TD Waterhouse Centre
Encyclopedia
Amway Arena is a defunct indoor arena in Orlando, Florida
. It is part of the Orlando Centroplex, a sports and entertainment complex located in Downtown Orlando
. The last day of operation of the facility was on September 30, 2010 as arena operations moved to the new Amway Center. The City of Orlando will begin demolition of the building by December 15, 2011, and is expected to take about six months.
The arena is the former home of the Orlando Magic
of the NBA and the Orlando Predators
of the Arena Football League
. It also hosted many other minor league sports teams, as well as various concerts and other events such as the PlayStation Pro event on the Dew Action Sports Tour and the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus annually.
Construction was completed in 1989 at a cost of $110 million - entirely publicly financed. The arena officially opened on January 29, 1989 with a ribbon cutting ceremony and public open house featuring the Orlando Magic Dancers and Curly Neal
. In 1991, the facility was voted "Arena of the Year" by Performance Magazine. It was also nominated for "Best Indoor Concert Venue" in the Pollstar Concert Industry Awards. The arena's design provided for an intimate atmosphere. Spectators in the upper bowl were still relatively close to the floor due to the number of seats in the lower and upper bowls being split almost 50/50, with the luxury suites near the ceiling. The arena originally seated 15,291 but all the original seats were replaced with narrower ones between 1994 and 1995, increasing capacity by over 2,000 to 17,519.
After considering several names, including Frederick Arena (suggested by Magic general manager Pat Williams), MagicDome, Quest, Apex and Centrum, then-Orlando Mayor Bill Frederick decided to name the building Orlando Arena in 1988. It was the city's first choice.
The city agreed to allow the Magic to sell the naming rights of the arena in November 1998. It was part of a five year extension of the team's lease on the building. The search for a corporate sponsor began immediately, and speculation began that Amway would be chosen due to the fact that Magic owner DeVos co-founded it. However, in 1999, TD Waterhouse
, a division of Canadian finance company Toronto Dominion, purchased the naming rights at a cost of $7.8 million for five years. The building was then renamed to TD Waterhouse Centre (utilizing Canadian spelling
). Before the Orlando Arena's naming rights were sold, the other two buildings in the Orlando Centroplex—Orlando Expo Centre and Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre
--utilized that spelling as well, so it was more than simply the fact that TD Waterhouse is a Canadian company that the building used the "Centre" spelling.
The naming rights with TD Waterhouse expired on November 30, 2006, and TD Ameritrade
, which bought TD Waterhouse's U.S. operations earlier in the year, chose not to renew them. The venue was briefly known as "The arena in Orlando" before a new naming rights contract was signed, a period of approximately one week. On December 7, 2006, it was announced that Amway
would become the new sponsor at a cost of $1.5 million over 4 years, or $375,000 a year, renaming the building as Amway Arena. As part of the deal, Amway received an initial exclusive option to negotiate for the right to name Orlando's new arena, which had just been announced. The new arena would go on to be named Amway Center.
's Orlando Seals
, RHI
's Orlando Jackals
, MISL
's Orlando Sharks
, the WNBA's Orlando Miracle
, and the NLL
's Orlando Titans
. The Solar Bears folded in 2001 along with the IHL itself. After the 2002 WNBA season, all franchises were sold to the operators of the teams, and Magic owner Rich DeVos was not interested in keeping them. They relocated to Connecticut and were renamed the Sun. On August 22, 2004, the City of Orlando evicted the Seals and they were forced to sit out the first season of Southern Professional Hockey League
play for 2004–2005 as a result. They ultimately moved to Kissimmee
's Silver Spurs Arena
and resumed play in 2005–2006 as the Florida Seals until they folded. In 2007, the Orlando Sharks, an expansion team in the Major Indoor Soccer League
, were to play in the arena beginning that fall, but rent issues with the arena led them to eventually fold. The Orlando Titans played their first and only season at the arena before folding due to financial troubles.
standard (the arena lacks both of these features). The Orlando Magic's desire for a major renovation of the building dates all the way back to 1994 when it was only five years old, as the team was seeking to increase revenue by expanding the limited retail & concession space and luxury seating. In 1996, the team spent $100,000 to have Conventions Sports & Leisure of Minneapolis study and determine renovation ideas. Major renovation was beginning to seem unfeasible in 1997 when the task-force determined that the cost of implementing everything that the team wanted would reach up to $75 million. The revenues brought in by the changes likely would not be enough to cover mortgage payments on money that would have to be borrowed to pay for the renovation. Also, at the time, the city still owed $40 million on the original construction of the building.
Beginning around 2000, the Magic began to push the City of Orlando
for a brand new arena, replacing the TD Waterhouse Centre. Since the city, as well as Orange County, were not keen on picking up the tab for a second facility in a little over a decade, the Magic stated they would contribute to the cost of building it. They did not, however, say how much. They also indicated they expected public dollars to be used, too. Discussions became contentious in 2001, as the team threatened to look elsewhere if Orlando would not build a new arena, or contribute a significant amount to a renovation. At the time, the team was losing $8 million annually. Magic President Bob Vander Weide stated, "If we can't break even in the long term and we can't stay competitive, maybe this isn't the best place for us." The Magic outlined where an arena should be built, the potential cost, what type of tax should pay for it and what could be done with the existing building once it was abandoned by the team. In a meeting with county and city officials, team owner DeVos said he was seeking $200 million in public money, including $121.5 million from the tourist tax collected by the county, $50 million from the city of Orlando and $28.5 million from the state. Officials were staunchly opposed. Any plans for renovation or replacement relied on tourist-tax revenue, and after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the numbers of tourists in the area declined sharply. Then-Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood
and Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty
were close to a deal for a major renovation, but talks were broken off for several years due to the sagging tourist tax dollars. At the grand opening of the Amway Center on October 1, 2010, Crotty remarked "When I look around this building, I think to myself, 'Boy, am I glad that didn't work.' Sometimes good comes out of bad."
Currently, plans call for the entire Centroplex, including Amway Arena, to be demolished to make way for a "Creative Village" complex on the site. It will be home to digital media companies and related industries. There will be 35% office space, 45% residential space, and 20% for other uses including education, hotels, retail, and entertainment. The goal of the complex is to redevelop the site into "a place where high-tech companies locate; and employees of those businesses and other residents live, work, learn and play."
Notable basketball events include the 1990 SEC
men's basketball tournament, as well as early rounds of the NCAA Tournament
in the early- to mid-1990s. The 42nd annual NBA All-Star Game
was held at the facility on February 9, 1992. Games 1 and 2 of the 1995 NBA Finals
between the Magic and the Houston Rockets
were held at the facility, as well as Games 3, 4, and 5 of the 2009 NBA Finals
between the Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers
. The final NBA game at Amway Arena was Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics
on May 26, 2010.
Other sporting events include the 1992 United States Figure Skating Championships
and the IHL Finals in 1996, 1999 and 2001, when the Orlando Solar Bears won the Turner Cup in the IHL's last season of operations. During the 1993–94 NHL season, the Tampa Bay Lightning
played five of their home games at the arena. In 2004, Orlando was selected as one of five cities to host the Dew Tour, an extreme sport
s franchise started in 2005. It was the site of the PlayStation Pro, the final event each season on the tour. Three ArenaBowl
games were held at the facility. The Orlando Predators
lost to the Detroit Drive in 1992 and Arizona Rattlers
in 1994 before defeating the Nashville Kats
in 2000. The final sporting event at Amway Arena was an Orlando Predators game on July 24, 2010 against the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz
.
Other Events
Many professional wrestling pay-per-view events have been held at Amway Arena over the years, including the 1990 WWF
Royal Rumble
, 1994 WCW
Bash at the Beach
, and WWE Armageddon 2003
. On March 29, 2008, World Wrestling Entertainment
held their Hall of Fame
induction at the arena in conjunction with WrestleMania XXIV
, which was held at the Citrus Bowl
.
Many Orange County public high schools
held their graduation ceremonies at the arena. In 2004, Presidential candidate John Kerry
held a rally inside the arena filling the floor and most of the lower bowl. On September 20, 2008, Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama
held a major outdoor rally immediately outside the Amway Arena north entrance that drew over 50,000 supporters. Additional speakers at the rally included U.S. Senators Hillary Clinton and Bill Nelson
. The major rally drew national attention to Florida as an election battle-ground state and was covered live on national evening newscasts on all major networks.
The final event at Amway Arena was the So You Think You Can Dance Tour on September 30, 2010.
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
. It is part of the Orlando Centroplex, a sports and entertainment complex located in Downtown Orlando
Downtown Orlando
Downtown Orlando is the historic core and central business district of Orlando, Florida, United States. It is bordered by East Marks St in the north, Mills Ave in the east, Orange Blossom Trail in the west, and Kaley Ave in the south...
. The last day of operation of the facility was on September 30, 2010 as arena operations moved to the new Amway Center. The City of Orlando will begin demolition of the building by December 15, 2011, and is expected to take about six months.
The arena is the former home of the Orlando Magic
Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...
of the NBA and the Orlando Predators
Orlando Predators
The Orlando Predators are an Arena Football League team based in Orlando, Florida that was founded in 1991. Their playoff streak is currently 19 seasons in a row, as of the season, becoming the ArenaBowl champions in 1998 and 2000...
of the Arena Football League
Arena Football League
The Arena Football League is the highest level of professional indoor American football in the United States. It is currently the second longest running professional football league in the United States, after the National Football League. It was founded in 1987 by Jim Foster...
. It also hosted many other minor league sports teams, as well as various concerts and other events such as the PlayStation Pro event on the Dew Action Sports Tour and the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus annually.
History
The city of Orlando was interested in a downtown arena long before there was talk of an NBA franchise. The arena site on West Livingston Street was approved in December 1983, at a time when concerts and other large-scale events were held at the Orange County Convention Center, which is several miles away from downtown. Discussions on financing delayed the project for several years due to concerns of the convention center losing money if an arena was built, as an arena would be a better venue for many of the events previously held at the convention center. By the end of 1985, the city and county reached an agreement on a financing plan that would delay the opening of the arena until the end of the decade (unless the county agreed) so it would not compete with the convention center. The planned site grew 50% from its original plan and now consumed three extra blocks south of Lake Dot. In 1986, support was growing to attempt to bring an NBA franchise to Orlando, and general manager Pat Williams knew that having an arena already under construction would be critical for expansion being approved by the league. Knowing the importance of the arena, the city voted to allow construction to begin before a study of its impact on the area was filed with state and regional planners. Ground broke in January 1987, four months before the NBA Board of Governors made their final decision to bring Orlando into the league.Construction was completed in 1989 at a cost of $110 million - entirely publicly financed. The arena officially opened on January 29, 1989 with a ribbon cutting ceremony and public open house featuring the Orlando Magic Dancers and Curly Neal
Fred Neal
Fred "Curly" Neal is an American basketball player best known for his career with the Harlem Globetrotters. Following in the footsteps of Marques Haynes, Neal became the Trotters' featured ballhandler, a key role in the team's exhibition act....
. In 1991, the facility was voted "Arena of the Year" by Performance Magazine. It was also nominated for "Best Indoor Concert Venue" in the Pollstar Concert Industry Awards. The arena's design provided for an intimate atmosphere. Spectators in the upper bowl were still relatively close to the floor due to the number of seats in the lower and upper bowls being split almost 50/50, with the luxury suites near the ceiling. The arena originally seated 15,291 but all the original seats were replaced with narrower ones between 1994 and 1995, increasing capacity by over 2,000 to 17,519.
Naming
The city agreed to allow the Magic to sell the naming rights of the arena in November 1998. It was part of a five year extension of the team's lease on the building. The search for a corporate sponsor began immediately, and speculation began that Amway would be chosen due to the fact that Magic owner DeVos co-founded it. However, in 1999, TD Waterhouse
TD Waterhouse
TD Waterhouse is the brand used for both Canadian and British brokerages within the TD Bank Financial Group. It was also formerly used for TD's American brokerage....
, a division of Canadian finance company Toronto Dominion, purchased the naming rights at a cost of $7.8 million for five years. The building was then renamed to TD Waterhouse Centre (utilizing Canadian spelling
Canadian English
Canadian English is the variety of English spoken in Canada. English is the first language, or "mother tongue", of approximately 24 million Canadians , and more than 28 million are fluent in the language...
). Before the Orlando Arena's naming rights were sold, the other two buildings in the Orlando Centroplex—Orlando Expo Centre and Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre
Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre
The Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre is a major performing arts auditorium in Orlando, Florida and seats 2,518. It is part of the larger Orlando Centroplex organization which manages several facilities....
--utilized that spelling as well, so it was more than simply the fact that TD Waterhouse is a Canadian company that the building used the "Centre" spelling.
The naming rights with TD Waterhouse expired on November 30, 2006, and TD Ameritrade
TD Ameritrade
TD Ameritrade is an American online broker with over 6 million U.S. customers, and many more internationally, that has grown rapidly through acquisition to become the 746th-largest US firm in 2008. TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation is the owner of TD Ameritrade Inc...
, which bought TD Waterhouse's U.S. operations earlier in the year, chose not to renew them. The venue was briefly known as "The arena in Orlando" before a new naming rights contract was signed, a period of approximately one week. On December 7, 2006, it was announced that Amway
Amway
Amway is a direct selling company and manufacturer that uses network marketing to sell a variety of products, primarily in the health, beauty, and home care markets. Amway was founded in 1959 by Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos...
would become the new sponsor at a cost of $1.5 million over 4 years, or $375,000 a year, renaming the building as Amway Arena. As part of the deal, Amway received an initial exclusive option to negotiate for the right to name Orlando's new arena, which had just been announced. The new arena would go on to be named Amway Center.
Former Tenants
Defunct tenants of the arena include the IHL's Orlando Solar Bears, the SPHLSouthern Professional Hockey League
The Southern Professional Hockey League is a low-level professional ice hockey league based in Charlotte, North Carolina, with teams located in the southeastern United States.- History :...
's Orlando Seals
Florida Seals
The Florida Seals was a minor league ice hockey franchise, a member of the Southern Professional Hockey League . Originally based in Orlando, Florida, they later moved to Kissimmee, Florida, a suburb thirty miles south of Orlando in Osceola County...
, RHI
Roller Hockey International
Roller Hockey International was a professional inline hockey league that operated in North America from 1993 to 1999. It was the first major professional league for inline hockey....
's Orlando Jackals
Orlando Jackals
The Orlando Jackals were a professional roller hockey team based in Orlando, Florida, United States that played in Roller Hockey International.- History :...
, MISL
Major Indoor Soccer League
The Major Indoor Soccer League was the top professional indoor soccer league in the USA. The league was a member of both the United States Soccer Federation and FIFA. The MISL had replaced the NPSL which folded in 2001. According to MISL.net, the league has ceased operations as of May 31, 2008...
's Orlando Sharks
Orlando Sharks
The Orlando Sharks were an American indoor soccer was based in Orlando, Florida, USA. Founded in 2007, the team played in the Major Indoor Soccer League....
, the WNBA's Orlando Miracle
Connecticut Sun
The Connecticut Sun is a professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded in Orlando, Florida before the 1999 season began; the team moved to Connecticut before the 2003 season...
, and the NLL
National Lacrosse League
The National Lacrosse League is a men's professional indoor lacrosse league in North America. It currently has nine teams; three in Canada and six in the United States. Unlike other lacrosse leagues which play in the summer, the NLL plays its games in the winter and spring. Each year, the playoff...
's Orlando Titans
Orlando Titans
The Orlando Titans were a professional lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League that played in the 2010 season. The Titans began as the New York Titans, and played for three seasons in New York before announcing the move to Orlando on August 10, 2009....
. The Solar Bears folded in 2001 along with the IHL itself. After the 2002 WNBA season, all franchises were sold to the operators of the teams, and Magic owner Rich DeVos was not interested in keeping them. They relocated to Connecticut and were renamed the Sun. On August 22, 2004, the City of Orlando evicted the Seals and they were forced to sit out the first season of Southern Professional Hockey League
Southern Professional Hockey League
The Southern Professional Hockey League is a low-level professional ice hockey league based in Charlotte, North Carolina, with teams located in the southeastern United States.- History :...
play for 2004–2005 as a result. They ultimately moved to Kissimmee
Kissimmee, Florida
Kissimmee is a city in Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 59,682. It is the county seat of Osceola County...
's Silver Spurs Arena
Silver Spurs Arena
The current Silver Spurs Arena is an 8,000-seat multi-purpose arena, in Kissimmee, Florida. It was built in 2003. It replaced the original Silver Spurs grand stand. Both are home to the Silver Spurs Rodeo, a semi-annual rodeo event, as well as concerts, family shows and sporting events...
and resumed play in 2005–2006 as the Florida Seals until they folded. In 2007, the Orlando Sharks, an expansion team in the Major Indoor Soccer League
Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2008)
The Major Indoor Soccer League was the top professional indoor soccer league in the USA. The league was a member of both the United States Soccer Federation and FIFA. The MISL had replaced the NPSL which folded in 2001. According to MISL.net, the league has ceased operations as of May 31, 2008...
, were to play in the arena beginning that fall, but rent issues with the arena led them to eventually fold. The Orlando Titans played their first and only season at the arena before folding due to financial troubles.
Renovation plans
Experts stated that the arena was outdated since the day its doors first opened. Although it was built to NBA specifications at the time, construction began right before mid level luxury seating and lower level club seating became the de factoDe facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
standard (the arena lacks both of these features). The Orlando Magic's desire for a major renovation of the building dates all the way back to 1994 when it was only five years old, as the team was seeking to increase revenue by expanding the limited retail & concession space and luxury seating. In 1996, the team spent $100,000 to have Conventions Sports & Leisure of Minneapolis study and determine renovation ideas. Major renovation was beginning to seem unfeasible in 1997 when the task-force determined that the cost of implementing everything that the team wanted would reach up to $75 million. The revenues brought in by the changes likely would not be enough to cover mortgage payments on money that would have to be borrowed to pay for the renovation. Also, at the time, the city still owed $40 million on the original construction of the building.
Beginning around 2000, the Magic began to push the City of Orlando
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
for a brand new arena, replacing the TD Waterhouse Centre. Since the city, as well as Orange County, were not keen on picking up the tab for a second facility in a little over a decade, the Magic stated they would contribute to the cost of building it. They did not, however, say how much. They also indicated they expected public dollars to be used, too. Discussions became contentious in 2001, as the team threatened to look elsewhere if Orlando would not build a new arena, or contribute a significant amount to a renovation. At the time, the team was losing $8 million annually. Magic President Bob Vander Weide stated, "If we can't break even in the long term and we can't stay competitive, maybe this isn't the best place for us." The Magic outlined where an arena should be built, the potential cost, what type of tax should pay for it and what could be done with the existing building once it was abandoned by the team. In a meeting with county and city officials, team owner DeVos said he was seeking $200 million in public money, including $121.5 million from the tourist tax collected by the county, $50 million from the city of Orlando and $28.5 million from the state. Officials were staunchly opposed. Any plans for renovation or replacement relied on tourist-tax revenue, and after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the numbers of tourists in the area declined sharply. Then-Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood
Glenda Hood
Glenda Evans Hood is a U.S. politician, who was Secretary of State of Florida, from 2003 to 2005, and the first woman to serve as Mayor of Orlando ....
and Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty
Rich Crotty
Richard T. Crotty was the Mayor of Orange County, Florida.- Biography :Crotty grew up in Orlando. He graduated from Valencia Community College in 1970 and Florida Technological University in 1972, and he also attended Florida State University...
were close to a deal for a major renovation, but talks were broken off for several years due to the sagging tourist tax dollars. At the grand opening of the Amway Center on October 1, 2010, Crotty remarked "When I look around this building, I think to myself, 'Boy, am I glad that didn't work.' Sometimes good comes out of bad."
Successor arena
On September 29, 2006, the City of Orlando and Orange County finally came to an agreement on a $1.1-billion improvement package that included $480 million for a new arena. The Magic would provide $114 million in cash and up-front lease payments and guarantee $100 million in bonds toward the arena. The venue plan received final approval on July 26, 2007, and the arena was completed in time for the 2010–11 NBA season.Currently, plans call for the entire Centroplex, including Amway Arena, to be demolished to make way for a "Creative Village" complex on the site. It will be home to digital media companies and related industries. There will be 35% office space, 45% residential space, and 20% for other uses including education, hotels, retail, and entertainment. The goal of the complex is to redevelop the site into "a place where high-tech companies locate; and employees of those businesses and other residents live, work, learn and play."
Notable events
SportsNotable basketball events include the 1990 SEC
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
men's basketball tournament, as well as early rounds of the NCAA Tournament
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
in the early- to mid-1990s. The 42nd annual NBA All-Star Game
1992 NBA All-Star Game
The 1992 NBA All-Star Game was the 42nd edition of the All-Star Game. The event took place at the Orlando Arena in Orlando, Florida. The West defeated the East, 153-113. The game is most remembered for the return of Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson, who retired before the 1991-92 NBA season...
was held at the facility on February 9, 1992. Games 1 and 2 of the 1995 NBA Finals
1995 NBA Finals
The 1995 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1994–95 NBA season. The series pitted the Orlando Magic against the Houston Rockets. The pre-series hype and build-up of the Finals was centered around the meeting of the two centers Shaquille O'Neal of the Magic and Hakeem Olajuwon of the Rockets...
between the Magic and the Houston Rockets
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
were held at the facility, as well as Games 3, 4, and 5 of the 2009 NBA Finals
2009 NBA Finals
The 2009 NBA Finals was the National Basketball Association championship series for the 2008-09 season. The best-of-seven playoff was contested between the Los Angeles Lakers, champions of the Western Conference and defending Western Conference champions, and the Orlando Magic, champions of the...
between the Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
. The final NBA game at Amway Arena was Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
on May 26, 2010.
Other sporting events include the 1992 United States Figure Skating Championships
United States Figure Skating Championships
The United States Figure Skating Championships is figure skating competition held annually to crown the national champions of the United States. The competition is sanctioned by U.S. Figure Skating. In the U.S. skating community, the event is often referred to informally as "Nationals".Skaters...
and the IHL Finals in 1996, 1999 and 2001, when the Orlando Solar Bears won the Turner Cup in the IHL's last season of operations. During the 1993–94 NHL season, the Tampa Bay Lightning
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . They have one Stanley Cup championship in their history, in 2003–04. They are often referred to as the...
played five of their home games at the arena. In 2004, Orlando was selected as one of five cities to host the Dew Tour, an extreme sport
Extreme sport
An extreme sport is a popular term for certain activities perceived as having a high level of inherent danger...
s franchise started in 2005. It was the site of the PlayStation Pro, the final event each season on the tour. Three ArenaBowl
ArenaBowl
The ArenaBowl is the Arena Football League's championship game. From 1987 to 2004, the ArenaBowl was hosted by either the team with the better regular-season record or the higher seeding in the playoffs. From ArenaBowl XIX in 2005 until ArenaBowl XXII in 2008, the game was played at a neutral site...
games were held at the facility. The Orlando Predators
Orlando Predators
The Orlando Predators are an Arena Football League team based in Orlando, Florida that was founded in 1991. Their playoff streak is currently 19 seasons in a row, as of the season, becoming the ArenaBowl champions in 1998 and 2000...
lost to the Detroit Drive in 1992 and Arizona Rattlers
Arizona Rattlers
The Arizona Rattlers are a professional arena football team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Conference in the Arena Football League . The Rattlers were founded in 1992 as an expansion team. They play their home games at US Airways Center...
in 1994 before defeating the Nashville Kats
Nashville Kats
The Nashville Kats were an Arena Football League team, located in Nashville, Tennessee. They were last coached by Pat Sperduto, who coached the team's original incarnation to two ArenaBowl appearances prior to the original franchise's move to Atlanta in 2002...
in 2000. The final sporting event at Amway Arena was an Orlando Predators game on July 24, 2010 against the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz
Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz
The Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz was a member of the new Arena Football League. The team began play as a 2004 expansion team of the original Arena Football League's now-defunct minor league af2...
.
Other Events
Many professional wrestling pay-per-view events have been held at Amway Arena over the years, including the 1990 WWF
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble (1990)
Royal Rumble was the third annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on January 21, 1990 at the Orlando Arena in Orlando, Florida....
, 1994 WCW
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
Bash at the Beach
Bash at the Beach
Bash at the Beach was a yearly professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Championship Wrestling . It was the company's PPV for the month of July, held from 1994 to 2000. The show centered around a beach theme, with the set around the entrance area for the wrestlers decorated with...
, and WWE Armageddon 2003
Armageddon (2003)
Armageddon was the fourth Armageddon professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on December 14, 2003 at the TD Waterhouse Centre in Orlando, Florida and was a Raw brand-exclusive event...
. On March 29, 2008, World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
held their Hall of Fame
WWE Hall of Fame
The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame for professional wrestlers maintained by WWE. It was officially created on the February 1, 1993 episode of the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw television program...
induction at the arena in conjunction with WrestleMania XXIV
WrestleMania XXIV
WrestleMania XXIV was the twenty-fourth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . The event took place on March 30, 2008, at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida and was the first WrestleMania to be held in the state of Florida...
, which was held at the Citrus Bowl
Citrus Bowl
The Florida Citrus Bowl is a stadium in Orlando, Florida, USA, built for football, which currently seats around 70,000 people....
.
Many Orange County public high schools
Orange County Public Schools
Orange County Public Schools is the public school district for Orange County, Florida. It is based out of the Educational Leadership Center, a seven-story building adjacent to the Amway Arena in Downtown Orlando. As of October 2009, OCPS has an enrollment of over 175,000 students, making it the...
held their graduation ceremonies at the arena. In 2004, Presidential candidate John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
held a rally inside the arena filling the floor and most of the lower bowl. On September 20, 2008, Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
held a major outdoor rally immediately outside the Amway Arena north entrance that drew over 50,000 supporters. Additional speakers at the rally included U.S. Senators Hillary Clinton and Bill Nelson
Bill Nelson
Clarence William "Bill" Nelson is the senior United States Senator from the state of Florida and a member of the Democratic Party. He is a former U.S. Representative and former Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner of Florida...
. The major rally drew national attention to Florida as an election battle-ground state and was covered live on national evening newscasts on all major networks.
The final event at Amway Arena was the So You Think You Can Dance Tour on September 30, 2010.