The Now Arena (originally known as the Sears Centre, Sears Centre Arena and stylized as NOW Arena) is a multi-purpose arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a northwest

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

from Chicago, near land which formerly contained the Poplar Creek Music Theater. Since 2016, the arena has been home to the Windy City Bulls, the Chicago Bulls' affiliate in the NBA G League.

History

The venue was a joint venture between Sears Holdings, Ryan Companies, and the Village of Hoffman Estates. The project began in 1998; however, plans were not finalized until 2005. Construction began in July 2005. The venue opened as Sears Centre on October 26, 2006, with performances by

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...

and Bob Dylan. In 2011, the Village of Hoffman Estates took over ownership of the arena after Ryan Companies walked away from the arena due to the arena's lack of success. However, since the village took over the arena and hired Global Spectrum to manage it, the arena has shown improvement. The naming rights to the arena were not affected by Sears Holdings declaring bankruptcy in 2018, with the company paying $1.5 million to secure naming rights for an additional 18 months. On June 23, 2020, the Village of Hoffman Estates approved an $11.5 million deal to rename the venue to NOW Arena, with the naming rights belonging to the NOW Health Group, a family-owned natural products manufacturer based in

Bloomingdale, Illinois Bloomingdale is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States, settled in 1833, and 25 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. The population was 22,382 at the 2020 census. History Bloomingdale is one of the earliest villages settled in what ...

. The name change would officially take effect on September 1, 2020.

Notable events

*In 2008 and from 2010 until the present, the Illinois Recreational Cheerleading Association (IRCA) hold their annual state championship at the facility. *The fourth annual

TNA Bound for Glory Bound for Glory (frequently abbreviated to BFG) is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced annually in October by the American Impact Wrestling promotion. The event was created in 2005 to serve as the company's flagship PPV eve ...

professional wrestling

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

event on October 12, 2008, which was

TNA TNA may refer to: Organisations * Tamil National Alliance, a political coalition in Sri Lanka * The National Alliance, a political party in Kenya * The National Archives (United Kingdom), a UK public body * Tonga Nurses' Association, a trade union ...

's first ever event in the Chicago area. *The arena was also the venue which featured TNA's first ever ''

Impact Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promot ...

'' outside of Orlando, Florida, on March 14, 2013. *On May 19 and 20, 2011, it played host to the Chicago audition stages in the first season of the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

singer search program ''The X Factor''. *In 2009 and 2011, it played host to

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *'' Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *'' Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *''Marvel Strike Force'', ...

events. *September 12–14, 2014: Played host to the

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

, hosting matches between the United States and Slovakia. *

2014 Skate America The 2014 Hilton HHonors Skate America was the first event of six in the 2014–15 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois on Octob ...

*The 2017 and 2018 Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, hosted by Northwestern University's wrestling program, have been hosted at the Sears Centre. *September 1, 2018: All In, the largest ever independent professional wrestling event, presented by Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks, featuring wrestlers from various independent wrestling promotions and from New Japan Pro-Wrestling, including Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada. This event was considered the springboard for the creation of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) several months later. In commemoration of All In a permanent plaque was installed near the front entrance of the arena. * August 31, 2019: hosted AEW's inaugural All Out pay-per-view event, at which AEW crowned its first world champion. * November 27, 2019: hosted the Thanksgiving Eve special episode of '' AEW Dynamite''. * September 5, 2021: hosted AEW's third annual All Out pay-per-view event * September 4, 2022: hosted AEW's fourth annual All Out pay-per-view event. USA Gymnastics *2013 U.S. Challenge (July 26, 2013) *2013 U.S. Classic (July 27, 2013) *2014 U.S. Classic (August 2, 2014) *

2015 U.S. Classic The 2015 U.S. Classic, officially the 2015 Secret U.S. Classic, is the 32nd edition of the U.S. Classic and was held on July 25, 2015 at Sears Centre Arena in Chicago. The event served as a qualification event to the 2015 U.S. National Gymnas ...

(July 25, 2015) *

2017 U.S. Classic The 2017 U.S. Classic, known as the 2017 Secret U.S. Classic for sponsorship reasons, was the 34th edition of the U.S. Classic gymnastics tournament. The competition was held on July 29, 2017, at the Sears Centre Arena in the Hoffman Estates sub ...

(July 29, 2017)

External links

Official Site

References

{{Coord, 42, 4, 18.10, N, 88, 12, 34.04, W, display=title Hoffman Estates, Illinois 2006 establishments in Illinois Arena football venues Basketball venues in Illinois Event venues established in 2006 Gymnastics venues in Illinois Indoor arenas in Illinois Indoor ice hockey venues in Illinois Indoor lacrosse venues in the United States Indoor soccer venues in Illinois Legends Football League venues Mixed martial arts venues in Illinois Music venues in Illinois NBA G League venues Tennis venues in Illinois Windy City Bulls Wrestling venues in Illinois