SAP Center
The SAP Center at San Jose (originally known as San Jose Arena and the HP Pavilion at San Jose) is an indoor arena located in San Jose, California. Its primary tenant is the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League, for which the arena has earned the nickname "The Shark Tank".[9]
The Shark Tank | |
SAP Center in 2014 | |
SAP Center at San Jose Location in San Jose SAP Center at San Jose Location in California SAP Center at San Jose Location in the United States | |
| Former names | San Jose Arena (1993–2001)[1] Compaq Center (2001–2002) HP Pavilion (2002–2013) |
|---|---|
| Address | 525 West Santa Clara Street |
| Location | San Jose, California |
| Coordinates | 37°19′58″N 121°54′4″W / 37.33278°N 121.90111°WCoordinates: 37°19′58″N 121°54′4″W / 37.33278°N 121.90111°W |
| Public transit | |
| Owner | City of San Jose |
| Operator | San Jose Sports & Entertainment Enterprises |
| Capacity | Concerts: 19,190 Basketball: 18,543 Wrestling: 18,300 Ice hockey: 17,562[2] Tennis: 11,386 |
| Field size | 450,000 sq ft (42,000 m2) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | June 28, 1990[3] |
| Opened | September 7, 1993 |
| Construction cost | $162.5 million ($337 million in 2021 dollars[4]) |
| Architect | Sink Combs Dethlefs Prodis Associates |
| Project manager | HuntCor[5] |
| Structural engineer | Martin/Martin, Inc.[6] |
| Services engineer | M-E Engineers, Inc.[7] |
| General contractor | Perini Building Company[5] |
| Tenants | |
| San Jose Sharks (NHL) (1993–present) San Jose Grizzlies (CISL) (1994–1995) SAP Open (tennis) (1994–2013) San Jose Rhinos (RHI) (1994–1997, 1999) San Jose SaberCats (AFL) (1995–2008, 2011–2015) Golden State Warriors (NBA) (1996–1997) San Jose Lasers (ABL) (1996–1998) San Jose Stealth (NLL) (2004–2009) San Jose Barracuda (AHL) (2015–2022) Bay Area Panthers[8] (IFL) (2022–present) | |
History
Plans for a San Jose arena began in the mid-1980s, when a group of local citizens formed Fund Arena Now (FAN). The group contacted city officials and pursued potential sponsors and partners from the NHL and NBA. In the late 1980s, mayor Tom McEnery met with FAN, and subsequently a measure to allocate local taxes for arena construction came up for a public vote on June 7, 1988, passing by a narrow margin.[10][11]
In 1991, soon after construction began, the NHL granted an expansion franchise to San Jose. After it was discovered that the arena would not be suitable for NBA or NHL use as originally designed, the Sharks requested an upgrade to NHL standards, including the addition of luxury suites, a press box, and increased seating capacity.[12]
In 1993, the arena was completed and initially named the "San Jose Arena".[1]
For the 1996–97 NBA season, the arena served as home to the Golden State Warriors while their regular home court in Oakland (now known as Oakland Arena) was under renovation.[13]
In 2001, naming rights were sold to Compaq, and it was renamed "Compaq Center at San Jose" (not to be confused with the Compaq Center (formerly The Summit) in Houston, Texas). After HP purchased Compaq in 2002, the arena was renamed "HP Pavilion", the same name as one of its computer models.[14]
In late April 2007, it was announced that the HP Pavilion at San Jose would be receiving several building improvements, including a new center-hung LED video display system from Daktronics similar to that of the TD Garden, home of the Boston Bruins of the NHL.[14]
In June 2013, German software company SAP (co-founded by Sharks managing partner Hasso Plattner, who is also SAP's chairman of the board) purchased the naming rights to the facility in a five-year deal worth US$3.35 million per year. The arena was renamed "SAP Center at San Jose" upon approval by the San Jose City Council.[15]
Events
In 2006, the SAP Center sold the most tickets (633,435) to non-sporting events of any venue in the Western United States, and the fourth highest total in the world, after Madison Square Garden in New York City (US), the Manchester Arena in Manchester (UK), and Scotiabank Arena in Toronto (Canada).[16]
Other events hosted at the arena include the 1996 United States Figure Skating Championships, the 47th National Hockey League All-Star Game in 1997, the 1999 NCAA Women's Final Four, ArenaBowl XVI in 2002, the 2007 USA Gymnastics Visa Championships, and UFC 139 on November 19, 2011. Intel Extreme Masters Season IX – San Jose in 2014[17] and Intel Extreme Masters Season X – San Jose were held at the venue.[18] Prior to Super Bowl 50 in nearby Santa Clara, the arena housed introductory media activities for the event.[19] The SAP Center hosted games 3, 4, and 6 of the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals in the Sharks' first appearance in franchise history, with the Cup being presented to the series-winning Pittsburgh Penguins after game 6.[20] In 2012 and 2016, the arena played host to the USA Gymnastics Olympic Trials. The arena was the host to the West Regional semifinals and finals of the 2002, 2007, and 2017 NCAA men's basketball tournaments; as well as first- and second-round games of the 2010, 2013, and 2019 tournaments.[21]
Mixed Martial Arts events have played a big role at the SAP Center. The MMA organization Strikeforce held many events in San Jose beginning with Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Gracie in 2006, then Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg in 2009, through 2012 with Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Cormier. The first Bellator MMA organization event at SAP was Bellator MMA & Glory: Dynamite 1 in September 2015 and since has held 6 total events with the most recent being Bellator 199 on May 16, 2018. SAP Center has also been the host of premiere MMA promotion the UFC. The first event was UFC 139 on November 19, 2011, then UFC on Fuel TV: Muñoz vs. Weidman on July 11, 2012, UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Melendez on April 20, 2013, and most recently UFC on Fox: Lawler vs. Brown on July 26, 2014.
On September 18, 2016, the arena hosted the Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions.[22]
The annual US Figure Skating Championships have been staged here in San Jose five times now -- 1996, 2012, 2018, 2021 and 2023[23].
SAP Center has also hosted WWE Pay Per Views. Royal Rumble (1998), SummerSlam (2001), The Great American Bash (2007), Payback (2017) took place where Braun Strowman defeated Roman Reigns in the main event. TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs (2018) took place at SAP Center.[24]
Gallery
Nighttime view of SAP Center
Aerial view of SAP Center from a landing at San Jose International Airport (SJC)
Side view of SAP Center
Inside view of SAP Center during a game between the San Jose Sharks and the Calgary Flames in January 2015
References
- ^ a b "2011-2012 San Jose Sharks Media Guide" (PDF). Downloads.sharks.nhl.com. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
- ^ Pollak, David (September 10, 2009). "The futility of chasing Marleau-Heatley rumors — plus an economic update from HP Pavilion". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
- ^ "Carry Me Back to the Old Sod". San Jose Mercury News. June 17, 1990. p. 2C. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
- ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved April 16, 2022.
- ^ a b . HP Pavlion at San Jose. Archived from the original on January 30, 2008. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
- ^ "Martin/Martin, Inc. Website". Martin/Martin, Inc. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
- ^ . M-E Engineers, Inc. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
- ^ "Oakland's indoor football team is moving to San Jose and becoming the Bay Area Panthers". Silicon Valley Business Journal. August 16, 2021.
- ^ "San Jose's 'Shark Tank' gets new name". Usatoday.com. July 10, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
- ^ Purdy, Mark (July 7, 2008). "Arena vote 20 years ago made San Jose a real city". San Jose Mercury News. p. 1A. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
- ^ Cameron, Steve (1994). Feeding Frenzy! The Wild New World of the San Jose Sharks. Taylor Publishing Co. pp. 43, 51–52.
- ^ Cameron, Steve (1994). Feeding Frenzy! The Wild New World of the San Jose Sharks. Taylor Publishing Co. pp. 51–56.
- ^ "Golden State Warriors 2014-15 Media Guide" (PDF). National Basketball Association. October 10, 2014. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
- ^ a b "HP Pavilion Becoming Tech Testing Lab for Arena Improvements". SportsBusiness Daily. April 17, 2009. Retrieved April 17, 2009.
- ^ Donato-Weinstein, Nathan (June 5, 2013). "Confirmed: Goodbye, HP Pavilion. Hello, SAP Center". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
- ^ "2006 Year End Ticket Sales" (PDF). Pollstar. January 17, 2007. Retrieved June 14, 2007.
- ^ Bailey, Brandon (September 16, 2014). "Game on: Big video-game tournament coming to San Jose". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
- ^ Gu, Rachel (November 15, 2015). "Mark Cuban Wants to Play League of Legends". Retrieved November 16, 2015.
- ^ "SAP CENTER IN SAN JOSE TO HOST SUPER BOWL 50 OPENING NIGHT". KGO-TV. February 1, 2016. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
- ^ "Pittsburgh Penguins - San Jose Sharks - June 12th, 2016". NHL.com. June 12, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
- ^ "March Madness: Which teams might play in Final Four in San Jose?". Retrieved April 17, 2017.
- ^ "2016 Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions takes center stage beginning Sept. 15". usagym.org. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
- ^ https://www.usfigureskating.org/news/press-release/us-figure-skating-announces-host-cities-2021-2022-toyota-us-figure-skating
- ^ Fuentes, Jon. "TLC PPV Location Announced, Interesting Venues Considered For WM 35 Week". Sescoops.
External links
- Official website
| Events and tenants | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Home of the San Jose Sharks 1993 – present | Succeeded by current |
| Preceded by DCU Center (as the Worcester Sharks) | Home of the San Jose Barracuda 2015 – 2022 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Home of the Golden State Warriors 1996 – 1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Host of the NHL All-Star Game 1997 2019 | Succeeded by |