Ball Arena

Pepsi Center
The Can
File:200px-Pepsi Center logo.svg
Location	1000 Chopper Circle Denver, Colorado 80204
Broke ground	1997
Opened	1999
Owner	E. Stanley Kroenke
Operator	E. Stanley Kroenke
Surface	Multi-Surface
Construction cost	$160 million USD
Architect	Populous
Tenants	Colorado Avalanche (NHL) (1999-present) Denver Nuggets (NBA) (1999-present) Colorado Mammoth (NLL) (2002-present) Colorado Crush (AFL) (2003-present) Democratic National Convention (2008) MWC Conference Tournament (2004-2006)
Capacity	Basketball: 19,309 Hockey, Lacrosse: 18,007 Arena Football: 17,417 Concerts: up to 25,000

For the arenas in Quebec City, see Colisée Pepsi; Indianapolis, see Pepsi Coliseum; Corner Brook, see Pepsi Centre (Corner Brook); Albany, New York (formerly known as the Pepsi Arena) see Times Union Center.

Pepsi Center (aka The Can) is an arena located in Denver, Colorado, USA. The building is home to the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Mammoth and Colorado Crush. When not in use by one of Denver's sports teams, the building frequently serves as a concert venue.

The arena is named for its chief corporate sponsor, PepsiCo. The building is properly called "Pepsi Center", not "The Pepsi Center".

Construction

Pepsi Center was constructed as part of a massive 6-year sporting venue upgrade in Denver along with Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies, and Invesco Field, home of the Denver Broncos. The complex was constructed to be readily accessible. The arena sits on Speer Boulevard, a main thoroughfare in downtown Denver, and is served by a nearby exit off of Interstate 25. There is also a light rail station on the western side of the complex.

Ground was broken for the arena on November 20, 1997, on the 4.6 acre site. Its completion in October 1999 was marked by a Celine Dion concert. Capacity for the building is listed at 19,309 for basketball games, 18,007 for hockey and lacrosse, and 17,417 for arena football games. Also included in the complex are a basketball practice facility used by the Nuggets, and the Blue Sky Grill, a restaurant accessible from within and outside the Center itself. The atrium of the building houses a suspended sculpture depicting various hockey and basketball athletes in action poses.

Before the construction of Pepsi Center, the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche played in McNichols Sports Arena, a building that has since been torn down to serve as a parking lot for nearby Invesco Field.

Activity

Pepsi Center's interior during an NCAA hockey tournament.

Pepsi Center hosted the 2001 NHL All-Star Game, the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals, and the 2005 NBA All-Star Game. From 2004–2006, the center has hosted the Mountain West Conference men's basketball tournament. The NCAA Men's ice hockey Frozen Four West Regional was hosted on March 24 and March 25, 2007. The Centrix Financial Grand Prix of Denver was held in the parking lot from 2002–2006. In 2004, Denver, Colorado was selected as one of five cities in the U.S. to host the Dew Action Sports Tour, a new extreme sports franchise that began in 2005. Titled the Right Guard Open, the inaugural event was held at Pepsi Center from July 6–10. The Dew Action Sports returned to Denver for its second year in 2006 on July 13–16. During the week of July 2–8, 2007, the arena hosted the International Convention and Contests of the Barbershop Harmony Society, a men's singing organization. Pepsi center also hosted WWE Vengeance 2003.

The NCAA Men's ice hockey Frozen Four tournament was held at the arena on on April 10 and April 12, 2008. Pepsi Center also hosted the 2008 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament as a first and second round site. It hosted the tournament in the same fashion in 2004. The center was also used in aerial shot of the 2007 film Blades of Glory starring Will Ferrell.

The arena also hosted the 2008 Democratic National Convention, although the party's presidential nominee, Senator Barack Obama, made his acceptance speech at the nearby INVESCO Field at Mile High. To prepare for the convention, Pepsi Center underwent large scale projects including electrical power increases and the installation of new transformers by Xcel Energy (which, as fate would have it, is the namesake of the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, which hosted the 2008 Republican National Convention the following week) and telecommunications wiring by Qwest. A backup generator was installed that has the capacity to power the entire city of Pueblo, CO. Roughly 12 miles of fiber optic cables were installed for the massive communication needs of the convention.

On November 4, 2008, Pepsi Center hosted KBPI's Infest, which featured Metallica, Down, and The Sword.

In Popular Culture

Pepsi Center appears in the South Park episodes Stanley's Cup and The Ring.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Pepsi Center

• Pepsi Center website
• Google maps

Preceded by McNichols Sports Arena	Home of the Denver Nuggets 1999 – present	Succeeded by current
Preceded by McNichols Sports Arena	Home of the Colorado Avalanche 1999 – present	Succeeded by current
Preceded by Air Canada Centre	Host of the NHL All-Star Game 2001	Succeeded by Staples Center
Preceded by first arena	Home of the Colorado Mammoth 2003 – present	Succeeded by current
Preceded by first arena	Home of the Colorado Crush 2003 – present	Succeeded by current
Preceded by Staples Center	Host of the NBA All-Star Game 2005	Succeeded by Toyota Center
Preceded by FleetCenter	Host of the Democratic National Convention 2008	Succeeded by TBD
Preceded by Scottrade Center	Host of the NCAA Frozen Four 2008	Succeeded by Verizon Center

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