State Farm Arena

State Farm Arena is an multi-use arena located in Atlanta, Georgia that serves as the home for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The arena was also the home of the Atlanta Thrashers of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1999 until 2011 and the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 2008 until 2016, and again in 2019. They first started to build the stadium on June 5, 1997 on the site of the demolished Omni Coliseum. The arena opened on September 18, 1999 and the first event was a concert by Sir Elton John on his Medusa Tour. The Hawks had their first game in the arena on November 4, 1999. In their first game, they were defeated by the Milwaukee Bucks 199–109. The Thrashers had their first game at the arena on October 2, 1999. They would be defeated 4–1 by the eventual Stanley Cup champions, New Jersey Devils. The Thrashers would play their last game in the arena in a 5–2 defeat to the Pittsburgh Penguins on April 10, 2011. They would move to Winnipeg to become the Winnipeg Jets the next season. Since the arena's opening, sponsorship naming rights were owned by Philips and the arena was named Philips Arena. On August 29, 2018, the naming rights were sold to State Farm in a $175 million; 20-year deal. The arena was renamed State Farm Arena. WWE has hosted many shows and pay-per-views at the arena including the 2002 and 2010 Royal Rumbles, Backlash in 2007, Hell in a Cell in 2012, Survivor Series in 2015, and Day 1 in 2022. World Championship Wrestling (WCW) also held an episode of Monday Nitro on June 5, 2000 and All Elite Wrestling held the February 19, 2020 episode of Dynamite at the arena. References Other websites Official website