Owensboro Sportscenter

The Owensboro Sportscenter is 5,000 seat indoor arena located in Owensboro, Kentucky.  The facility opened in 1949.  It is home to the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers basketball team.  The arena was to become home of the former Evansville Icemen of the ECHL when that teams relocation was approved in March of 2016, pending renovations to the arena.  The team had requested a leave for the 2016-17 season while the proposed renovations would be completed.  In September of 2016 the ownership of the hockey team did not act upon an agreement that was in place for them to purchase the building.  The team had been trying to work with local and state officials to help offset the cost of renovations to the facility. The team's ownership was faced with having to foot the bill for all of the renovations to the facility and decided not to exercise the option to purchase the arena and convert and refurbish the arena and sent a letter to the city stating that they would not be purchasing the arena citing the expense of the renovation. This series of events lead the team to relocate to Jacksonville, Florida instead, becoming the Jacksonville Icemen; the Ford Center is now home to newly formed Evansville Thunderbolts of the Southern Professional Hockey League. The team had reportedly been paying the highest rent in the ECHL while in Evansville, Indiana and were unable to come to an agreement on a new lease early in 2016 for a new lease starting with the 2016-17 season.
The arena was previously home to the Kentucky Bisons of the minor league American Basketball Association from 2008 to 2010 and became the home to the Kentucky Mavericks of the Premier Basketball League in 2016.
Category:Indoor ice hockey venues in Kentucky