The Family Arena is a multi-purpose
arena
An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...
in
St. Charles, Missouri, built in 1999.
Currently it is home to the
St. Louis Ambush of the
Major Arena Soccer League.
Background
The arena seats 9,643 for hockey, 9,755 for football, 10,467 for basketball, 6,339 for half-house concerts and up to 11,522 for end-stage concerts. In addition to sporting events, concerts, circuses and ice shows the arena is also used for trade shows with a total of of exhibit space ( on the arena floor and on the arena concourse). In December of 2023, it was announced that the Family Area was getting a $13 million dollar makeover.
Until
Chaifetz Arena opened in 2008, Family Arena was the St. Louis stop for the
Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus,
Disney on Ice and
Champions on Ice. The latter moved to Chaifetz that year while the circus and Disney on Ice moved to
Enterprise Center to replace the
St. Louis Billikens, who had also moved to Chaifetz.
Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball tournament
From 2008 to 2015, the Family Arena was host to the
Missouri Valley Conference
The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...
Women's Basketball Tournament.
Religious events and concerts
The Family Arena has served as an annual location for one of many world wide regional Bible conventions hosted by
Jehovah's Witnesses. The
Christian rock band
MercyMe performed at Family Arena annually from 2007 until 2013.
Professional wrestling
The Family Arena has also been host to nationally televised
professional wrestling
Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...
events. The arena was the site of the
ECW's
Wrestlepalooza 2000 event on April 16, 2000. The arena also hosted
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's
Lockdown pay-per-view on April 15, 2007 and the
2010 edition on April 18, 2010. The arena also hosted
Ring of Honor’s
Gateway to Honor on February 29, 2020.
High school and college commencement ceremonies
The arena has hosted commencement ceremonies for
Lindenwood University,
Missouri Baptist University and
Maryville University as well as for several area high schools.
2017 NCAA Women's Frozen Four
The 2017
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
National Collegiate Women's Ice Hockey Tournament, known as the "Frozen Four," was held at the Family Arena in 2017. The quarterfinals were contested at the campuses of the seeded teams on March 11, 2017. The Frozen Four was played on March 17 and 19, 2017 at Family Arena, with
Lindenwood University serving as the host. An agreement with the Big Ten Network resulted in the championship game being televised live for the first time since 2010. The tournament was won by with a 3–0 win over , giving the Golden Knights their second title in program history.
Professional sports
Family Arena served as the former home of the
St. Louis Swarm 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 (appro ...
team, the
Missouri River Otters and
St. Charles Chill ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
teams, the
RiverCity Rage and
River City Raiders indoor football teams, and the
St. Louis Steamers indoor soccer team.
References
External links
Family Arena
{{Authority control
St. Charles, Missouri
Ice hockey venues in the United States
Basketball venues in Missouri
Convention centers in Missouri
Indoor soccer venues in Missouri
Sports in St. Charles, Missouri
Buildings and structures in St. Charles County, Missouri
Music venues in Missouri
Tourist attractions in St. Charles County, Missouri
1999 establishments in Missouri
Sports venues completed in 1999
Indoor arenas in Missouri
Sports venues in St. Louis
Sports venues in Missouri