Spectrum Center
Spectrum Center is an indoor arena located in Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina. It is owned by the city of Charlotte and operated by its main tenant, the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The arena seats 19,077 for NBA games but can be expanded to 20,200 for college basketball games.
This article is about the arena in Charlotte. For the former arena in Philadelphia, see Spectrum (arena). For LGBT-oriented student affairs office at the University of Michigan, see Spectrum Center (community center).Former names
Charlotte Bobcats Arena (2005–2008)
Time Warner Cable Arena (2008–2016)
333 East Trade Street
Basketball: 19,077
(expandable to 20,200)
Pro Wrestling: 20,200 (maximum)
Concerts:
*End stage 180°: 13,376
*End stage 270°: 15,236
*End stage 360°: 18,249
*Center stage: 18,504
*Theatre: 4,000–7,000
Multi-surface
July 29, 2003
October 21, 2005
2016
Ellerbe Becket[2]
Odell Associates, Inc.
The Freelon Group, Inc.
PC Sports[3]
Major events[edit]
College basketball[edit]
As North Carolina is a hotbed for college basketball thanks to constant success among its major universities, it was expected that the arena would host many NCAA basketball games, and that expectation was correct. Notable NCAA basketball games the Spectrum Center has hosted to date include:
Tenants[edit]
Spectrum Center has had two other permanent tenants besides the Hornets.
The Charlotte Checkers of the ECHL vacated historic Bojangles' Coliseum to play in the new arena in fall 2005. When the ECHL Checkers gave way to an American Hockey League team with the same name, they remained at the arena. Although primarily built for basketball, the arena can accommodate an NHL-sized ice hockey rink. The seating capacity for hockey was 14,100 in an asymmetrical seating arrangement, with much of the upper level curtained off. This resulted in many seats with poor sightlines; over 4,000 seats in the hockey configuration had obstructed views. Primarily because of those factors, on December 16, 2014, it was announced the Checkers would move back to Bojangles' Coliseum starting with the 2015–16 AHL season.[28] Overall, both incarnations of the Checkers played 10 seasons at the arena.
The WNBA's Charlotte Sting moved with the then-Bobcats to the arena in 2005, becoming the building's third permanent tenant. However, they only played one season at their new home in 2006 before folding in early 2007. This was due to low attendance and a lack of on-court success.[29]
The arena in 2008, with its first Time Warner Cable Arena logo
The exterior in 2015
The exterior in 2012
The arena during a Charlotte Bobcats game in 2005
Interior in 2011
