From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

BankAtlantic Center
Location	One Panther Parkway Sunrise, Florida 33323
Broke ground	October, 1996
Opened	October 3, 1998
Owner	Broward County
Construction cost	$185 million[1]
Architect	Ellerbe Becket
Former names	Broward County Civic Arena (1998) National Car Rental Center (1998-2002) Office Depot Center (2002-2005)
Tenants
Florida Panthers (NHL) (1998-present) Florida Pit Bulls (ABA) (2005-2006) Florida Bobcats (AFL) (1999-2001) Florida ThunderCats (NPSL) (1998-1999)
Capacity
Basketball: 20,737 Hockey: 19,250 End-Stage Conserts: 15,207 - 21,371 Center-Stage Conserts: 22,457[1]

The BankAtlantic Center (previously known as National Car Rental Center, Broward County Civic Arena and Office Depot Center) is an indoor arena located in Sunrise, a suburb west of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, near the popular Sawgrass Mills Mall. The arena is easily accessible off of the Sawgrass Expressway at the Oakland Park Boulevard exit.

The arena was completed in 1998 at a cost of $185 million, almost entirely publicly financed. The arena features 70 suites and 2,300 club seats.^[1]

Plans to develop property surrounding the arena are currently in progress. The plan involves getting rid of the parking lot surrounding the building, in order to place high-rise apartments, as well as restaurants and retail businesses. An underground parking garage will be built to accommodate people driving into the arena for events.

Contents 1 Regular events 2 Notable events 2.1 Boxing and wrestling 2.2 Barbra Streisand 3 Capacity 3.1 Seating 3.2 Parking and loading docks 3.3 Food and novelty concessions 4 Notes 5 External links

The arena is home to the Florida Panthers of the NHL and formerly the Florida Pit Bulls of the ABA and the Florida Bobcats of the AFL 1998-2001 along with the only season of the Florida ThunderCats.

The arena has also hosted the 2003 NHL All-Star Game and the 2005-2006 ABA All-Star game.

• U2 started their Elevation Tour at the arena in 2001.^[2]
• Guns N' Roses started their 2006/2007 North American "Chinese Democracy" tour in the arena on the October 24, 2006.
• In 2007 the 14 year old teen pop star Miley Cyrus sold out the arena in a matter of minutes for her Best of Both Worlds Tour. Tickets could be resold for $65 - $3,700^[3]

The arena has held boxing and wrestling evens such as Bash at the Beach '99, Armageddon '99 and Armageddon 2002. Also hosted Monday Night Raw on 11/19 which returned Chris Jericho

On October 30, 2006, Barbra Streisand was pelted with a beverage and, as her politically-charged presentation ended, another man in the crowd found himself being escorted out as he shouted at her. Streisand shrugged both incidents off, saying some people would do better to buy her records than come to her shows.

• Basketball: 20,737
• Hockey: 19,250
• End-Stage Concerts: 15,207 - 21,371
• Center-Stage Concerts: 22,457
• 17,000 square feet (1,600 m²) of arena floor space for trade shows and other events such as circuses and ice shows.^[1]

• Total: 7,045 Spaces (Does not include production or bus/oversized vehicle parking)
• General Parking: 4,787 Spaces
• Suite/Club Seat Parking: 1,430 Spaces
• Garage: 226 Spaces
• Disabled Parking: 90 Spaces
• Event Staff: 512 Spaces
• Truck Doors: 5
• Waste Removal Docks: 2^[1]

• Plaza Level: 3 Food Courts and Pantherland Retail
• Mezzanine Level: 3 Food Courts and two Points of Purchase Kiosks^[1]

• BankAtlantic Center

Preceded by Miami Arena 1993–1998

Home of the Florida Panthers 1998–present

Succeeded by current

Coordinates: 26°9′30″N, 80°19′31″W

v • d • e Current arenas in the National Hockey League
Eastern Conference	Air Canada Centre · BankAtlantic Center · Bell Centre · HSBC Arena · Madison Square Garden · Mellon Arena · Nassau Coliseum · Philips Arena · Prudential Center · RBC Center · St. Pete Times Forum · Scotiabank Place · TD Banknorth Garden · Verizon Center · Wachovia Center
Western Conference	American Airlines Center · General Motors Place · HP Pavilion · Honda Center · Jobing.com Arena · Joe Louis Arena · Nationwide Arena · Pengrowth Saddledome · Pepsi Center · Rexall Place · Scottrade Center · Sommet Center · Staples Center · United Center · Xcel Energy Center

Current arenas in the Continental Basketball Association
Western Conference		Eastern Conference
Butte Civic Center | Four Seasons Arena | Great Plains Coliseum | McAllen Convention Center | Yakima SunDome		Eastern Kentucky Expo Center | John H. Lewis Gymnasium | Mellon Arena | Minot Municipal Auditorium | Washington Avenue Armory