The North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre (formerly known as the Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, Sleep Train Amphitheatre, Coors Amphitheatre and the Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre) is a 20,500-seat

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

located in

Chula Vista, California Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the Largest cities in Southern California, seventh largest city in Southern California, the List of largest California cities by population, fifteenth largest city ...

adjacent to Sesame Place San Diego. It is one of the larger

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 ...

venues in the

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

area. The venue is currently owned and operated by

Live Nation Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American global entertainment company and monopoly that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The company promotes, operates, and manages ticket sales for live entertainme ...

History

Area around the amphitheatre had previously been open fields and at one time been part of a large dairy farm. At one point, the 72 acres where the amphitheater sits was a fully developed industrial park with terraced lots and utilities in place. The site had been abandoned for a number of years when Universal Concerts approached the city of Chula Vista and won approval to build the amphitheatre. The industrial park was bulldozed and the site graded to build the amphitheatre. In the late 1990s, a development plan was created and a

water park A water park (or waterpark, water world) is an amusement park that features water play areas such as swimming pools, water slides, splash pads, water playgrounds, and lazy rivers, as well as areas for floating, bathing, swimming, and other baref ...

and concert venue were planned for the area. White Water Canyon (now Sesame Place San Diego) opened in 1997, while Coors Amphitheatre opened July 21, 1998, the first venue of its kind in

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...

. On August 21, 1998, the venue hosted its first sell-out concert with the English pop girl group

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and Vict ...

. All of the Universal Concerts facilities, including Coors Amphitheatre, were purchased by House of Blues in late 1999.

Live Nation Entertainment Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American global entertainment company and monopoly that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The company promotes, operates, and manages ticket sales for live entertainme ...

purchased

House of Blues House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers''. The first location opened at ...

, including 8 amphitheaters and eleven clubs, in July 2006. In April 2008, the venue was renamed Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre after naming rights were purchased by

Cricket Wireless Cricket Wireless is an American prepaid wireless service provider, owned by AT&T. It provides wireless services to ten million subscribers in the United States. Cricket Wireless was founded in March 1999 by Leap Wireless International. AT&T ac ...

. In January 2013, the venue was renamed to Sleep Train Amphitheater after the naming rights were purchased by

Sleep Train Mattress Firm Inc. is an American mattress store chain founded on July 4, 1986. The headquarters of the company is located in Houston, Texas. Business Before its bankruptcy in 2018, the company operated over 3,600 locations in 48 U.S. states. ...

, as part a five-year naming rights deal with Live Nation. On February 16, 2017, Sleep Train Amphitheatre was renamed to Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, to coincide with its partnership with

Mattress Firm Mattress Firm Inc. is an American mattress store chain founded on July 4, 1986. The headquarters of the company is located in Houston, Texas. Business Before its bankruptcy in 2018, the company operated over 3,600 locations in 48 U.S. states. ...

. On November 1, 2018, the venue was renamed to North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre, as the naming rights were purchased by Live Nation. It was in part of a ten-year name-in-title sponsorship deal with North Island Credit Union of San Diego.

Venue

The Amphitheatre features 9,468 chairback seats and 10,024 lawn seats. During the spring, summer and fall months it is used mostly for first-tier concert tours, due primarily to its capacity.

References

External links

Mattress Firm Amphitheatre Web Site
{{Authority control Amphitheaters in California Music venues in California Buildings and structures in San Diego County, California Tourist attractions in San Diego County, California Music venues completed in 1998 Culture of Chula Vista, California Buildings and structures in Chula Vista, California

History

Venue

See also

References

External links