Amerant Bank Arena

Amerant Bank Arena (previously known as the National Car Rental Center, Office Depot Center, BankAtlantic Center, BB&T Center, and FLA Live Arena) is the largest indoor arena in Florida and is located next to Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise, Florida. It is the home venue for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League. It was completed in 1998, at a cost of US$185 million, almost entirely publicly financed, and features 70 suites and 2,623 club seats.
== History==
In 1992, Wayne Huizenga obtained a new NHL franchise that would eventually become the Florida Panthers. Until the team had an arena of their own, they initially played at the now-demolished Miami Arena, sharing the venue with the NBA's Miami Heat. Sunrise City Manager Pat Salerno made public a $167-million financing and construction plan for a civic center near the Sawgrass Expressway in December 1995, and Broward County approved construction in February 1996. In June 1996, the site was chosen by the Panthers, and in July, Alex Muxo gathered more than a dozen architects, engineers and contractors for the first major design brainstorming session. Architects Ellerbe Becket were given 26 months to build the arena, which had to be ready by August 30, 1998, to accommodate the 1998–99 NHL season. Despite never having designed a facility that had taken less than 31 months from start to finish, they accepted the job.
Seventy suites were completed with wet bars, closed circuit monitors and leather upholstery. Also home to private lounge box seating, all construction activity was generated by over fifty subcontractors and 2.3 million man hours without a single injury. Known as the Broward County Civic Center during construction, the naming rights were won in July 1998 by National Car Rental — a company purchased by Huizenga in January 1997 — leading to the venue being named the National Car Rental Center. A certificate of occupancy was given on September 12, 1998, and the arena opened on October 3, 1998, with a Celine Dion concert. The next day, Elton John performed, and on October 9, 1998, the Florida Panthers had their first home game at their new arena, a 4–1 win against their cross-state rival, The Tampa Bay Lightning. .
As NRC's new parent company, ANC Rental, went bankrupt in 2002, the Panthers sought a new sponsor for the arena. It became the Office Depot Center in the summer of 2002. Just over three years later, the arena's name changed again; it became the BankAtlantic Center on September 6, 2005. (BankAtlantic was headquartered in nearby Fort Lauderdale.)
Because BB&T purchased BankAtlantic in July 2012, the arena was rebranded as the BB&T Center.
The arena is currently the largest in Florida.
In October 2012, Sunrise Sports and Entertainment completed installation of the Club Red [now Amerant Vault] which is a 12,000+ square-foot exclusive lounge for concerts, shows, and events including a center ice view for hockey games.
On May 14, 2013, Broward County voted to fund a new scoreboard for the county-owned arena. On October 11, 2013, the scoreboard made its debut for the Panthers' 2013–14 home opener.
In February 2019, it was announced that BB&T would be merging with SunTrust Banks to form Truist Financial Corporation. The merged company decided to not renew the naming rights agreement after it expired in 2021. The arena was temporary named FLA Live Arena until a new rights partner was found. On September 19, 2023, it was announced that Amerant Bank, a South Florida-based bank, would be the new rights partner, renaming the arena to Amerant Bank Arena.
==Notable events==
===NHL===
*The Florida Panthers hosted the 2001 NHL Entry Draft & 2015 NHL Entry Draft at the arena.
*The arena served as the site for the 2003 NHL All-Star Game on February 2, 2003. The Western Conference defeated the Eastern Conference 6–5 in a shootout victory. It marked the first "official" shootout in the NHL.
*The arena was due to host the 2021 NHL All-Star game, but it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
*The arena hosted the 2023 NHL All-Star Game on February 4, 2023.
*The arena hosted the third and fourth games of the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals.
==Arena information==
===Seating===
*Basketball: 20,737
*Hockey: 19,250
*End-Stage Concerts: 12,500 – 19,000
*Center-Stage Concerts: 19,500
* of arena floor space for trade shows and other events such as circuses and ice shows.
===Parking and loading docks===
*Total: 7,045 spaces (Does not include production or bus/oversized vehicle parking)
*General parking: 4,446 Spaces
*Suite/club seat parking: 1,771 spaces
*Garage: 226 spaces
*Disabled parking: 92 spaces
*Truck doors: 5
*Waste removal docks: 2
===Food and novelty concessions===
Plaza Level: 
*3 Coca-Cola food courts
*Pantherland Retail
*VooDoo Ranger Craft Beer & Bar
*Cats Cantina
*Funky Buddha Tap Room
*Jameson Crossbar
*Patron Patio &Yuengling Flight Deck & Bar 
Mezzanine Level: 
*3 food courts and two points of purchase kiosks
==References==
==External links==
*
*BB&T Center aerial video
Category:Indoor ice hockey venues in Florida
Category:National Hockey League venues
Category:Florida Panthers