league from 2000 to 2010 before disbanding following the June 2010 Father's Day tornado. In 2015, the league expanded adding the
Billings Wolves but only lasted two seasons before folding as well.
MetraPark has hosted pre-season
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
games on a semi-regular basis. The Arena played host to the first ever game for the NBA's
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...
on October 8, 2008 in a pre-season game against the Timberwolves. The Timberwolves prevailed 88–82.
MetraPark is a longtime tour stop for the
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 ...
's
Built Ford Tough Series
The Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS) was the elite series tour name of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) competitions from 2003 to 2017.
The BFTS kicked off its tour on November 16, 2002 with the Mohegan Sun Invitational in Uncasville, Connecticut ...
(known as the Bud Light Cup until 2003), which has visited the arena every year since 1996.
In the summer of 2005, MetraPark hosted tryouts for the
All-American Professional Basketball League
The All-American Professional Basketball League was a minor basketball league formed in 2005 by Worth Christie. Announced on January 23, 2005 the league viewed itself as a direct minor league outlet for the National Basketball Association (NBA). ...
(AAPBL), a new minor basketball league. The tryouts took place from July 11 to 22, 2005. However, the league folded shortly thereafter.
MetraPark has also played host to various
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 vario ...
,
WCW
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nationa ...
and UWF wrestling events including a live televised
WCW Monday Nitro
''WCW Monday Nitro'', also known as ''WCW Nitro'' or simply ''Nitro'', is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast weekly every Monday night on TNT in the Unite ...
television show on June 19, 2000.
In 2017, First Interstate Arena hosted the NAIA Women's DI Basketball Tournament.
U.S. presidential visits
*
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
– 2018
*
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
– 2001 and 2006
*
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
– 1996
*
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
– 1992
*
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
– 1982
*
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
– 1963 Kennedy spoke at MetraPark, then known as the Midland Empire Fairgrounds. This occurred prior to the construction of the current arena.
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:First Interstate Arena at MetraPark
Indoor ice hockey venues in Montana
Sports venues in Billings, Montana
Arena football venues
Western Hockey League arenas
Convention centers in Montana
Billings Wolves
Continental Basketball Association venues
Indoor arenas in Montana
Basketball venues in Montana
Sports venues completed in 1975
1975 establishments in Montana