TaxSlayer Center

The TaxSlayer Center, formerly known as The MARK of the Quad Cities and the iWireless Center, is a 12,000-seat multi-purpose arena located in Moline, Illinois. The arena has garnered numerous architectural industry awards since its construction. The facility opened in May 1993, under the name The MARK of the Quad Cities with the singer Neil Diamond as the opening act. The facility was renamed as the TaxSlayer Center on October 1, 2017.

TaxSlayer Center
Former namesThe MARK of the Quad Cities (1993–2007)
iWireless Center (2007–17)
Address1201 River Dr
Moline, IL 61265
LocationQuad Cities
OwnerQuad City Civic Center Authority
Capacity12,000 (concerts)
3,000 (theater concerts)
6,000 (amphitheater concerts)
9,200 (hockey)
Construction
Broke groundOctober 17, 1991[1]
OpenedMay 28, 1993[2]
Construction cost$33.4 million[2]
($62.7 million in 2019 dollars[3])
ArchitectEllerbe Becket[4]
Project managerNational Sports Services[5]
Services engineerKJWW Engineering Consultants[6]
General contractorHuber Hunt & Nichols Inc.[7]
Tenants
Quad City Thunder (CBA) (1993–2001)
Quad City Mallards (CoHL/UHL) (1995–2007)
The Summit League Men's Basketball Tournament (1996–99)
Quad City Steamwheelers (AF2) (2000–09)
Quad City Flames (AHL) (2007–09)
Quad City Mallards (IHL/CHL/ECHL) (2009–18)
Quad City Steamwheelers (IFL) (2018–19, 2022–)
Quad City Storm (SPHL) (2018–present)
Website
Venue Website

It is the home to the revived Quad City Steamwheelers of the Indoor Football League and the Quad City Storm in the Southern Professional Hockey League.[8]

Sporting events

The arena has hosted NCAA Division I college basketball games (including the Mid-Continent Conference men's basketball tournament from 1996–99) in addition to several NHL and NBA exhibition contests. The Missouri Valley Conference has hosted their Women's Basketball Tournament 2016, 2017, and 2018. The now-defunct Quad City Thunder basketball team played all their home games at the TaxSlayer Center from 1993 until the Continental Basketball Association folded eight years later.

Hockey has also been played at the arena since 1995. The Quad City Mallards of the United Hockey League played the first 12 years. They were replaced by the Quad City Flames of the American Hockey League for two seasons before moving to Abbotsford, British Columbia. After the Flames left, the Quad City Mallards were reincarnated in 2009 and played home games at the arena until 2018. In May 2018, two months after the Quad City Mallards ceased operations, TaxSlayer Center director Scott Mullen and former Mallards' owner Howard Cornfield announced a Southern Professional Hockey League team called the Quad City Storm would play the 2018–19 season.

In 2009, Western Illinois University's club hockey team, the Fighting Leathernecks, began playing there for four games per season.

From 2000 to 2009, the arena played host to arena football as the home of the af2's Quad City Steamwheelers, who won the first two Arena Cup championships in league history (the arena hosted both games at the time). The Steamwheelers came back in 2018 in Champions Indoor Football (CIF) before joining the Indoor Football League (IFL) for the 2019 season.

Configuration

The arena seats up to 12,000 for end-stage concerts along with center-stage concerts. It takes only six hours to convert the center into a theater (called The Theater at the TaxSlayer Center). The seating capacity is 3,000 for theater shows, including Broadway shows, concerts and family shows; and 6,000 for amphitheater concerts.

The center has also hosted professional wrestling events, including the 1997 Great American Bash and 2015 King of the Ring pay-per-views, and numerous broadcasts of World Wrestling Entertainment programming, including Raw, ECW and SmackDown. The arena also hosted WWE The Shield's Final Chapter on April 21, 2019.

The arena contains 31,000 square feet (2,900 m2) of arena floor space, allowing the arena to be used for trade shows and conventions; adjacent is 20,000 square feet (2,000 m2) of meeting room space and an 11,000-square-foot (1,000 m2) lobby. The attendance record was set in 1996, when more than 12,000 people viewed Neil Diamond's concert.

Naming rights

In August 2005, iWireless (formerly Iowa Wireless, a T-Mobile affiliate), announced a 10-year agreement with The MARK (former name) and the Illinois Quad City Civic Center Authority to secure naming rights to the arena. The name change to the "iWireless Center" occurred July 19, 2007. The naming rights agreement with iWireless was extended for two more years in July 2017.[9] In September of the same year it was announced that TaxSlayer.com bought the naming rights and the facility would be known as the TaxSlayer Center beginning on October 1, 2017.[10]

See also

References
  1. Deckhard, Linda (October 28, 1991). "Construction under way for Ill.'s Quad City Center". Amusement Business. Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  2. Rexroat, Dee Ann (May 28, 1993). "New Moline Arena Mark Heats Up Concert Scene". The Gazette (Cedar Rapids). Retrieved September 23, 2011.
  3. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  4. "The MARK of the Quad Cities" Archived 2009-06-10 at the Wayback Machine, Ellerbe Becket Official Website
  5. "NSSSports.com - Facilities". Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  6. "The Mark of the Quad Cities - Moline, IL". KJWW Engineering Consultants. Archived from the original on April 26, 2003. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
  7. "IMPACT - Illowa Construction Labor and Management Council". Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  8. "New hockey team coming to QC is part of Southern Professional Hockey League". WQAD-TV. May 23, 2018.
  9. Amanda Hancock (July 19, 2017). "iWireless extends sponsorship of iWireless Center for 2 years". Quad-City Times. Davenport. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  10. "iWireless Center has a new name: the TaxSlayer Center". Quad-City Times. Davenport. September 28, 2017. Retrieved 2017-09-28.
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