Climate Pledge Arena

The arena opened in 1962 as the Washington State Pavilion for the Century 21 Exposition, the work of architect Paul Thiry. After the close of the Exposition, the Pavilion was purchased by the city of Seattle for $2.9 million and underwent an 18-month conversion into the Washington State Coliseum, one of the centerpieces of the new Seattle Center on the former Exposition grounds. When the newly renovated Coliseum opened, the Seattle University men's basketball team became the arena's first major tenant. In 1964, the facility was renamed the Seattle Center Coliseum. That same year, the Seattle Totems moved into the Coliseum.[25] The Coliseum became home to its most famous resident, the Seattle SuperSonics, beginning with their inaugural season in 1967 and remaining as host throughout most of the team's lifetime.[26]

Seattle Center Coliseum at night, circa 1963

The Coliseum in this incarnation hosted two NBA Finals, in 1978 and 1979, both between the Washington Bullets and SuperSonics. The Bullets won in 1978, prevailing in game 7 in Seattle. The Sonics retaliated the following year, winning in Game 5 on the Bullets' home court, thus capturing the franchise's only championship. Upon the opening of the new Kingdome in 1976, which first hosted the NFL's Seahawks and NASL's Sounders followed by MLB's expansion Mariners in 1977, the Sonics would begin playing a small number of home games at the stadium. For the championship 1978-79 season, the basketball club moved into the Kingdome full-time. They would call it home through the 1984-85 season, after which the team returned to the Coliseum. During those 7 years, the Sonics would occasionally play home playoff games at the Coliseum or Hec Edmundson Pavilion to not interfere with the Mariners' regular season home schedule. They would continue to play occasional games as the Kingdome through the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The arena hosted the NBA All-Star Game once, in 1974; the 1987 game had included NBA All-Star Saturday festivities on February 7, where former Sonics star "Downtown Freddie" Brown was the MVP of the legends game, Boston Celtics star Larry Bird won the three-point contest, and Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan won the slam-dunk competition.[27] The NBA All-Star Game itself for 1987 in Seattle was held at the Kingdome.

The arena hosted the basketball competitions of the Goodwill Games in 1990.[28]

Additionally, the arena has hosted concerts by many famous artists, spanning many different genres. The Beatles performed at the arena twice, first on August 21, 1964.[29] Their 1966 show on August 25 was the final stage performance of their career at an enclosed indoor venue; the final two were outdoors at baseball parks in California. A notable performance by Metallica was in 1989, when they were supporting the Damaged Justice Tour. Their performance at the Coliseum was one of their first large arena concerts and it was filmed for their live album, Live Shit: Binge and Purge.

In 1983, Barry Ackerley, head of the Washington D.C.-based television, radio, and billboard company Ackerley Communications Inc., purchased the Sonics from long-time owner Sam Schulman. In the mid-to-late 1980s, the team's on-court success would decline. This was coupled with a sub-par home court experience at the Coliseum, which included the NBA's lone rain delayed game on January 5, 1986 when rain water leaked from the roof onto the court as the Sonics played the Phoenix Suns.[30][31] Timeouts were called so ball boys armed with towels could do their best to wipe up the puddles, but even so, two players slipped and fell on the wet surface. Early in the second quarter, referee Mike Mathis called the game with the Suns up by eleven points.[32] The game was resumed from that point the following night, and Phoenix won by seventeen.[33]

Ackerley began exploring new options for an arena. Heavy relocation rumors began to circulate, amongst them a potential move to San Diego[34] or possible sales to groups in other markets like Milwaukee or Toronto. In 2018, Ackerley's son Chris would say that the family was always committed to keeping the team in Seattle, and that "[...] in each case, we stood on our principles that this is a Seattle community asset."[35]

In 1990, the Ackerleys talked about building an arena east of Lake Washington near the mall in Bellevue.[36] They would eventually purchase land in the SoDo District near the Kingdome, some of which included the site that would become the Mariners' current home, T-Mobile Park. Ackerley approached the city about a public contribution to the new arena, but the city was reluctant over fears the city-owned Coliseum would become obsolete. They offered to help finance a renovation of the Coliseum, but the team owner declined. To sweeten the offer, Ackerley sold city leaders on the idea that the new arena in SoDo could also attract an NHL club. The city, along with Denver, had been conditionally granted an expansion NHL franchise in 1974 to begin play in the 1976-77 season. The NHL briefly flirted with relocating the Pittsburgh Penguins to Seattle (and the California Golden Seals to Denver) to address a troubled market and fill the expansion commitment, but ultimately kept the team there. Eventually, the Seattle franchise award was rescinded altogether when the potential ownership group was unable to secure the funds for the expansion fee.

In July 1990, the city council approved a deal for a privately owned $100 million facility to be built on the Ackerley land in SoDo, despite objections over traffic and parking by the Seahawks and Mariners in the neighboring Kingdome.[37] The city's contribution would be to waive about $31 million in tax revenues (about $1 million per year) to potentially be collected on admissions fees at the new arena. It would also pay $2 million for street improvements around the proposed site, including a pedestrian walkway over South Royal Brougham Way. Ackerley also agreed to sign a 30-year lease for the Sonics and to build an 1,800-stall parking garage. Ackerley appeased the Seahawks' concerns, noting the arena would be empty during any NFL games. The Mariners unsuccessfully continued to object, even enlisting then-Major League Baseball commissioner Fay Vincent and then-American League president Bobby Brown to speak before the council ahead of their final vote.[38]

During negotiations, Ackerley had asked for a provision to reduce the seating at the Coliseum by 9,000 seats so the older arena could not compete with the new building, but the city would not agree. Another selling point of the new arena were luxury suites, a means to attract corporate money and sponsorship that was then an emerging new revenue stream for sports team owners. Ackerley's financing and agreement with the city hinged on the ability to sell the 70 proposed luxury suites.[39]

Ackerley also committed to submitting an expansion application to the NHL by a September 15, 1990 deadline as part of the arena deal. His son Bill would head the expansion effort, while a competing group led by Microsoft executive Chris Larson and former Seattle Totems player then coach Bill MacFarland was preparing their own application. With the Ackerley application already submitted, the two groups would merge with Larson and MacFarland being primary points of contact with the NHL. Then owner of the Seattle Thunderbirds, Bill Yuill, also joined the group. Larson and MacFarland, along with Barry Ackerley and Bill Lear, Ackerley's financial advisor, were set to make a presentation to the NHL's Board of Governors on December 5, 1990. At the meeting, Ackerley and Lear asked to meet with the board first, promptly withdrew their application, and left. Larson and MacFarland were stunned to learn of the development but were unable to pursue any recourse as their names were never on the submitted application.[40][41]

Thought to play a factor in Ackerley's decision were the significant demands by the NHL for an expansion team: a $50 million expansion fee that was more than any NHL club was valued at the time; a $5 million down payment that would be forfeited if 10,000 season tickets were not sold in the first year – the Sonics had never sold more than 9,000 season tickets; season tickets needed to produce at least $9 million annually, which would've made the tickets the second most expensive for a team in the area at the time; a 20-year lease with a "substantial" share of arena revenues from concessions, parking, and ad signage; priority status for postseason arena dates; and a secured $5 million line of credit in case the league had to take over ownership of the team at any point. Ackerley would not sacrifice Sonics revenues for a hockey team in which he would be a minority investor.[42]

In June 1991, nearly a year after the city agreed to the arena deal, Ackerley announced that the project would not move forward. Increasing project costs, legal disputes, and inability to secure construction financing were cited as reasons to drop the project. Only around 30 of the 70 luxury suites were sold and the Ackerleys were unable to find a corporate buyer for naming rights. Ackerley Communications profits were down, which also contributed to the financing difficulties. A state Supreme Court case brought by Seattle Center employees challenged the constitutionality of the arena deal, while potential lawsuits from the Mariners and trade show organizers and possible legal challenges to environmental review of the project loomed.[39]

Newly elected Seattle mayor Norm Rice was concerned over a loss of concerts and events to cities with larger, more modern facilities, and the strong possibility the city could lose the Sonics. The mayor believed that sports unite a community and that Seattle Center would continue to serve as a valuable hub for tourism. At his insistence, a Center commission developed a plan to renovate the Coliseum by excavating the floor to lower it and build a new bowl with more seating. The Ackerleys turned down the renovation concept in favor of building their own arena in SoDo. Though the city preferred the renovation, they would reluctantly agree to the new arena plan. After the SoDo proposal fell through, the Ackerleys attempted to find other investors to no avail. Barry Ackerley would return to the city to ask if they would still consider renovating the Coliseum.

With renewed interest on all sides, including the city council, the city spent $250,000 studying if it was even environmentally and engineeringly feasible to dig into the ground beneath the building. The plan proved possible and it was found that the compression ring holding the roof could be preserved, saving $15 million in cost and keeping the facility seismically sound against earthquakes. The original cable-suspended roof would be replaced by a conventional fixed roof with steel trusses that would preserve the well-known shape.

The project had an estimated cost of $73.4 million, considerably less than other new arenas of the time in Portland and Vancouver, to be paid with the city's bond capacity. A new kitchen and support building, a parking garage on 1st Avenue N, a new team store, and a tunnel connecting the store to the arena brought the total cost to nearly $127.3 million. New amenities would include 22 concession stands, 8 portable stands with vending in the seating, three private sports clubs, and a public sports bar and restaurant. Club-level seating with 1,100 seats would also offer exclusive club, concession, and lounge areas, and a private concourse with 58 luxury suites would also be added.

A mandate of the project was that no taxpayer funds could be used to pay for it. This brought concern from the Ackerleys, but after nearly a year of negotiations a revenue sharing plan was developed. The city and the team would split revenues from suites, concessions, and other items all within in the arena to service the debt for the city and provide income to the team. The arena would be the first to finance itself by use of the arena. In May 1993, the city council voted 7-2 in favor of the deal with the Sonics signing a 15-year lease agreement and a guaranteed income of $7 million per year during the lease. The agreement was initially turned down in council committee in the hopes of negotiating a 20-year lease with an increased guaranteed income of $9 million per year starting in year 15. The Ackerleys declined these changes.

The Coliseum was rebuilt between 1994 and 1995, bringing the arena up to NBA standards of the day. The local Seattle office of NBBJ, the second largest architectural firm in the country, was chosen as the architects.[43][6] In an unusual move, the Coliseum would be closed for a year during the renovation. Construction began on June 16, 1994.[11] During the 1994–95 season, the SuperSonics played their home games at the multi-purpose Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, about thirty miles (50 km) south.

On April 11, 1995, the city sold the naming rights to Cleveland-based KeyCorp, the parent of KeyBank, which renamed the Coliseum as KeyArena.[44] The renovation cost the city of Seattle $74.5 million and the SuperSonics approximately $21 million. The naming rights cost KeyCorp $15.1 million.

The remodeled arena maintained the architectural integrity of the original roofline by using the existing steel trusses in combination with four new main diagonal trusses. The wood, steel and concrete from the demolition was either reused in construction of the new arena or sold to recyclers. The original acoustical panels, the panels attached to the roof that keep the space from echoing, were refurbished and reused. The court was lowered 35 feet (11 m) below street level to allow for 3,000 more seats. The doors opened to the newly renovated arena on October 26, 1995. The sightlines, however, benefitted the SuperSonics at the expense of the junior Thunderbirds. The floor was just barely large enough to fit a regulation ice rink. Many seats in the lower level were so badly obstructed that almost half the lower level was curtained off for T-Birds games. The new scoreboard was significantly off-center in the ice hockey configuration, hanging over one blue line instead of the center-ice faceoff circle.

The first regular season game for the SuperSonics at the rechristened KeyArena was played on November 4, 1995, against the Los Angeles Lakers.[45] The renovated arena hosted the 1996 NBA Finals that first season, when the SuperSonics lost to the Chicago Bulls in six games. The last SuperSonics game played there was on April 13, 2008, a 99–95 win over the Dallas Mavericks.[46]

U2 performed at the arena in 2005 on April 24 and 25, during their Vertigo Tour, attended by a sold-out total of 30,251.

Depeche Mode performed at the arena six times: the first show was on May 2, 1988 during the Music for the Masses Tour prior to the renovation. The second one was on November 7, 1993, during their Devotional Tour. The third was in 1998 on December 7, during their Singles Tour. The fourth one was on November 16, 2005, during their Touring the Angel. The fifth one was in 2009 on August 10, during their Tour of the Universe, in front of a crowd of 9,376 people. The sixth was October 21, 2017, during their Global Spirit tour. The 2009 show was recorded for the group's live albums project Recording the Universe.

Once KeyArena lost the SuperSonics and the Thunderbirds, there was speculation that KeyBank may try to amend the naming rights deal.[47] In March 2009, the city and KeyCorp signed a new deal for a two-year term ending December 31, 2010, at an annual fee of $300,000.[44]

Diana Ross was scheduled to perform at the arena during her Return to Love Tour on July 24, 2000, but the show was cancelled, due to low ticket sales.

Phish has played at KeyArena twice, on November 27, 1996, and October 18, 2014.

In 2009, the Seattle University Redhawks men's basketball team began playing their home games at KeyArena for the first time since 1980. In February 2009, the Seattle City Council approved a new 10-year lease that would keep the WNBA's Storm at KeyArena.[48]

In 2009, the arena hosted the WWE No Way Out Pay-Per-View event. The WWE returned on March 9, 2010 to tape the March 10th episode of NXT and March 12 episode of Smackdown. They would return a year later to host the WWE Over the Limit pay-per-view on May 22, 2011. In April 2011, the Professional Bull Riders brought the Built Ford Tough Series to KeyArena for the first time.[49]

Between June 28 and 30, 2011, the arena hosted the Seattle audition stages in the first season of the Fox singer search program The X Factor.

On January 21, 2011, Seattle Center announced that KeyCorp would not renew its agreement for naming rights of KeyArena, after 15 years of sponsorship. However, the venue retained the KeyArena name, despite the fact that the naming right had expired.[50]

In January 2012, ESPN.com reporter Scott Burnside said an NHL team playing in KeyArena "would be entirely acceptable", as a temporary venue for a franchise, depending on a future arena plan.[51] The Phoenix Coyotes were often speculated to be a likely candidate for relocation and in June 2013, reports circulated that if the NHL could not negotiate a new lease for the Coyotes with the city of Glendale, Arizona by July 2, the league would sell the team to a private investment group which would then be given permission to relocate the team to Seattle prior to the 2013–2014 season and use KeyArena as a temporary home.[52] On July 2, the city of Glendale, Arizona approved a new lease for the Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena, and soon after, the NHL approved the sale of the Coyotes to an investment group that would keep the Coyotes in the Phoenix area, eliminating the possibility that the Coyotes could move to Seattle.

Conversely, in February 2012, SB Nation columnist Travis Hughes said that while it made "too much sense" for the NHL not to put a team in Seattle in the future, KeyArena was completely unsuitable even as a temporary facility due to the same problems with sight lines that ultimately forced the Thunderbirds to move out. Hughes wrote that even one year of NHL hockey in an arena where half the lower bowl sat unused would be "just unacceptable." He argued that the situation would be even worse than what the Coyotes faced at America West Arena, their original home in Phoenix. When the Coyotes played there from 1996 to 2003, they had to deal with seats where part of the ice could not be seen at all, forcing them to curtain off several thousand seats in the upper level.[53]

League officials have hinted that a new arena would have to be in place before a new or relocated NHL team came to Seattle. During the 2012 All-Star Weekend, Bettman said that while Seattle was a good fit for the NHL, "there's no building."[53] Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said that KeyArena would be "a difficult arena for hockey" due to the large number of obstructed-view seats.[54]

In February 2012, KING 5 reporter Chris Daniels said an NBA team could also use KeyArena as a temporary home.[55]

In July 2012, at a public town hall meeting debating Chris Hansen's proposed NBA/NHL arena in downtown Seattle, anti-arena proponents wanted to "re-explore" using KeyArena instead of the proposed site downtown.[56] The environmental reviews required for the building approval are, as of February 2013, exploring alternate sites that include the KeyArena site and the nearby Memorial Stadium site in addition to Hansen's preferred site near the Mariners' Safeco Field parking garage.[57]

In October 2012, Madonna performed two sold-out shows on October 2 and 3 during her The MDNA Tour.

In December 2013, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis became the first Seattle-based act ever to play three consecutive sold-out shows at KeyArena when the duo concluded their 2013 World Tour in support of their album The Heist.[58]

Starting in 2014, American video game developer Valve began hosting The International Dota 2 eSports tournaments at the venue, which have since featured prize pools of over $20 million.[59][60][61]

KeyArena hosted early rounds of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 1999 and 2015.

On September 16, 2016, the arena hosted the Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions.[62]

Roger Federer organized a tennis exhibition match at KeyArena with Match for Africa 4, held on April 29, 2017. Two matches were played, the first a doubles match pitting Roger Federer and Bill Gates against John Isner and Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, and a singles match featuring Federer and Isner. More than $2 million was raised for the Roger Federer Foundation from the match's proceeds.[63]

In its initial configuration, the arena had a seating capacity of 13,200 for basketball games, 12,250 for ice hockey games, 16,000 for meetings, and 14,770 for boxing matches.[64] Minor expansion occurred as the SuperSonics grew in popularity, but the design of the arena limited its expansion potential; calls for its renovation occurred as early as 1976.[65]

In 1977, Seattle voters passed a bond measure to make improvements to Seattle Center. Permanent ticketing areas were added to the arena eliminating the portable ticket booths that were in use since The Seattle World's Fair. In 1983, the original seats were replaced while improvements were made to the concourses to compete for concerts after the Tacoma Dome opened.[66]

With the 1995 renovation, the arena's capacity was expanded to 17,072 for basketball,[11] 15,177 for ice hockey and ice shows, 16,641 for end-stage concerts, and 17,459 for center-stage concerts and boxing. Risers held 7,440 on the upper level and up to 7,741 on the lower level, with luxury suites adding another 1,160 seats. However, the ice hockey capacity was reduced to 10,442 when obstructed seats were removed.[67]

The redeveloped arena[68][69] will feature a new interior and entrance atrium while retaining the existing roof and three exterior walls. It is planned to seat 18,100 for basketball, 17,100 for ice hockey (as well as arena football, indoor soccer, indoor lacrosse, and ice shows), and 17,200 for concerts.[70]

The seating capacity for basketball[71] and hockey are as follows: