Verizon Arena Verizon Arena ( formerly known as the Alltel Arena ) is an 18 , 000 - seat multi - purpose arena in North Little Rock , Arkansas , directly across the Arkansas River from downtown Little Rock . The arena opened in October 1999 . Currently , its primary tenant is the Arkansas Diamonds of the Indoor Football League . The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Trojans played home games at the arena from the time when the arena opened until the team moved in 2005 to a new stadium , the Jack Stephens Center , on the school ' s campus in Little Rock . The Arkansas RiverBlades , a defunct ice hockey team of the ECHL , and the Arkansas RimRockers , a defunct minor league basketball team of the NBA Development League , also played at the Alltel Arena . The arena is also used for other events , including concerts , rodeos and auto racing , professional wrestling , and trade shows and conventions . History . On August 1 , 1995 , Pulaski County , Arkansas , voters approved a one - year , one - cent sales tax for the purpose of building a multi - purpose arena , expanding the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock , and making renovations to the Main Street bridge between Little Rock and North Little Rock . $ 20 million of the sales tax proceeds went toward the Convention Center expansion , with the remainder used to build the arena . That money , combined with a $ 20 million contribution from the State of Arkansas , $ 17 million from private sources and $ 7 million from Little Rock - based Alltel Corporation paid for the construction of a 377 , 000 - square - foot ( 35 , 000 m ) arena , which cost nearly $ 80 million to build . When the doors opened in 1999 , the facility was paid for and there was no public indebtedness . Two sites in North Little Rock drew interest from county officials for the proposed arena . The first was a 19 . 5 - acre ( 79 , 000 m ) commercial site west of Interstate 30 , which contained a strip mall , a Kroger and an abandoned K - Mart storefront . The second site was an 11 . 6 - acre ( 47 , 000 m ) plot at the foot of the Broadway Bridge . The Pulaski County Multipurpose Civic Center Facilities Board selected the larger site for the arena in 1996 and paid $ 3 . 7 million for the land , some of which was acquired through eminent domain , a move protested in court by several landowners . Although located in North Little Rock , Verizon Arena can be seen across the Arkansas River from a number of locations in Little Rock . The second site later would be chosen for the new baseball stadium , Dickey - Stephens Park , constructed for the Arkansas Travelers . The Class AA minor - league baseball team moved from the then 73 - year - old Ray Winder Field in Little Rock to a new $ 28 million home in North Little Rock at the start of the 2007 season . The arena was the home of the 2003 , 2006 , and 2009 Southeastern Conference Women ' s Basketball Tournament and the 2000 Sun Belt Conference men ’ s basketball tournament . The Arena holds the all - time attendance record for an SEC Women ' s Tournament when 43 , 642 people attended the event in 2003 . The arena hosted portions of the first and second rounds of the NCAA Men ' s Division I Basketball Tournament in March 2008 and the SEC Gymnastics Championships in 2007 . The arena hosted the Arkansas Awana Games in 2006 and WWE No Mercy in 2002 and they host WWE Smackdown and Raw events . The arena is also used for other events : concerts ( seating capacity is between 15 , 000 and 18 , 000 for end - stage concerts ; the arena has an 80 - by - 40 - foot portable stage ) ; rodeos and auto racing ( seating capacity is 14 , 000 ) ; and trade shows and conventions ( there are 28 , 000 square feet ( 2 , 600 m ) of arena floor space plus 7 , 050 square feet ( 655 m ) of meeting space and 2 , 580 square feet ( 240 m ) of pre - function space ) . As a concert venue , its location prompted Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to play one of its most rarely performed numbers , 1973 ' s " Mary Queen of Arkansas " , during a March 2000 show on their Reunion Tour . The arena is owned by the Multi - Purpose Civic Center Facilities Board for Pulaski County . The arena was designed by the Civic Center Design Team ( CCDT ) , Burt Taggart & Associates , Architects / Engineers , The Wilcox Group , Garver & Garver Engineering and Rosser International of Atlanta . The arena held the 2004 , 2007 and 2009 American Idols LIVE ! Tour concerts on August 13 , 2004 , July 13 , 2007 and July 25 , 2009 , respectively . Because of the $ 28 . 1 billion sale of Alltel to Verizon Wireless , as of June 30 , 2009 , the Alltel Arena was renamed Verizon Arena .