Tampa Bay Times Forum
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Amalie Arena at sunset
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| Former names | Ice Palace (1996-Aug 2002) St. Pete Times Forum (Aug 2002-Jan 2012) Tampa Bay Times Forum (Jan 2012-Sep 2014) |
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| Address | 401 Channelside Drive |
| Location | Tampa, Florida |
| Coordinates | 27°56′34″N 82°27′7″W / 27.94278°N 82.45194°WCoordinates: 27°56′34″N 82°27′7″W / 27.94278°N 82.45194°W |
| Owner | Tampa Sports Authority |
| Operator | Tampa Bay Sports And Entertainment LLC |
| Capacity |
Ice hockey: 19,092 Basketball: 20,500 Concert: 21,500 Arena Football: 18,500 |
| Field size | 600,000 square feet (56,000 m2) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | April 14, 1994 |
| Opened | October 20, 1996 |
| Construction cost | US$139 million ($212 million in 2016 dollars) |
| Architect | Ellerbe Becket |
| Structural engineer | Walter P Moore |
| General contractor | Hunt/Morse Diesel |
| Tenants | |
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Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL) (1996–present) Tampa Bay Storm (AFL) (1997–present) |
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| Website | |
| www |
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Amalie Arena is an arena in Tampa, Florida, that has been used for ice hockey, basketball, and arena football games, as well as concerts. It is home to the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League and the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League.
The building was originally known as the Ice Palace. In 2002, the building's naming rights were sold to the St. Petersburg Times, which became the Tampa Bay Times in 2012; accordingly, the arena was known as the St. Pete Times Forum from 2002 to 2012 and Tampa Bay Times Forum (2012–2014). In September 2014, the arena was renamed Amalie Arena when the naming rights were transferred to Amalie Oil Company.
The venue, located in Downtown Tampa's Channelside District was a secondary location chosen after the failure of Tampa Coliseum Inc. to secure funding to construct an arena on Tampa Sports Authority land near Tampa Stadium. The city of Tampa paid $86 million and the Tampa Bay Lightning paid $53 million for the venue's construction and infrastructure. It opened in 1996 as the Ice Palace. Its first event was a performance by the Royal Hanneford Circus. The first hockey game was the Lightning hosting the New York Rangers, which the Lightning won 5–2.
The arena was built as a new home for the Lightning, necessary because of the lack of a major league-sized arena in the Tampa Bay Area. The two existing arenas in the region, Bayfront Arena in St. Petersburg and the Expo Hall at the Florida State Fairgrounds were too small for an NHL team. Prior to the opening of the Ice Palace, the Lightning spent one season at the Expo Hall, and then moved to the Florida Suncoast Dome, which was nicknamed the "Thunderdome", in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1993. The Thunderdome, now Tropicana Field, is currently home to Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays.
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