The Now Arena (originally known as the Sears Centre, Sears Centre Arena and stylized as NOW Arena) is a multi-purpose

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 ...

Hoffman Estates, Illinois Hoffman Estates is a village in Illinois, United States. The village is located primarily in Cook County, with a small section in Kane County. It is a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 52,530. The village now serves a ...

, 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 (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, near land which formerly contained the

Poplar Creek Music Theater Poplar Creek Music Theater was a concert venue located in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The amphitheatre opened in 1980 and closed in 1994. It hosted a variety of popular musical acts during its 15-season existence. It consisted of a covered pav ...

. Since 2016, the arena has been home to the

Windy City Bulls The Windy City Bulls are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, and are affiliated with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls play their home games at Now Arena, from Chicago. It became the thirte ...

, the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...

' affiliate in the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

History

The venue was a joint venture between

Sears Holdings Sears Holdings Corporation was an American holding company headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It was the parent company of the chain stores Kmart and Sears and was founded after the former purchased the latter in 2005. It was the 20th-l ...

, 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 Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

. 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

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. 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'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''). Twelve sp ...

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 Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

's wrestling program, have been hosted at the Sears Centre. *September 1, 2018: All In, the largest ever

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

professional wrestling event, presented by

Cody Rhodes Cody Garrett Runnels Rhodes (''né'' Runnels; born June 30, 1985) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Rhodes is also known for his time in All Elite Wrestling (AEW ...

and

The Young Bucks The Young Bucks are an American professional wrestling tag team and promoters, consisting of brothers Matthew and Nicholas Massie, who are known by their ring names Matt and Nick Jackson, respectively. They are signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW ...

, featuring wrestlers from various independent wrestling promotions and from

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...

, including

Kenny Omega Tyson Smith (born October 16, 1983), better known by the ring name Kenny Omega, is a Canadian-born professional wrestler. Omega is an executive vice president of All Elite Wrestling (AEW), in which he also performs. Omega is a former one-time ...

and

Kazuchika Okada (born November 8, 1987) is a Japanese professional wrestler 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 dramati ...

. This event was considered the springboard for the creation of

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) 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 A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. * November 27, 2019: hosted the Thanksgiving Eve special episode of ''

AEW Dynamite AEW or aew may refer to: * Airborne early warning, airborne radar system for detecting aircraft * Aerosvit Airlines, an airline based in Kyiv, Ukraine (ICAO airline designator: AEW) * AEW Capital Management, a property investment management company ...

''. * 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 United States of America Gymnastics (USA Gymnastics or USAG) is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. Established in 1963 as the U.S. Gymnastics Federation (USGF), USA Gymnastics is responsible for selecting and traini ...

*2013 U.S. Challenge (July 26, 2013) *2013

U.S. Classic The U.S. Classic is an annual summer gymnastics meet for elite artistic gymnasts of the United States. The meet occurs before Nationals and is a qualifier for it. In Olympic years, the aforementioned meets along with the U.S. Olympic Trials are u ...

(July 27, 2013) *2014 U.S. Classic (August 2, 2014) * 2015 U.S. Classic (July 25, 2015) * 2017 U.S. Classic (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