#MemoriesArePlayedHere
Privately owned and operated, groundbreaking for the arena took place on November 20, 1997. Since opening as the Pepsi Center on October 1, 1999 with a sold-out performance by Celine Dion, the arena has hosted a wide variety of events including hockey and basketball games, musical acts, and family events. In 2020, Ball Corporation acquired the naming rights and renamed the venue Ball Arena.
Designed by HOK Sports Facilities Group of Kansas City, Ball Arena occupies a 4.6-acre footprint in Denver’s Central Platte Valley. With more than 675,000 square feet of building space, the five-level facility is a premier sports and entertainment destination. Home of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, and NLL’s Colorado Mammoth, Ball Arena seats 19,099 for basketball games and 18,007 for hockey and lacrosse games. Depending on stage configuration, the venue seats up to 20,000 for concerts and other events. Ball Arena features 89 luxury suites located on two levels and 1,900 club seats, as well as two Theatre Boxes to deliver an exciting fan experience with first-class amenities such as VIP parking, gourmet catering, and access to the exclusive PointsBet Club Level.
Ball Arena is one of the very few sports venues in North America that provides a separate practice facility for its team within the building. The Denver Nuggets practice court is a full-size basketball court utilized by the team for all its practice sessions.
Additional features of Ball Arena include a cutting-edge sound JBL Vertec line array sound system to cover the spectator seating bowl; and a 70,000 lbs Daktronics-manufactured center-hung scoreboard that rivals the largest of its kind in the world. A new state-of-the-art projection system transforms the Ball Arena floor into a giant 4K resolution screen during team events and is a must-see feature. The arena also has Wi-Fi access throughout the building.
Fast Facts
- Cost more than $180 million in private funds to build across 21 months
- Site Acreage: 45 acres
- Square Footage: 675,000
- Opened October 1, 1999 with Celine Dion in concert
- The Grand Atrium sculpture weighs 2,000 pounds, cost $75,000 and is 1.5 times life size
- It takes over 1,000 staff members to run an event
- Owned and operated by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment
Seating at Ball Arena
- Concerts: 20,000+ depending on stage configuration
- Basketball: 19,520
- Hockey: 17,809
- Lacrosse: 17,809
- Special Events: 21,000
- Suites: 95 luxury suites that can accommodate 12 – 16 people
Colorado Avalanche
- There are 149 panes of .5" thick glass that surround the hockey rink, weighing between 50 and 250 pounds apiece. It takes 2 forklifts and 8 people 45 minutes to "hang" the entire rink.
- Each net hung on the ends of the rink has a lifespan of only 33 games.
- For other events in the building, the ice is covered with approximately 600 pieces of a 1" thick fiberglass board.
Denver Nuggets
- Cost of the basketball court is $105,000.00.
- Each basketball stanchion weighs approximately 3,300 pounds and is anchored into the basketball floor to prevent it from being tipped over.
- Each net on the basketball goals is replaced every 5 games or as needed.
- There are 233 pieces to the basketball floor - each weighing approximately 185 pounds. The total weight of the entire basketball floor is 41,625 pounds.
Colorado Mammoth
- The Mammoth carpet consists of 14 - 15' wide rolls of Astroturf and is .75" thick.
- It takes 12 people only 25 minutes to lay the field.
Venue Management
Denver-based Kroenke Sports & Entertainment is one of the world’s leading ownership, entertainment and management groups. As owners and operators of Ball Arena, Paramount Theatre, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, the Denver Nuggets (NBA), Colorado Avalanche (NHL), Colorado Mammoth (NLL) and Colorado Rapids (MLS), KSE’s sports and entertainment assets are second to none. Additional properties under the KSE umbrella include Altitude Sports & Entertainment, a 24-hour regional television network and Altitude Authentics, the company’s official retail provider.