Smoothie King Center
"The Blender" "The Nest" | |
Smoothie King Center in 2022 | |
| Former names | New Orleans Arena (1999–2014) |
|---|---|
| Address | 1500 Dave Dixon Drive |
| Location | New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 29°56′56″N 90°4′55″W / 29.94889°N 90.08194°W |
| Public transit | 46 Poydras Street New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal |
| Owner | Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District (The State of Louisiana) |
| Operator | ASM Global |
| Capacity | Concerts: 17,971 NBA basketball: 16,867 College basketball/NBA playoff games: 18,500 |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | November 30, 1995 |
| Opened | October 29, 1999 |
| Construction cost | US$114 million ($215 million in 2024 dollars) |
| Architect | Arthur Q. Davis and Partners Billes-Manning Architects Hewitt Washington and Associates |
| Project manager | CS Associates |
| Structural engineer | Walter P Moore |
| Services engineer | Smith Seckman Reid, Inc. |
| General contractor | Manhattan/Gibbs |
| Tenants | |
| New Orleans Brass (ECHL) (1999–2002) New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans (NBA) (2002–2005, 2007–present) New Orleans VooDoo (AFL) (2004–2005, 2007–2008, 2011–2015) | |
| Website | |
| smoothiekingcenter | |
Smoothie King Center (locally referred to as SKC) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is located in the Central Business District, adjacent to the Caesars Superdome. The arena opened in 1999 as New Orleans Arena and has been home to the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA) since 2002. The New Orleans VooDoo of the Arena Football League played their home games in the arena from 2004 until the team disbanded in 2008. The VooDoo resumed play at the arena in March 2011, until after the 2015 AFL season when the franchise folded.