United Center

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Lore & Background

Opened in 1994, the United Center replaced the West Side's Chicago Stadium ("the madhouse on Madison"), which was opened in 1929 and located across Madison Street from the center. It is owned by the Reinsdorf and Wirtz families, owners of the teams that use the arena, and which also own much of the surrounding land. The first event held at the arena is not specified in the source. It hosts hundreds of sporting events, and concerts a year. The center also hosted the Democratic National Convention in 1996 and 2024. The arena served as a mass vaccination site starting in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The arena is home to a statue of basketball great Michael Jordan, posed mid-air in his iconic "flying" jump, erected in 1994. Originally outside, it now stands inside an atrium extension and event space which was added to the Center in 2017. The Jordan statue has since been joined by statues of Blackhawks ice hockey players Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita, while a statue of various Blackhawks players is located across the street on the site of Chicago Stadium.

In Their Own Story

The first event held at the arena was WWF SummerSlam in 1994, marking the beginning of a new era for Chicago sports. In 2017, a significant transformation occurred when a new 190,000 square foot privately funded atrium addition opened, relocating the iconic Michael Jordan statue from its original outdoor position to an interior event space within this new structure. The statue was erected in 1994 and posed mid-air in his famous "flying" jump. Since then, statues of Blackhawks legends Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita have joined it inside, while a separate statue of various Blackhawks players stands across the street on the site of the old Chicago Stadium. In March 2017, the arena also saw the addition of illuminated signs reading "Welcome to the Madhouse" on the 300 level, though these were removed after the 2012–13 season when a third panoramic LED bar was installed around that same level.

Reader's Guide

Both the Chicago Blackhawks and the Chicago Bulls play their home games at the arena with some of them on back-to-back nights. In the 2023–24 NBA season, the Bulls drew an average attendance of 20,624 in 41 home games, the highest in the NBA. The hardwood floor for the Bulls games is laid over the ice that the Blackhawks play on. The flooring is assembled like a puzzle and taken apart when the Blackhawks have a game. The Bulls and Blackhawks own and operate the United Center through the United Center Joint Venture (UCJV), a 50/50 partnership. It covers 960,000 square feet (89,000 m2) on a 46-acre (19 ha) parcel, west of the Chicago Loop. The arena is the largest in the United States in size, though not in capacity. Its exterior bears a striking resemblance to that of Chicago Stadium. It seats 19,717 for hockey, 20,917 for basketball and up to 23,500 for concerts. The United Center hosts over 200 events per year and has drawn over 20 million visitors since its opening. Attendance routinely exceeds seating capacity for Bulls and Blackhawks games. The Bulls opened their practice facility, The Advocate Center, located a block east of the United Center, in 2014. Advocate Health Care owns the naming rights to the facility. The Blackhawks opened their practice facility, Fifth Third Arena (formerly MB Ice Arena prior to 2019), located two blocks to the south of the United Center, in 2017.

Did You Know?

• The original construction of the arena cost $175 million.
• The United Center's acoustics were designed to amplify noise to replicate "The Roar" – the din that made Chicago Stadium famous.
• During ice hockey season, the Blackhawks use an Allen TH323 Theatre Organ that is a replica of the Chicago Stadium's famous Barton organ.
• The building is 140 feet (43 m) tall, and is of concrete and steel construction, with 3,500 tons of steel being utilized in its construction.
• The arena originally had 216 luxury sky-boxes, the most of any professional ice hockey or basketball venue at the time of its opening, but after the 2009–10 renovation this had been decreased to 169 executive suites.