Budweiser Gardens Budweiser Gardens is a sports - entertainment centre , in London , Ontario , Canada – the largest such centre in southwestern Ontario . Until 2012 , it was known as the John Labatt Centre , usually referred to as the " JLC " . The John Labatt Centre , which opened on October 11 , 2002 , was named after John Labatt , founder of the Labatt brewery in London . Labatt still has a large brewery in London to the present day , although its head office was moved to Toronto in the early 1990s . The John Labatt Centre ' s name was changed to Budweiser Gardens in Fall 2012 , as approved by London City Council on Tuesday , June 26 , 2012 with a vote of 12 - 3 . The centre was built , in part , to be the new downtown home of London ' s Ontario Hockey League team , the London Knights , replacing the 40 - year - old London Ice House in the south end of the city , near Highway 401 . Since 2011 , it is home to London ' s National Basketball League of Canada team , the London Lightning . Ownership and management . Budweiser Gardens is leased from the city of London by the London Civic Centre Corporation , an example of a public - private partnership . The Corporation is owned in turn by EllisDon , and Global Spectrum , the Philadelphia - based subsidiary of Comcast , the American cable company . Global Spectrum also manages the Budweiser Gardens , and operates more than 100 other arenas , stadiums and convention centres . Because of this , the Philadelphia Flyers , a corporate cousin of Global Spectrum , customarily have played a preseason game at Budweiser Gardens each year . Seating and ticketing . Approximate capacities : In addition to the standard end stage configuration for large concerts , the arena can be set up to accommodate touring Broadway shows or smaller concerts in its theatre mode . The theatre mode features a small , intimate atmosphere and a 30 - line fly grid to suspend scenery or lighting and sound . The centre features 38 luxury suites and more than 1 , 000 club seats . Budweiser Gardens complies with the Ontarians with Disabilities Act and has 55 % more public washrooms than required by the law . The arena formerly sold tickets through Ticketmaster . On August 1 , 2005 , the arena switched ticketing systems and now uses an in - house system , provided by New Era Tickets ( itself a subsidiary of one of the arena ' s partners ) . The arena is consistently listed in industry magazines for its high ticket sales . In late 2005 , " Pollstar " magazine , a concert industry publication , listed Budweiser Gardens as 21st on its list of top arena venues in the world , based on ticket sales for the first nine months of 2005 . The three - year - old Budweiser Gardens attracted 189 , 026 concert - goers in the first nine months of 2005 . History , construction and controversy . The John Labatt Centre was built at a cost of approximately $ 42 million by the London , Ontario - based construction company , EllisDon Corp . , builders of Toronto ' s Rogers Centre . The land was purchased for $ 10 million . The construction of this sports - entertainment centre was decided upon as a part of the city government ' s overall effort to revitalize the city ' s downtown . As part of that effort , London city council committed to building the centre , and agreed to fund much of the cost , which has amounted to about $ 4 . 5 million a year in debt financing so far . Another controversial part of the management deal is that while revenue at the centre has been much higher than forecast , the city ' s share has been minimal , about $ 100 , 000 a year , with much of the balance going to the London Civic Centre Corporation , the public - private partnership that owns the arena . Many businesses close to the centre also report that they have benefitted as a result of the increased number of people coming downtown . The Talbot Inn . The JLC ' s million - dollar facade at its northeast corner is a replica of the Talbot Inn using " retumbled " yellow brick ( new yellow bricks that have been scuffed up and scarred to appear old ) . The Talbot Inn is a 19th century building that stood on the site for more than 125 years - - a designated heritage property under the " Ontario Heritage Act " ( facade only " via " a registered heritage easement ) . Originally planning to re - use the old bricks from the Talbot Inn on the northeast facade of the JLC , the City of London suddenly had the building demolished on the morning of Sunday , June 3 , 2001 - - without a demolition permit or delisting the Talbot Inn ' s facade as a designated heritage property . Instead , the City of London had previously obtained a " heritage alteration permit " , permits which are routinely used for minor changes to heritage properties , changes that don ' t affect the by - law reasons for designation . According to officials with the Ontario Heritage Foundation ( now called the Ontario Heritage Trust ) , it is the first known time in Ontario ' s history and possibly Canada ' s , that a " heritage alteration permit " was misused to outright demolish a designated heritage property . The rationale cited by civic officials was that the Talbot Inn bricks were not salvageable due to their moisture content after a contractor had power - washed the paint off the bricks . Some of the original bricks , however , were used for the interior walls of the restaurant on the JLC ' s second level and the rest were trucked to TRY Recycling in London where they were re - sold . No charges were ever laid against the City of London under the " Ontario Heritage Act " for the unusual demolition and the facade of the Talbot Inn remained designated under the " Ontario Heritage Act " for approximately 17 months after it was demolished . The " Talbot Tot " . Prior to the construction of the JLC during an archaeological assessment of the property , the skeletal remains of an infant , believed to be from the 1830s or 1840s , were found in the soil at the site . The discovery caused an uproar and delayed construction for a few months and likely contributed to the sudden demolition of the Talbot Inn in 2001 . The human remains were dubbed the " Talbot Tot " and subsequently were reinterred at Oakland ( pioneer ) Cemetery on Oxford Street West in London . Sporting events . Within a few years of opening , the London Knights had a spectacular championship season in the 2004 - 05 season and the centre was well positioned to take maximum advantage of the team ' s popularity . The JLC hosted the 2005 Memorial Cup , the CHL championship series which the Knights also won after winning the OHL championship . The University of Western Ontario Mustangs hockey team used the JLC as their home arena from 2005 until 2007 . They have since moved to the Western Fair Sport Centre .