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St Pete Times Forum
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BUY St Pete Times Forum
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Located at 401 Channelside Drive in Tampa, Florida, The St Pete Times Forum is home
to the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning. The St. Pete Times Forum arena is used for hockey
games, basketball games, arena football games, and concerts. The arena is also home
to the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League.
The St. Pete Times Forum opened in 1996 as the Ice Palace. The arena was built as
a new home for the Tampa Bay Lightning to replace Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg,
Florida, which was then known as the Thunderdome. Upon the completion of the Ice
Palace, both the Lightning and the Tampa Bay Storm, also a tenant of the Thunderdome,
moved in and have made it their home since. Naming rights to the Ice Palace were
sold to the St. Petersburg Times, a daily newspaper which circulates throughout
the Tampa Bay area.
The venue, located in Downtown Tampa's Channel 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 St. Pete Times Forum
officially opened on October 20, 1996, as the Lightning beat the New York Rangers
by a score of 5-2.
Control of The St. Pete Times Forum venue has changed hands three times since the
building's opening. The lease agreement ties the arena to the ownership of the Tampa
Bay Lightning. Currently Palace Sports and Entertainment, owned by billionaire William
Davidson, operates the venue. Davidson has been in control since the summer of 1999
when he purchased the Lightning from then owner Art Williams.
Other entertainment events occasionally held in the Forum include concerts, NBA
exhibition games, USF Basketball and NCAA Tournament games, tennis, professional
wrestling, boxing, figure skating, and rodeos. The building played host to the 1999
NHL All-Star Game, World Wrestling Federation Survivor Series 2000, and first and
second round games of the 2003 NCAA men's basketball tournament. The Forum also
played host to 4 of the 7 games during the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals, as the Lightning
defeated the Calgary Flames 4 games to 3 to win their first Stanley Cup.
In 2012, the St. Pete Times Forum will play host to the NCAA Hockey Frozen Four
championship finals; this will be the first time the "Frozen Four" will be held
outside the northern US since 1999, when the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, hosted by
the University of Alaska Anchorage, held the event. Oddly enough, the Frozen Four
will be hosted by the University of Alabama in Huntsville, the nearest collegiate
hockey team to Florida.
Other events scheduled to be played at the St. Pete Times Forum in the future are
the 2007 ACC Men's Basketball tournament, first and second round games of the 2008
NCAA men's basketball tournament, 2008 NCAA Women's Basketball Final Four and the
2009 Southeastern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.
St Pete Times Forum is a great venue to watch NHL hockey. The Tampa Bay Lightning
are proud to call St Pete Forum home and the arena enjoyed all of the national attention
when the Lightning won the Stanley Cup. The arena has great site lines and fast
ice, you won't want to miss one single slap shot! Whether you want to see the Lightning
slam it's opponents into the boards or a major music act raise the roof, order your
tickets early - the best events sell out fast!
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BUY St Pete Times Forum
TICKETS NOW! |
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