The Spurs are returning to the Alamodome for one game to celebrate their 50th anniversary, but in a full-stadium configuration used by the NCAA Final Four. Its old basketball setup is used for the Texas high school tournaments. Kiel Auditorium was best known for the Veiled Prophet Ball, and its stage was shared with the adjourning Opera House. The Opera House still stands today, but the arena was replaced by Enterprise Center (originally called Kiel Center) for the St. Louis Blues, replacing the old St. Louis Arena (Checkerdome), where the Hawks played occasionally.
I saw that Friday night. I remember when they used to cover some sections of the seats with big blue curtains when the spurs were regular tenants there til the now AT&T center opened 20 years ago
I hate when they play basketball in an indoor football stadium. Ya got 80,000 seats but only about 10,000 are any good. I did like when they would 'half dome' it as they did in the 80's and 90's. 4:42 Those would have about 40,000 seats but probably 30,000 had a good view of the game.
Yeah, when I saw the Sonics come up in this video, I figured an 80% chance it would be about the Kingdome, and a 20% chance it would be about the T-Dome. Turned out to be the latter. Which pleased me, actually.
The Sonics played in Tacoma Dome one year only because Seattle Center Coliseum was being gutted and rebuilt within the existing roof… this became Key Arena. The Kingdome was used for full seasons from 1978-85, supposedly, and for select games before the Key renovation. Of course the Sonics and the Kingdome are gone, and Key Arena has been gutted and rebuilt within the existing roof as Climate Pledge Arena, as home for the NHL Seattle Kraken and awaiting what many believe to be new NBA expansion to Seattle.
Couple small corrections: The Raptors arena isn’t just for them. They share it with the NHL’s Maple Leafs. The Indiana State Fair Coliseum’s main tenant nowadays is the Indy Fuel hockey team of the ECHL, essentially the equivalent of AA in baseball.
The Air Canada Centre started out as an arena just for the Raptors, but midway through construction they struck a deal with the Leafs to share it with them and modifications were made to accommodate hockey. As I recall, both the Leafs and the Raptors wanted to build new arenas in the 1990s, and there was kind of a competition to see which plan would prevail.
@@sacvideo1998 The building was also originally constructed in 1938 and served as the Toronto Postal Delivery Building, there is a lot of the original building they didn't tear down, namely the eastern and southern walls, they kept the facade and built the new arena behind it.
The Raptors' original idea was for what is now the Scotiabank Arena was to build a stadium specifically for basketball, but then the Maple Leafs bought the Raptors after construction had begun and changed the design to a multi-purpose stadium.
if there is one constant I have noticed is the most shared is Hockey and Basketball. Likely due to both being indoors and supporting similar audience sizes along with the seating layouts being extremely compatible. Compare to say the disaster that was trying to multi-purpose Football and Baseball which have totally different play area shape requirements.
@@filanfyretracker The two sports don’t always fit neatly together in an arena. The New York Islanders moved to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn used by the relocated Brooklyn Nets. The seating at the venue was constructed with basketball sight lines in mind, not hockey. Fans attending Islanders games with second deck seats behind one of the goals could not see about a quarter of the ice (closest to them) due to the overhang of their deck. The main scoreboard was also positioned askew from center ice as it had been positioned originally with a basketball court only in mind.
The Alamodome was also used for Canadian Football and was built to fit the dimensions of a regulation CFL field with the full end zones. It was built to lure an expansion CFL team in 1993 during the first phase of the CFL expanding into the US. It was finally used for the CFL in 1995 when the Sacramento Gold Miners moved to San Antonio and became the Texans
Yeah the silverdome was a strange venue for an NBA arena, but it did set up some unique situations. I saw a playoff game of Detroit v Atlanta during the 'Bad Boys' era and it set an NBA attendance record, at the time of more than 63,000 fans, and that was pretty wild! Pistons had more attendance than the Lions.
The palace was used from ‘88 to ‘17. I worked there briefly during the Bad Boys era. The pistons played at the silverdome from ‘78 to ‘88. The Palace had as much character as a KMart
@@phattmama5368 yes The silverdome was a football venue designed for the lions. It was also huge, even for a football stadium. So it was way too big for a basketball arena. But the pistons used it for a while, undoubtedly to save money. The Palace was completed in 1988 and the pistons used it for many years until the new owner wanted to move the team back to Detroit.
The Pacers played at the Indiana State Fair during their ABA days. It would be interesting to talk about other ABA arenas. I heard that the Nets played at an armory in Teaneck, NJ for a time.
The WNBAs Indiana Fever played one year at the Fairgrounds Arena and one at Hinkle Fieldhouse at Butler while the Conseco Fieldhouse was being renovated. The early days on the ABAs New Jersey Americans, later known as the Nets, is when they played at the Teaneck Armory.
FYI, in March of 1985 the Pistons returned to Cobo Hall for some regular season action. In March, the Pontiac Silver Dome was damaged because of a weather event. Pistons were forced to play home games at the Joe Louis Arena. Their return to Cobo was forced because of a scheduled rock concert at the JLA. Cobo was a cool venue to see basketball it was tight.
I saw the Boston Celtics play the Raptors in the SkyDome. I don’t remember thinking that it seemed awkward or outrageous having hoops there. I do remember the Raptors playing the Kobe-Shaq Lakers in Maple Leaf Gardens one night because there was something going on at the SkyDome. I thought that was way rad. I remember a stranger feeling from when I saw the Tampa Bay Lightning play the Dallas Stars in what is now Tropicana Field back in the day.
@1:07 The Raps share the arena with the Maple Leafs. Also, Cobo Arena closed in 2010, and was renovated as apart of Cobo Center (now Huntington Place).
The Sonics also played in KeyArena in Seattle, and the Kingdome. The Jazz played in the Salt Palace in Utah, and several interesting arenas in New Orleans as well.
The Timberwolves played their first few seasons in the HHH Metrodome in Minneapolis. That was a stadium that was built for the Twins, Vikings, and Gophers football team to play in. I had a friend that saw the Timberwolves play in their first season at “The Dome” (that’s what people who live in the area called it) and he said that from his seat, the court looked like a postage stamp.
Multi-purpose arenas are making a comeback. Chicago's NOW arena (formerly Sears Center) and Orleans Arena in Las Vegas feature a stage or a wall at one end where they can hang a scoreboard for basketball or hockey. Basketball has also been arranged for the stage itself at Radio City Music Hall, but it was for WNBA.
I will gladly call Orleans an amphitheater that hosts occasional basketball games, even if it was originally built with hockey somewhat in mind. Sears Center… hasn’t that been too far away from Chicago proper for any sport team to survive there? Guess I reject the premise.
The Jazz played at the cavernous Superdome, and before that, some of their inaugural season at Loyola Field House. Both strange places. I was just a kid, but I vividly remember the field house's raised floor and netting to keep players such as Pistol Pete from falling off. Cramped, hot, steamy, smoky. Then to see them at the Dome was quite a switch.
The Jazz also played part of the first season at Municipal Auditorium, where a stage could be brought down with ropes into the middle of the arena, so center-court seats in the balcony had obstructed views. I saw the Shrine Circus from one of those seats one Thanksgiving. During January and February the Auditorium was used for Carnival balls (most famously the meeting of Rex and Comus that closed out Mardi Gras), so the Jazz went to Loyola. Municipal's been abandoned since Hurricane Katrina.
Good list. You missed the New Orleans Jazz (now in Utah) when they played in the Super Dome and before that the played in Loyola Field House before the Super Dome opened.
I saw a Pistons game at the Silverdome when I was maybe 9 or 10 years old, and the one thing I remember about the stadium particularly was that they had a giant white curtain set up to block off the unused areas, lol. Also I remember reading somewhere that the Pistons once set a record for attendance there, something like 63000, if I am remembering correctly!
Big blue curtain behind one of the baskets. My older brother’s high school graduation was held there, and they used only the section where the basketball court was . The curtain was still up!
That was a weird story. Steven Stamkos, the Raptors owner, didn't want to play at Maple Leaf Gardens because they had a justified reputation for high rents. He was going to build his own new arena, which did become Air Canada Arena/Scotiabank Arena/whoever it is this year. The Leafs intended to build their own new Gardens, on the site of the Coliseum at the CNE grounds, but when Maple Leaf Gardens bought into the Raptors, the new Raptors arena was hastily redesigned to accommodate hockey and the Leafs. The Coliseum was renovated and became home to the Leafs AHL team, the Marlies
@@JD200_ Sounds like that was only the initial plan. In the end, it was built for both the Raptors and Leafs, and both have been tenants since its construction.
@@kevinbushracing58 The list itself is puzzling. There’s really nothing “weird” about the Tacoma Dome, and, the Sonics played only 1 regular season there.
Remember watching the Blazers on TV in New Orleans the first year of the Jazz. The Superdome wasn’t completed yet, and IIRC, they played in 5 different arenas their first season. The game I saw, it was maybe a college arena that had netting surrounding the court. I sort of remember a player or two flying into the netting chasing after loose balls.
The coliseum at the fairgrounds in Indianapolis is probably more known for being the home of the Indy Fuel hockey team. That venue doesn't currently host any roller derby, but the IUPUI basketball team does play there too. It is a very nice venue after the renovations!
For now, until the Fuel get their new arena. I did take a road trip to a Fuel game at the Coliseum a few years ago, and it's not bad for being as old as it is. Before that, the last time I went to a hockey game in Indianapolis was for the Ice at Market Square Arena (which of course is long gone).
The Cleveland Cavaliers used to play in a coliseum out in the middle of nowhere. Richfield, OH the Richfield Coliseum. It's long gone now I think the last year there was '93-'94 season. It was demolished and now it's just an open field.
The Richfield Coliseum was in the middle of nowhere, (my friend Paul said it was the only NBA arena where you had to worry about hitting a deer while driving to or from it) but it was a conventional arena, home to the Cavs, NHL Barons, WHA Crusaders, IHL Lumberjacks, MISL Force and many great concerts.
I remember going to the Silverdome for basketball quite a few times.... it WAS odd , but kind of cool at the same time. they hung a HUGE curtain across part of it - That was probably the largest curtain I ever saw. You could wrap your house in it !
I really like the look of the Indiana Fairgrounds and the Chicago Amphitheatre. I love most of the old arenas, almost always each one looks really different from one another. Each had their own character.
Fun fact: Cobo Center was also where Martin Luther King first delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. Yep, he first gave it in Detroit before he gave it in D.C.
Ike, you forgot one of the weirdest NBA arenas ever. In 1987 Commercial Developer Joseph Benvenuti purchased the NBA's Kansas City Kings. The team played in KC for one more season before moving to Sacramento. However, Sacramento did not have an NBA arena for the Kings to play games. Benvenuti owned numerous buildings and he converted one of his buildings into a Kings practice facility. The Sacramento City Council would not approve the building for NBA games but Benvenuti was able to receive the approval as a "practice facility" and he was able to sell tickets to visitors. For the first season, the King's games were listed as practices and visiting teams could come and "practice" with the Kings. The facility had temporary seating for just over 10,000 seats. later Benvenuti add four small corner boxes that hung from the ceiling as VIP and owners boxes. The next season the city council approved the King's "arena" which they used until the Arco Arena was constructed down the street. I still have ticket stubs from those original games at what was known as the original Arco Arena. BTW: Benvenuti was the first team owner to sell stadium naming rights.
FYI.. the name of the football team that played at the Skydome in Toronto was The Toronto Argonauts of the CFL who now play at the same stadium as Toronto FC of the MLS. The Skydome was conceived because of them. The Raptors move to the new arena built for the NHL team the Toronto Maple Leafs which they still share today. One ownership group now owns all but the Toronto Blue Jays. The Alamodome had a CFL team briefly in 1995 known as the San Antonio Texans.
Scotiabank Arena construction was actually started by the Raptors ownership group in 1997...midway through construction, the Leafs bought Raptors, which allowed them to share the arena.
The Indiana Fairgrounds Coliseum is still in fantastic condition and hosts a hockey team as well now. I go there all the time to watch some on ice action. It's always cool when a historic sports facility is able to be used and changed to fit modern needs yet maintaining the classic original look.
I went to several Pacers games at the State Fairgrounds Coliseum. Unless during the first year there were no seats near the court, both the end and side areas had folding chairs for games. Also, pre renovation, the capacity was over 9,000, with many standing room only games it over 10,000. Capacity was reduced to under 7,000 during the last renovation.
One correction, Sonics played for a year in Tacoma Dome it was not their main arena, They played at Key Arena in Seattle which underwent renovations at time. They would play a few pre seasons games at the Tacoma Dome after that. Boston Garden has been my nostalgic stadium. One you left out was the Cow Palace for the Warriors, it was a very odd building for basketball.
The Cow Palace is an odd building for hockey as well. The NHL rejected it as a venue when the California Seals joined the NHL, but had no issues with the San Jose Sharks using it while their arena in San Jose was being built.
@@srbmod93his is because the Seals merged with the north stars due to a financial collapse and the seating capacity was far too inadequate even for expansion standards. Plus, the Seals struggled in the revenue department as the Cow Palace isn't very kind for hockey fans and the players who had to play on the surface and Oakland made no attempt to seek out land to break ground. So, you're skipping out on a few key details there. I love hockey btw.
I was at the Tacoma Dome last weekend for the high school basketball tournament..the season the Sonics played there was famous for Seattle choking again in the 1st rd against the Lakers...
Raptors have never had an arena just for them. Since moving out of the Skydome they have shared the Air Canada Centre (now Scotiabank Arena) with the Toronto Maple Leafs
@@scottcostello1786 i know they moved in together at same time but didn’t realize they changed up the plans. Thanks for the reply! Meet back in a year? Hahah
The raptors share the arena with the NHL Toronto Maple Leafs. The only reason they didn't move into the Maple Leafs old arena was because it didn't meet NBA standards.
Nowadays, the Tacoma Dome is used for concerts and the high school basketball state championships. A curtain is put up to separate the stadium into 2 courts I believe. It's a pretty cool thing. I think they also had high school football games there too. I saw a concert there and it has a really cool vibe to it.
The Tacoma Dome was only a temporary home when the Seattle Center Coliseum was being renovated into Key Arena. Key was again rebuilt into Climate Pledge Arena for the NHL Kraken, also home of the WNBA Storm.
@@gregsells8549 Then owner Abe Pollin in 1982 considered selling the Capital to a group that would have moved them to the Tacoma Dome. Other options we’re selling it to a group that would have moved them to Regina Sasatuwan or merge with the Colorado Rockies and move the New Jersey. In the end he got a tax break on admissions, and 10 guaranteed sellout thanks to corporate Washington and the team stayed in DC and finally made the postseason that year.
Saw Prince in 1984, I think. HIs Purple Rain tour. And saw Trever Noah there in 2019, which was my most recent Tacoma Dome attendance. Yeah, cool vibe.
The high school football championships (all levels) used to be played there, too, but recent adjustments made the seating for football quite awkward and WIAA eventually pulled the games out. Tacoma Dome was really interesting for trying to be a truly flexible facility that would look like an arena for indoor sports and a stadium for field sports, but that was still only half-realized. I’ve seen hockey, indoor soccer, basketball, and full field soccer there. I have a couple stories. A concert promotion firm has the run of the place now, hence less sports, and probably for the better.
You forget to mention with regards to the Boston Garden that it was originally built not with basketball, not even with hockey, but with boxing in mind. Hence why the seats were so close.
The Alamodome was originally marketed to us San Antonians as the home for the Spurs after they wanted to leave Hemisfair Arena. After the Spurs complained enough, the SBC Center (now AT&T Center) was built for them by Bexar County leaving this eyesore downtown and millions wasted by the city of San Antonio. Good ol’ Henry Cisneros got his dream stadium built though.
I like the Alamodome, it’s great for football, I’ve seen several games there. A city the size of SATX needs a big stadium so I would gently push back and say it’s not a waste. The stadium is also within walking distance of the Riverwalk and other attractions.
@@briankady1456 The owner of the Cowboys has something to say about it and he and majority of NFL owners would have to vote yes. I don't think he wants another team in his backyard.
When the timberwolves debuted they played at the Metrodome. They held and still might home the record for attendance for a regular season in the NBA. It was super weird seeing them play in the dome
I find it weird that the Cobo Hall (famously pictured on the back cover of the KISS Alive! album) is still standing in some capacity, but both the Silverdome and the Palace of Auburn Hills arena that the Pistons moved to afterwards have since been demolished. A fun fact about the Tacoma Dome. Some of the timbers in the dome's roof are salvaged wood from what Mt. St. Helens blew down when it erupted in 1980.
The way they set up that seating in Toronto makes me think that they should do an outdoor game similar to what the NHL does. That would be cool to watch.
They could set up a game at the BMO field where the Toronto FC play. (Soccer team). It would do nicely for an outdoor basketball game I think, though it would probably have to be an exhibition game since the weather in Toronto during the course of the regular NBA season is not basketball friendly, at least not until the postseason.
So strange that the Raptors didn't play in Maple Leaf Gardens primarily. Originally the plan for the Air Canada Center was that it was the Raptors only and the Leafs would stay in Maple Leaf Gardens. But the Gardens were getting old so the entire Air Canada Center plans were shifted to accommodate the Leafs.
They didn't play in maple leaf gardens because at the time they came into the league they were owned by a separate ownership group. During the time when the then Air Canada Centre, now Scotiabank arena was being built the original owners of the Raptors couldn't afford them and were bought out by the Leafs or rather MLSE or Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment mainly because they were also looking for somewhere for a new arena as well. In the season that the Raptors and Leafs moved into the ACC the Raptors did end up playing the first part of their season in Maple Leaf gardens though, because they didn't renew the agreement for the SkyDome because of only needing it for part of the season.
They also played some games at Maple Leaf Gardens. Scotiabank Centre or what opened as the Air Canada Centre was never just for the Raptors. Both the Toronto Maple Leafs and Raptors were planning to build their own arenas but eventually plans changed to share a facility and later both teams were owned by the same company.
Fun Fact: The largest arena used in the Australia/New Zealand National Basketball League (NBL) would only rank it 20th in current NBA arena size. That arena is the Sydney SuperDome (Qudos Bank Arena), the same main venue used for basketball and gymnastics at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. It seats 18,200 in basketball setup.
I actually got to play a high school basketball game in the Pontiac Silverdome. I’m only 5’ 7” and remember not being able to see the rim while shooting a free throw because lights were shining in my eyes. I guess my eye level was were the numbers would have been on most of the NBA players. One unique thing about the Silverdome was that the roof was held up by air. When you entered the arena you could feel the wind blowing out through the doors.
The seating in the Alamodome for the back home in the dome game for the spurs was very unique with over 68,000 people there. My plaza level seats were still a mile away from the court and I was like the 13th row
I used to go to pistons games at the silverdome. And lions games. Yes it was strange for basketball but it had its advantages. I’d usually go with a big group of friends and sit in the third level. Tickets were like $3 and general admission so we’d get there as early as possible so we could sit in the first row. And since there were so many seats it never sold out so you could go to any game, any time including the playoffs. The best was game 6 of the eastern conference finals in 1988 when the pistons finally ousted the Celtics. Wow what a party that was! Also, Cobo arena is gone. More than ten years. The convention center is still there and has been remodeled.
I went to a restaurant in the Sky Dome in Toronto, there was a live event taking place in the stadium. We were so psyched that there was a table available right in the middle by the windows. Was quite a let down when we sat down and had a perfect view of the Dog Show that was taking place.
I went to a couple Pistons games at Cobo arena and a lot at the Silverdome. The company my mom worked for had season tickets and would often give them to employees if they weren’t going to the games. I always remember the giant curtain and that half the stadium was the lions field.
"They got their own stadium, just for them" about the Raptors is an interesting way to put it. Let's be real, the Maple Laughs are the real reason they got that arena built.
The arena (I still call it the ACC- Air Canada Centre) was actually originally supposed to be just for the Raptors. About midway through the construction process, the Leafs decided they wanted to move out of Maple Leaf Gardens and into the ACC, which resulted in some last-minute alterations. So no, actually it is a fact that it was the Raptors that got the ball rolling on the ACC.
The Pontiac Silverdome also used the Piston's setup to host a round of NCAA mens basketball tournament in the late 80's or early 90's. I think it was for the Sweet 16. They were able to fit a lot of fans in there. My Boy Scout troop ran a concession stand as a fundraiser is the only reason I remember it. Got to watch it for free while working. Miss the Silverdome, a bunch of memories there.
I sat in the opper decks watching The Raptors. But they share their arena now with the Leafs in the NHL and for years shared with also with Toronto Rock from the NLL.
The sonics "moved" to okc in the same way a child is kidnapped, completely illegally. Screw the thunder. Any way the tacoma dome is interesting. I occasionally attend events there, mostly monster truck shows, and the ceiling is massive.
I’m from Washington State, the Tacoma Dome is definitely still used for sports. High school football and basketball play their state championship games at the Dome. They do high school wrestling there as well!
I am from Tacoma and remember when they were building the Tacoma Dome. It was something to see. Went to its grand opening; my mother was hoping to see Ricky Nelson perform (he was supposed to do a set for the opening), but he never showed up, which pissed a lot of people, including my mother, off. I have been back a handful of times over the years. It is the perfect venue for concerts.
The main use of the coliseum at the Indiana State Fair right now is ECHL hockey with the Indy Fuel, although the Fuel are supposed to move out soon to a brand new venue in the suburbs. With a naming rights deal, it is currently called the Indiana Farmers Coliseum. The other primary tenant for the Coliseum is IUPUI men's basketball because their on-campus gym is just way too small with a mere 1,215 seats. The Coliseum is also used throughout the fair each year for livestock shows and concerts. The renovations were so extensive that they basically tore it down to the bare walls and completely rebuilt the seating bowl. Roller derby might be making a comeback to the Coliseum after the Fuel leave, but it has not hosted a derby bout for several years. The local derby franchise suspended operations during the pandemic.
The Kiel Theater was actually called the Kiel Auditorium. There was also an attached Opera House that still stands attached to the Enterprise Center that replaced it (originally called the Kiel Center). It seems that there are actually 7 theaters of various sizes inside that building. Lots of stages on that block of the city!
I was at the Silverdome in 1991 for the NCAAM Midwest Regional with UConn, Ohio State, St. John's and Duke. It was the home court for Detroit Mercy at the time.
When I was a kid, the Detroit Pistons shared the Pontiac Silverdome with the Lions. They had a very unique set up for NBA games seeing as the Silverdome was like 5 times the size of an NBA arena.
Sat in the upper deck at Raptors games as a kid. Slam seats! The view was awful, but being able to see an NBA game as a kid for that price was amazing.
The Indy Fuel (ECHL affiliate of the Blackhawks) still play at the State Fair Coliseum. Although these are the last couple seasons for them there as they are building a new arena for them.
I saw my first NBA game at Skydome when I was 8 years old, the Raptors vs. the Washington Bullets (at the time). I sat way up in the 5th deck in those $5 seats as described in the video (I sat around the same section as shown in this video's thumbnail). The Raptors lost, but oh well...good times.
This is actually very sad to see how greed has created an environment where teams no longer want to share stadiums. Sharing venues seems beneficial for the communities they serve by ensuring a better utilization rate for the building.
It’s not cost-efficient for an NBA franchise to lease a city or county-owned NFL stadium for a full season. Plus, the sight lines are obviously not going to provide the best value for the consumer. Granted, I loved seeing the SuperSonics at the Dome as a kid/preteen, but, as an adult, it doesn’t attract my attention ($$$) at all. It’s good to see the newer NBA gyms built with fan intimacy in mind. 18,000 seats seems about right. Anything above that just seems too big.
The Keil Auditorium is probably most notable for NWA pro wrestling where under promoter Sam Mushnick it was a Friday might staple for years and years with basically anyone who was anyone in pro wrestling working those shows
The Sonics also played home games in the cavernous Kingdome during the late 1970s and early 1980s. It had the same kind of set up like the SkyDome and the Silverdome.
0:35 That's how they did it in 1998 was done in Atlanta back then, when the attendance record of 62,000 for an NBA game was reached and then of course against Chicago with Michael Jordan, now the record was set by the Golden State Warriors with 68,000 spectators, however, they actually used the WHOLE stadium and not just such a small part like Bulls in 98
