BMO Harris Bradley Center The BMO Harris Bradley Center is an indoor arena , located on the northwest corner of North 4th and West State Streets , in Downtown Milwaukee , Wisconsin . It is home to the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA , the Marquette University men ' s basketball team , the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL ( and formerly of the IHL ) and the Milwaukee Mustangs of the AFL . It is also the former home of the Milwaukee Wave of the MISL , from 1988 – 2003 , the original Milwaukee Mustangs of the AFL from 1994 – 2001 , and the Badger Hockey Showdown from 1989 – 2002 . History . The arena was opened on October 1 , 1988 with an exhibition hockey game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Edmonton Oilers . At $ 90 million , it was meant to be a modern replacement of its current cross - street neighbor , The MECCA ( currently named the U . S . Cellular Arena ) , which was built in 1950 . The MECCA , during much of its time operating as a NBA facility , had the league ' s smallest seating capacity , holding just over 11 , 000 people . Funds to build the Center were donated as a gift to the State of Wisconsin by philanthropists , Jane Pettit and Lloyd Pettit , in memory of Jane ' s late father , Harry Lynde Bradley of the Allen - Bradley company . Despite being one of the premier NBA facilities when completed in 1988 , the BMO Harris Bradley Center ( formerly Bradley Center ) is currently one of the oldest active NBA arenas ( The Palace of Auburn Hills in suburban Detroit and ARCO Arena ( now Sleep Train Arena ) in Sacramento , California also opened in 1988 ) , only behind Madison Square Garden in New York City ( which was renovated in 2011 ) , and Oracle Arena in Oakland ( which was significantly remodeled during the mid - 1990s ) . The BMO Harris Bradley Center is unique in that it was a gift from a family without any provision for the building ' s long - term capital needs or annual operating expenses . While the facility is self - sufficient , the BMO Harris Bradley Center tenants such as the Bucks are at a disadvantage compared with other NBA teams due to the arrangement . Building a new , state - of - the - art downtown arena has been proposed by Bucks owner , U . S . Senator Herb Kohl , but the community reaction to the idea of a publicly funded arena has been mostly negative . In 2009 , Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle included a provision in the state ' s capital budget seeking $ 5 million in state bonding support to renovate the Bradley Center . The Bradley Center ' s board of directors told state officials that the building needs $ 23 million in renovations , so they reportedly agreed to raise the remaining $ 18 million on their own . Over the summer of 2010 the arena ' s longtime Sony Jumbotron scoreboard was replaced with a new 3 . 5 million pixel LED unit manufactured by TS Sports and Lighthouse Technologies , and was put into service in October 2010 at the start of the Admirals season . Unlike many other NBA and NHL scoreboards however , the bottom panel also has an LED screen , allowing display of many images above the floor itself rather than a static image of a sponsor or team logo . On May 21 , 2012 , the Bucks , owner Herb Kohl and representatives from BMO Harris Bank announced that the bank had officially purchased the naming rights for the Bradley Center , and it would now be called the " BMO Harris Bradley Center " . Notable events . The arena hosted the NCAA Frozen Four finals in 1993 , 1997 and 2006 and the Great Midwest Conference men ' s basketball tournament in 1995 . In March 2010 , the arena hosted the first and second - round games in the NCAA Men ' s Basketball Tournament , for the fifth time since 1992 . Early auditions for the tenth season of " American Idol " were held at the arena on July 21 , 2010 . The arena hosted Taylor Swift ' s Speak Now World Tour on June 8 , 2011 . During which , the event was broadcast on national television during the 2011 CMT Music Awards when Swift accepted the award for Video of the Year via satellite . She did not attend the awards ceremony in order to perform the concert . The BMO Harris Bradley Center also played host to the first UFC event in Wisconsin : on August 14 , 2011 .