The Santander Arena (formerly known as the Sovereign Center) is a 7,160-seat multi-purpose arena, in Reading, Pennsylvania. It was built in 2001. The arena sits on the former site of the

Astor Theater The Astor Theatre was located at 1537 Broadway, at West 45th Street in Times Square in New York City. It opened September 21, 1906, with Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' and continued to operate as a Broadway theatre until 1925. From 1 ...

; one of several grand movie and theater palaces built in Reading in the early 20th century. Closed in 1975, the theater sat vacant for over two decades. In 1998, the Astor was demolished to make room for the Santander Arena. Early in construction, steps were taken to retain mementos of the Astor, including its ornate Art Deco chandelier and gates. These are on display and in use inside the arena corridors, allowing insight into the ambience of the former movie house. The Santander Arena is owned by the Berks County Convention Center Authority and managed by

ASM Global 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 event ...

. In 2000, the Rajah Shrine Theater was purchased, and after a thorough restoration and updating of the facilities was renamed the Sovereign Performing Arts Center. The Reading Eagle Theater is part of the complex. On October 13, 2013, the building's name was changed from Sovereign Center to Santander Arena. The arena is home to the

Reading Royals The Reading Royals are a professional ice hockey team that currently plays in the ECHL. The team participates in the North Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. The Royals play their home games at the Santander Arena located in downtown R ...

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 h ...

team in 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 ...

as well as the Alvernia University Golden Wolves ice hockey team of the NCAA DIII. It was formerly home to the

Reading Railers The Reading Railers were a team of the Premier Basketball League that began play in 2007. They played their home games at the Sovereign Center. The team was originally going to play in the American Basketball Association The American Baske ...

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 ...

team, the New York Majesty

Lingerie Football League The Extreme Football League (X League) is an American women's semi-professional tackle football league. The league was originally founded in 2009 as the Lingerie Football League (LFL), and later rebranded as the Legends Football League in 2013. ...

team, the

Reading Rockets The Reading Rockets are an English semi-professional basketball club based in the town of Reading, England. Founded in 1997, the Rockets compete in NBL Division 1, the second tier of the British basketball system. History The Rockets were f ...

box lacrosse Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in Canada in the 1930s, where it is more popular than field lacrosse. Lacrosse is Canada's officia ...

team, and the Reading Express indoor football team. The arena has hosted Jehovah's Witnesses District Conventions from 2005 to 2013 and will host the renamed Regional Conventions of Jehovah's Witnesses beginning in 2015.

Features

The arena contains 701 club seats and 20 luxury suites. The arena offers of banquet space on the arena floor. With seating for up to 1,200 guests, the Santander Arena can accommodate large functions as well as smaller ones using the Reading Eagle Theater at the Santander Arena setup. The arena also offers a multipurpose room which measures and accommodate functions for up to 200 guests. With the exception of the suites, all seats are standard chairbacks and there is a center-hung videoboard which also functions as a scoreboard for hockey and other sporting events. The seating bowl is surrounded by a concourse which features generic concessions as well as local vendors such as Pennsylvania-based Chickie's & Pete's.

Notable events

* Phish performed at Santander on October 29th, 2013 as part of their Fall Tour. This performance is widely considered the stand-out night of that year’s Fall run. *

Trey Anastasio Band Since 1998, Trey Anastasio, best known from Phish, has toured and recorded with several backing musicians, including several side-projects organized and led by the guitarist and composer. Fans commonly referred to them as Trey Anastasio Band, o ...

Goose A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the ...

performed at Santander on November 19th, 2022. * Barenaked Ladies performed for the first time in Reading at the arena on November 21, 2001. *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 ...

hosted a

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, Connecticu ...

event at this venue in 2006. *

Skate America Skate America is an international, senior-level figure skating competition held as part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. It is hosted by U.S. Figure Skating. The location changes yearly. Medals are awarded in four disciplines: men ...

was held at the arena in 2003 and 2007. * Slipknot, Korn, and

King 810 King 810 (pronounced ''King eight one oh''; formerly known as, and often shortened to, simply King) is an American heavy metal band from Flint, Michigan, formed in 2007. The band currently consists of David Gunn and Eugene Gill, with touring m ...

performed in 2014. *Day one of the East Coast Tsunami Fest 2015, featuring

Wu Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close affi ...

, Mobb Deep, Bodycount w Ice-T,

Wisdom In Chains Wisdom in Chains is an American hardcore punk band based out of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The band's name is taken from the lyrics of a song by the New York hardcore band Killing Time. "Wisdom", from Killing Time's 1989 debut album, '' Bright ...

Turnstile A turnstile (also called a turnpike, gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce one-way human traffic. In addition, a ...

and more, will be held here on Friday, September 25.East Coast Tsunami Fest 2015 lineup revealed
/ref> *

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American country music band founded in 1999. The band members were Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background vocals). DeMarcus is LeVox's second cou ...

& Chase Bryant performed as part of Rascal Flatts "Rhythm & Roots Tour" on October 8, 2016. *

Eric Church Kenneth Eric Church (born May 3, 1977) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He has released nine studio albums through Capitol Nashville since 2005. His debut album, 2006's '' Sinners Like Me'', produced three singles on the ''Billboar ...

performed as part of his Holdin' My Own Tour on May 18, 2017. *

Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance ...

performed as part of their "The Stage World Tour" on January 16, 2018. *Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live made their first appearance here on May 21 & 22, 2022.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Basketball venues in Pennsylvania Indoor arenas in Pennsylvania Indoor ice hockey venues in the United States Indoor lacrosse venues in the United States Indoor soccer venues in the United States Legends Football League venues Sports in Reading, Pennsylvania Sports venues in Pennsylvania Tourist attractions in Reading, Pennsylvania Sports venues completed in 2001 2001 establishments in Pennsylvania