PeoplesBank Arena

The PeoplesBank Arena (originally known as the Hartford Civic Center and formerly as the XL Center) is a multi-purpose arena and convention center located in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. Owned by the City of Hartford, it is managed by the quasi-public Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA), under a lease with the city, and operated by OVG. The arena is ranked the 28th largest among college basketball arenas. It opened in 1975 as the Hartford Civic Center and was originally located adjacent to Civic Center Mall, which was demolished in 2004. It consists of two facilities: the Veterans Memorial Coliseum and the Exhibition Center. In December 2007, the center was renamed when the arena's naming rights were sold to XL Group insurance company in a six-year agreement. This agreement was extended and lasted until 2025 when the arena was renamed as part of an agreement with PeoplesBank. On March 21, 2007, the CRDA selected the Northland/Anschutz Entertainment Group proposal to operate the arena complex; Northland also developed the Hartford 21 residential tower on the adjacent Civic Center Mall site. The agreement also stated that Northland would assume total responsibility for the building bearing the cost of any and all losses, and would retain any profits. In 2012, the CRDA put the contract out to bid with hopes of combining the operations with Rentschler Field. In February 2013, Global Spectrum of Philadelphia was chosen to take over both the XL Center and Rentschler Field with Ovations Food Services taking over all food and beverage operations. Overview The PeoplesBank Arena is the full-time home of the Hartford Wolf Pack AHL hockey team and part-time home of the University of Connecticut (UConn) men's and women's basketball teams and the UConn Huskies men's ice hockey team. The UConn men's basketball team has played at PeoplesBank Arena since 1976. UConn continued playing the majority of home games at PeoplesBank Arena until the opening of their on campus home, Gampel Pavilion, after which games were split between the two arenas. The UConn men's hockey team also continues to play a package of games at PeoplesBank Arena after opening Toscano Family Ice Forum on campus. It was the home of the New England/Hartford Whalers of the WHA and NHL from 1975 to 1978 and 1980 to 1997, and the Hartford Hellions of the MISL from 1980 to 1981, and the New England Blizzard of the ABL from 1996 to 1998, and was the home of the Connecticut Coyotes and later the New England Sea Wolves of the Arena Football League. The venue hosted occasional Boston Celtics home games from 1975 to 1995. One of the most famous shots Larry Bird ever made, although it did not count, took place at the Hartford Civic Center: the shot from behind the backboard. The arena seats 15,635 for ice hockey and 16,294 for basketball, 16,606 for center-stage concerts, 16,282 for end-stage concerts, and 8,239 for 3⁄4-end stage concerts, and contains 46 luxury suites and a 310-seat Coliseum Club, plus 25,000 square feet (2,300 m2) of arena floor space, enabling it to be used for trade shows and conventions in addition to concerts, circuses, ice shows, sporting events and other events. The graduation ceremonies of Central Connecticut State University and other local colleges are also held annually at the PeoplesBank Arena. Early history and roof collapse As originally built in 1975, it seated 10,507 for hockey, and served as the home of the then–New England Whalers for three years. In the early morning of January 18, 1978, the Civic Center's roof collapsed. Engineering analyses during litigation following the collapse indicated that compression members were overloaded through undersizing and underestimation of the probable loadings, and that lateral bracing of individual members was insufficient. "The roof did not fail due to the heavy snow that fell on that January night. According to the official City investigation, the roof began progressive failure as soon as it had been installed. Contributing factors included design errors, an underestimation of the weight of the roof, and differences between the design and the actual built structure." Investigations attributed the design issues to the unprecedented use of and trust in computer analysis. An absence of peer review for the novel structure and design process, and fragmentation of oversight responsibility during construction were also cited as contributing factors. Evidence showed that the roof had started to fail during construction, with bowed compression members. These distortions, and an unpredicted degree of deflection in the structure, were not investigated before the collapse. There were no injuries due to the collapse. The building was extensively renovated and re-opened on January 17, 1980. The Civic Center hosted the Hartford Whalers from 1975 to 1997, when the team relocated to Raleigh to become the Carolina Hurricanes. In 1994, new owner Peter Karmanos pledged to keep the Whalers in Connecticut until 1998, unless they could not sell over 11,000 season tickets. After failed negotiations to build a new downtown arena for the Whalers with then-governor John G. Rowland, on March 25, 1997, Karmanos announced that the team would leave. The New York Rangers franchise, looking to capitalize on Hartford as a potential market, placed its farm team there to become the Hartford Wolf Pack, starting in 1997. After a short stint as the Connecticut Whale from 2010 to 2012, they reverted to the Wolf Pack moniker in 2013. Renovations during the 2010s The Civic Center was renamed the XL Center in 2007. In September 2010, the arena was upgraded with a new center-hung scoreboard with four Sony Jumbotrons and a state-of-the-art sound system. The Connecticut State Legislature set aside $35 million in funding for improvements to the XL Center that began in early spring 2014 and completed in time for the start of the 2014–15 seasons of the Wolf Pack and UConn men's hockey in October. Improvements included upgrades to the mechanical system, locker rooms and concourse, replacing jumbotrons with a new HD video board, as well as aesthetic improvements such as a new bar area inside the arena and luxury seating in the lower bowl. A portion of the $35 million allocation went towards a study on the arena's long-term viability; either more major renovations or replacing it with a new facility. 2023 Fanatics Sports Bar Addition In September 2023, the arena (then known as the XL Center) opened the Fanatics Sports Bar and Sportsbook, a sports bar and legal sports wagering facility located within the arena. The sportsbook was constructed on the west side of the arena complex, above the venue’s loading and service docks. The venue officially opened on September 18, 2023, becoming one of the first in-arena sportsbook lounges in Connecticut.The space includes bar seating, lounge areas, large video displays for live sporting events. The facility was developed as part of a broader series of arena amenity upgrades completed in the early 2020s. Unlike the major state-funded renovation completed in 2014 and the larger modernization project undertaken in 2025, the addition of the Fanatics Sports Bar and Sportsbook was implemented as a standalone enhancement focused on improving premium hospitality offerings and fan experience. 2025 Overhaul and New Name The arena underwent a $145 million overhaul, including upgraded seating in the lower bowl, loge seating, concourse upgrades, an event level club, bunker suites, and back of the house upgrades, including an artists’ lounge, kitchen, and an upgraded locker room space for UConn. The arena was closed during renovations over the summer of 2025 and re-opened for a Wolf Pack game on October 17, 2025. On June 2, 2025, the XL Center was officially renamed PeoplesBank Arena as part of a 10-year naming partnership with PeoplesBank. Historical Events NHL The 1986 NHL All Star Game The 1994 NHL entry draft College Basketball The 1977 ECAC New England Region tournament took place at the Hartford Civic Center on March 3 and 5, 1977 The 2015 and 2017 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament The 1982 Big East Conference and 1988–1990 America East Conference men's basketball tournaments The PeoplesBank Arena has hosted the NCAA Men's Tournament first and second round 6 times in 1983, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1998, 2019 The PeoplesBank Arena has hosted the NCAA Women's Tournament first and second rounds in 2007 and the East Regional Final in 2004 The Big East Conference Women's basketball tournament was held from 2004 to 2013. Concerts Rock group the Grateful Dead performed at the arena twenty-one times. Several concerts were released in entirety on the live albums To Terrapin: Hartford '77, Dick's Picks Volume 6, Spring 1990 (The Other One), and Spring 1990 (album). Hard rock band Guns N' Roses performed at the Hartford Civic Center on March 9th, 1993 during their two-and-a-half year Use Your Illusion Tour. The Brian May Band opened. Michael Jackson performed at the Hartford Civic Center for his Bad tour Gymnastics The arena hosted the Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions in 2016. The Arena hosted the 2024 Core Hydration Classic Women's Gymnastics Meet in May 2024 in the lead up to the 2024 Paris Olympics The Arena hosted the 1980 USGF International Invitational, a replacement Gymnastics event for countries that participated in the 1980 US Olympic Boycott alongside the Liberty Bell Classic a track and field event in Philadelphia. Other The 1977 WHA All-Star Game The PBR (Professional Bull Riders) made their first-ever visit to the PeoplesBank Arena for a Built Ford Tough Series (now known as the Unleash the Beast Series) event the weekend of October 7–9, 2011. The arena has hosted many professional wrestling events; including the 1990 Survivor Series (which saw the debut of popular wrestling legend The Undertaker), WrestleMania XI, 2000 No Way Out, 2004 Vengeance, and 2019 Money in the Bank. All Elite Wrestling's AEW Collision July 29, 2023, episode. Two Connecticut Sun games were played at PeoplesBank Arena during the 2026 season, the first on May 30 against the Los Angeles Sparks and the second on July 2 against the Dallas Wings. Boston Celtics International Women's basketball games International hockey games UConn Huskies The PeoplesBank Arena serves as the second home for the University of Connecticut's men's and women's basketball programs. At the start of the 2014–15 season the UConn men's ice hockey program moved to the XL Center as a condition of its joining Hockey East. In September 2018, the UConn Board of Trustees approved a plan to build a new 2,500-seat arena in Storrs with the option to expand to 3,500 seats if necessary. Though Hockey East requires arenas to hold at least 4,000, UConn received a waiver for the project since the expectation is for the Huskies' men's hockey program to continue to play some of its games at the XL Center in Hartford. UConn Hockey attendance records Exhibition center and Mall The Exhibition Center consisted of a 68,855-square-foot (6,397 m2) exhibit hall, a 16,080-square-foot (1,494 m2) assembly hall that could divide into two meeting rooms, plus seven meeting rooms totaling 7,390 square feet (687 m2) and two lobbies totaling 6,100 square feet (570 m2). It was used for trade shows, conventions, banquets, meetings and other events. The surrounding shopping mall was demolished in 2004 and was replaced by street-level retail shops and a 36-story residential tower named Hartford 21 which opened in 2006 and is the tallest residential tower between New York City and Boston. As part of the 2025 Renovation the Exhibition center- made obsolete by the 2005 construction of the Connecticut Convention Center- was converted to office space to free up room for the new event level clubs, suites, and new locker rooms. Transportation The arena is serviced by CT Transit local city routes 60, 62, 64, 66, 72, 74, and 76; CT Fastrak routes 101, 102, and 128; and CT Transit express routes 902, 909, 923, and 928. It is also a ten minute walk from Hartford Union Station, allowing for train service from New Haven or Springfield. See also List of NCAA Division I basketball arenas References Notes External links XL Center