T-Mobile Arena is a multi-purpose
indoor 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
Paradise, Nevada
Paradise is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, adjacent to the city of Las Vegas. It was formed on December 8, 1950. Its population was 191,238 at the 2020 census, making it the fif ...
. Opened on April 6, 2016, it is the home arena of the
Vegas Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. Founded in 2017 as an expan ...
of the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
(NHL). A joint venture between
MGM Resorts International
MGM Resorts International is an American global hospitality and entertainment company operating destination resorts in Las Vegas, Massachusetts, Detroit, Mississippi, Maryland, and New Jersey, including Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, and Pa ...
and
Anschutz Entertainment Group
The Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), also known as AEG Worldwide, is an American global sporting and music entertainment presenter and a subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation. It is the world's largest owner of sports teams and sports even ...
(AEG), T-Mobile Arena is situated on the
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of ...
near the
New York-New York
New York-New York Hotel and Casino is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States. It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International, and is designed to evoke New York City in its architectu ...
and
Park MGM
The Park MGM, formerly Monte Carlo Resort and Casino, is a megaresort hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The hotel, with a height of , has 32 floors, including a casino floor with 1,400 slot machines, 60 ...
casino hotels.
T-Mobile Arena has hosted various sports and entertainment events, with the latter including concerts,
award shows, and
beauty pageants
A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...
. The arena has also hosted various
combat sport
A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the oppon ...
events, including
mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...
(MMA),
boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
, and
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 o ...
. MMA promoter
Ultimate Fighting Championship
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 ...
(UFC) signed a long-term tenancy agreement with T-Mobile Arena in 2017, under which it agreed to host four events per-year over the next seven years.
History
The
Anschutz Entertainment Group
The Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), also known as AEG Worldwide, is an American global sporting and music entertainment presenter and a subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation. It is the world's largest owner of sports teams and sports even ...
(AEG) first tried to build an arena in Las Vegas in association with
Harrah's Entertainment
Harrah's Entertainment (later named Caesars Entertainment Corporation, previously The Promus Companies) was an American casino and hotel company founded in Reno, Nevada, and based in Paradise, Nevada, that operated over 50 properties and seven g ...
. In 2007, the joint venture announced they would build a 20,000 seat stadium behind the
Bally's and
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
casino-hotels.
Caesars Entertainment
Caesars Entertainment, Inc., formerly Eldorado Resorts, Inc., is an American hotel and casino entertainment company founded and based in Reno, Nevada that operates more than 50 properties. Eldorado Resorts acquired Caesars Entertainment Corpora ...
had previously envisioned using the location to build a
baseball park
A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimensions can vary widely from place to pla ...
, but the company's buyout by Harrah's cancelled the plans. Through the following year, Harrah's became uncertain on continuing with the project, not knowing if AEG would split the costs, and whether building a major league-ready stadium without a guaranteed franchise to play on it would be feasible given the enduring
financial crisis
A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and man ...
. The original plans were to break ground in June 2008 and finish the arena in 2010, but by 2009, it was revealed that the stalled project had not even done a traffic study despite being located near a busy intersection. In 2010, the plans were changed to use an area behind the
Imperial Palace. However, given the financing would require a special taxation district, opposition from
Clark County regarding using public money in the project stalled it even further. AEG eventually backed out completely by 2012, once
MGM Resorts International
MGM Resorts International is an American global hospitality and entertainment company operating destination resorts in Las Vegas, Massachusetts, Detroit, Mississippi, Maryland, and New Jersey, including Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, and Pa ...
came up with their own project using a terrain behind the
New York-New York
New York-New York Hotel and Casino is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States. It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International, and is designed to evoke New York City in its architectu ...
and
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...
resorts. This attracted AEG primarily for not relying on public funding.
MGM and AEG announced their joint arena plan on March 1, 2013. Plans were further fleshed out over the following months with the announcement of a $100-million pedestrian shopping area, The Park, to serve as a gateway to the arena, and the retention of prominent sports architecture firm
Populous to design the project. Other firms on the project include: the ICON Venue Group,
Thornton Tomasetti
Thornton Tomasetti (formerly the Thornton-Tomasetti Group, Thornton Tomasetti Engineers, Lev Zetlin & Associates, LZA Technology and Weidlinger Associates) is a global, 1,500-plus person scientific and engineering consulting firm.
Services
Tho ...
, ME Engineers, Penta Building Group and
Hunt Construction Group
Hunt Construction Group is an American construction management firm based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company was formerly known as Huber, Hunt & Nichols was founded in 1944 by Paul B. Hunt, Arber J. Huber and Harry S. Nichols. The firm change ...
.
The project broke ground on May 1, 2014,
followed by the demolition of existing buildings, and excavation of an oval area for the arena. The final steel beam of the structure was placed on May 27, 2015.
In January 2016,
T-Mobile US
T-Mobile US, Inc. is an American wireless network operator headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas and Bellevue, Washington, U.S. Its largest shareholder is a multinational telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG, which , holds 48.4 perc ...
announced that it had acquired the
naming rights
Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...
to the new arena in a multi-year contract. The arena held its grand opening on April 6, 2016, with a concert by Las Vegas natives
The Killers
The Killers are an American rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingd ...
,
Shamir and
Wayne Newton
Carson Wayne Newton (born April 3, 1942) is an American singer and actor. One of the most popular singers in the nation from the mid-to-late 20th-century, Newton remains one of the best-known entertainers in Las Vegas. He is known by the nicknam ...
. Country music artists
Martina McBride
Martina Mariea McBride (née Schiff, born July 29, 1966) is an American country music singer-songwriter and record producer. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material.
McBride was born in Sharon, Kansas, and relocat ...
and
Cam
Calmodulin (CaM) (an abbreviation for calcium-modulated protein) is a multifunctional intermediate calcium-binding messenger protein expressed in all eukaryotic cells. It is an intracellular target of the secondary messenger Ca2+, and the bin ...
performed at a
soft opening
A soft launch, also known as a soft opening, is a preview release of a product or service to a limited audience prior to the general public. Soft-launching a product is sometimes used to gather data or customer feedback, prior to making it widely ...
on March 31, 2016.
In 2016, the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
awarded an expansion team to a Las Vegas ownership group led by
Bill Foley
William Foley is an American photojournalist whose work has been recognized by several national and international awards, including a Pulitzer Prize and International Press Freedom Awards. He has worked on assignment in 47 countries, with a p ...
, with T-Mobile Arena as its home venue.
As part of the team's lease, Foley negotiated an option to buy a stake in the arena from MGM and AEG.
He exercised that option in September 2016, buying a 15 percent interest for around $35 million.
File:TMobile Arena Inside .jpg, Interior of venue, shown on March 31, 2016
File:Frozen Fury, Las Vegas (35162282886).jpg, Interior during a hockey game.
File:T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.jpg, T-Mobile Arena at night
File:U2 Experience and Innocence Tour post-show Las Vegas 5-12-18.jpg, U2 at T-Mobile Arena
File:T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas (34836465501).jpg, T-Mobile Arena
Tenants
During its construction, T-Mobile Arena was pointed to as the home arena for a possible
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
expansion team
An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...
in Las Vegas.
The expansion bid was approved and announced by the NHL on June 22, 2016; the new team, the
Vegas Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. Founded in 2017 as an expan ...
, began play in the 2017–18 season.
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship
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 ...
's first event at the venue was
UFC 200
''UFC 200: Tate vs. Nunes'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on July 9, 2016, at the T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada.
It was the final UFC event under the ownership of ...
, held on July 9, 2016.
In March 2017, the UFC signed a seven-year agreement to become an official tenant of T-Mobile Arena. The promotion agreed to host at least four events per-year at the facility, in exchange for receiving permanent retail space and signage.
The
Professional Bull Riders
The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) is an international professional bull riding organization based in Pueblo, Colorado, United States. In the U.S., PBR events have been televised on CBS and CBS Sports Network since 2012. In 2013, the ...
World Finals moved to T-Mobile Arena in 2016, moving from the
Thomas & Mack Center
The Thomas & Mack Center is a multi-purpose arena located on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada. It is home of the UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team of the Mountain West Conference.
History
The facility was fi ...
,
followed by the
Pac-12 Conference men's basketball tournament
The Pac-12 Conference men's basketball tournament, otherwise known as the Pac-12 tournament, is the annual concluding tournament for the NCAA college basketball in the Pac-12, taking place in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena.
History
The predecess ...
, which moved from the
MGM Grand Garden Arena
The MGM Grand Garden Arena (originally known as the MGM Grand Garden Special Events Center) is a 17,000-seat multi-purpose arena located within the MGM Grand Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip.
Sporting events
From its opening on December 18, 1993 ...
.
The
UNLV men's basketball team played at least one game at T-Mobile Arena in each of the first three seasons after the venue's opening. The Runnin' Rebels played and lost to
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
in December 2016, defeated
Rice
Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima
''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...
and
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
in successive games in November 2017, and defeated
BYU
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...
in November 2018.
Notable events
In addition to Golden Knights games and UFC events, a number of major sporting events have been held at the arena, including boxing matches such as
Canelo Álvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin
Canelo Álvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin, billed as ''Supremacy'', was a professional boxing match contested for the unified WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, IBO, ''Ring'' magazine, and lineal middleweight championship. The bout was on September 16, 201 ...
and
Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor
Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor, billed as ''The Money Fight'' and ''The Biggest Fight in Combat Sports History'', was a professional boxing match between undefeated eleven-time five-division boxing world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. ...
. By virtue of the Golden Knights winning the
2017–18 Western Conference finals, it also played host to three games of the
2018 Stanley Cup Finals, between the Golden Knights and the
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL) ...
, including the cup-clinching fifth game which awarded the Capitals their first
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
in franchise history.
The arena has hosted nationally televised entertainment events such as the
Academy of Country Music Awards
The Academy of Country Music Awards, also known as the ACM Awards, were first held in 1966, honoring the industry's accomplishments during the previous year. It was the first country music awards program held by a major organization. The academy ...
, the
Billboard Music Awards
The ''Billboard'' Music Awards are honors given out annually by '' Billboard'', a publication covering the music business and a music popularity chart. The ''Billboard'' Music Awards show has been held annually since 1990, with the exception of ...
, the
iHeartRadio Music Festival
The iHeartRadio Music Festival is a two-day music concert festival held every year in September since 2011 by iHeartRadio along the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.
From 2011 to 2015, the festival was held at the MGM Gran ...
, the
Latin Grammy Awards
The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been r ...
, and the
Miss USA
Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, ...
beauty pageant. It is also a stop on many national concert tours, and hosts
Strait to Vegas
Strait to Vegas is a concert residency by country music artist George Strait at T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip. It has included 17 weekends of concerts, beginning on April 22, 2016, and is scheduled to continue through at least December 3, 2 ...
, a
concert residency
A concert residency (also known as musical residency or simply residency) is a series of concerts, similar to a concert tour
A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countrie ...
by
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 ...
.
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 ...
hosted the first
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 o ...
event at the arena in June 2016, with its
Money in the Bank pay-per-view.
All Elite Wrestling
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is considered the second largest wrestling promotion in the United States behind WWE.
AEW is owned by Shahid Khan and his son Tony, w ...
(AEW) made its debut at the arena with
Double or Nothing
Double or nothing (UK often double or quits) is a gamble to decide whether a loss or debt should be doubled. The result of a "double or nothing" bet is either the subject doubled to twice the amount as the original ''or'' the doubling of a debt. It ...
in 2022, which was the promotion's first event to exceed $1 million in gate revenue.
See also
*
Allegiant Stadium
Allegiant Stadium is a domed stadium located in Paradise, Nevada. It is the home stadium for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL), the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Rebels college football team, the Las Ve ...
, the home of the
NFL's
Las Vegas Raiders
The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West divis ...
and
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 ...
's
UNLV Rebels football
The UNLV Rebels football program is a college football team that represents the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The team is a member of the Mountain West Conference, which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) conferenc ...
*
Las Vegas Ballpark
Las Vegas Ballpark is a baseball stadium in Summerlin South, Nevada, Summerlin South, Nevada in the Las Vegas Valley. It is the home field for the Las Vegas Aviators of the Pacific Coast League. The stadium is owned by the Howard Hughes Corporati ...
, the home of the
International League
The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...
's
Las Vegas Aviators
The Las Vegas Aviators, formerly known as the Las Vegas 51s and Las Vegas Stars, are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. They are located in Summerlin South, Nevada ...
*
MGM Grand Garden Arena
The MGM Grand Garden Arena (originally known as the MGM Grand Garden Special Events Center) is a 17,000-seat multi-purpose arena located within the MGM Grand Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip.
Sporting events
From its opening on December 18, 1993 ...
*
Michelob Ultra Arena
The Michelob Ultra Arena, formerly the Mandalay Bay Events Center, is a 12,000-seat multi-purpose indoor arena at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by MGM Resorts Int ...
, formerly known as the Mandalay Bay Events Center
*
Orleans Arena
Orleans Arena is a 9,500-seat multi-purpose arena in Paradise, Nevada, in the Las Vegas Valley. It is located at the Orleans Hotel and Casino and is operated by Coast Casinos, a subsidiary of Boyd Gaming Corporation.
The arena is the home to ...
*
All Net Resort and Arena
All Net Resort & Arena is a planned entertainment complex in Las Vegas. A project of businessman and former basketball player Jackie Robinson, the complex will encompass a resort hotel, retail and restaurant space, and a multi-purpose arena with a ...
, a new arena set to open in 2025
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
T-Mobile US branded venue
2016 establishments in Nevada
Anschutz Corporation
Buildings and structures in Paradise, Nevada
Basketball venues in Nevada
Boxing venues in Las Vegas
Deutsche Telekom
Event venues established in 2016
Indoor arenas in Las Vegas
Indoor ice hockey venues in the United States
Mixed martial arts venues in Nevada
Music venues in the Las Vegas Valley
National Hockey League venues
Rodeo venues in the United States
Sports venues completed in 2016
Sports venues in Las Vegas
Vegas Golden Knights