US Airways Center

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US Airways Center (formerly America West Arena) is a sports and entertainment facility located in Phoenix, Arizona. It is home of the NBA's Phoenix Suns, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, arena football's Arizona Rattlers, and the ECHL's Phoenix Roadrunners. The NHL's Phoenix Coyotes previously played here, from 1996 to 2003. Since then, the Phoenix Roadrunners of the ECHL have made this their home. It was also the home of the indoor soccer Arizona Sandsharks. Three of the games of the 1993 NBA Finals between the Suns and the Chicago Bulls, including game six where John Paxson hit basketball's version of the shot heard around the world, were played there, as was one of the three 1998 WNBA finals games and two Arena Bowl games. In 1997, the Rattlers won the Arena football world championship at America West Arena. It also hosted the 1995 NBA All-Star Game.

Construction of this arena began in 1988, as Suns owner Jerry Colangelo envisioned a need for a new playing facility to replace Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. In 1993, the arena was officially inaugurated with an 111-105 Suns win over the Los Angeles Clippers. After the Suns failed to win the NBA championship that year, a parade that attracted more than 300,000 Suns fans finished up at the arena.

When the Winnipeg Jets announced their intention to move to Phoenix as the Coyotes for the 1996-97 season, the arena was quickly retrofitted for hockey. However, the arena's floor was not large enough for a hockey rink, unlike most modern arenas. Several seats had badly obstructed views. The problem was so serious that by the team's second season in Phoenix, listed capacity for hockey had to be cut down from over 18,000 seats to just over 16,000--the smallest capacity in the NHL at the time. Even then, the setup was completely inadequate for the Coyotes. A small section of seats on one end of the arena actually hung over the boards, and some fans reported seeing where the original concrete was sheared off to create retractable seating for hockey. The Coyotes eventually moved to the suburban Glendale Arena in early 2003.

In 2003 the US Airways Center hosted WWE SummerSlam and hosted WWE Judgment Day in 2006. In addition to sports events, many famous singers and musical acts, such as The Spice Girls, Britney Spears, REO Speedwagon, *NSYNC, The Backstreet Boys, Gwen Stefani, Vicente Fernandez and others have performed at the arena. Oscar De La Hoya had one of his first professional boxing bouts (versus Narciso Valenzuela) there, and Michael Carbajal also fought there various times.

The arena, which is situated across the street from Chase Field, is named after its sponsor, US Airways, under a naming rights arrangement. After America West's merger with US Airways, it was announced that America West Arena would be renamed to US Airways Center on November 14, 2005 with the name change taking place in January 2006.

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Current arenas in the National Basketball Association
Eastern Conference		Western Conference
Air Canada Centre \| AmericanAirlines Arena \| Bradley Center \| Charlotte Bobcats Arena \| Conseco Fieldhouse \| Continental Airlines Arena \| Madison Square Garden \| Palace of Auburn Hills \| Philips Arena \| Quicken Loans Arena \| TD Banknorth Garden \| TD Waterhouse Centre \| United Center \| Verizon Center \| Wachovia Center		American Airlines Center \| ARCO Arena \| AT&T Center \| Delta Center \| FedExForum \| Ford Center \| KeyArena \| New Orleans Arena \| Oakland Arena \| Pepsi Center \| Rose Garden \| Staples Center \| Target Center \| Toyota Center \| US Airways Center

Current arenas in the Women's National Basketball Association
Eastern Conference		Western Conference
Charlotte Bobcats Arena \| Conseco Fieldhouse \| Madison Square Garden \| Mohegan Sun Arena \| Palace of Auburn Hills \| UIC Pavilion \| Verizon Center		ARCO Arena \| AT&T Center \| KeyArena \| Staples Center \| Target Center \| Toyota Center \| US Airways Center

Current arenas in the Arena Football League
American Conference		National Conference
Allstate Arena \| Delta Center \| Gaylord Entertainment Center \| HP Pavilion \| Pepsi Center \| Staples Center \| Thomas & Mack Center \| US Airways Center \| Van Andel Arena		American Airlines Center \| Frank Erwin Center \| Kemper Arena \| Nassau Coliseum \| Nationwide Arena \| Philips Arena \| St. Pete Times Forum \| TD Waterhouse Centre \| Wachovia Center¹ \| Wachovia Spectrum²
¹The Philadelphia Soul play Sunday home games only at the Wachovia Center. ²The Philadelphia Soul play Saturday home games only at the Wachovia Spectrum.

Current arenas in the ECHL
American Conference		National Conference
Arena at Gwinnett Center \| Augusta Civic Center \| Bi-Lo Center \| Cambria County War Memorial Arena \| Carolina Coliseum \| St. Lawrence Homes Home Ice \| Ford Arena¹ \| Germain Arena \| North Charleston Coliseum \| Nutter Center \| Pensacola Civic Center \| Sovereign Bank Arena \| Sovereign Center \| Toledo Sports Arena \| U.S. Bank Arena² \| WesBanco Arena		E Center \| iPayOne Center \| Long Beach Sports Arena \| Orleans Arena \| Qwest Arena \| Rabobank Arena \| Save Mart Center \| Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre\| Stockton Arena \| Sullivan Arena \| US Airways Center
¹ * The Ford Bank Arena will be the home of the Texas Wildcatters starting in 2006.
² The U.S. Bank Arena will be the home of the Cincinnati Cyclones starting in 2006.

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