Bradley Center

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The Bradley Center was built as an attempt to attract an expansion franchise for the National Hockey League, though this never occurred. Instead, the International Hockey League's Milwaukee Admirals (later moving to the American Hockey League) used the arena for the majority of its existence. Despite being one of the premier NBA facilities when completed in 1988, it was one of the oldest active NBA arenas by the end of the Bucks' tenancy in 2018, only behind Madison Square Garden and Oakland Arena. The donation from the Pettits did not include provisions for the building's long-term capital needs or annual operating expenses, putting tenants at a disadvantage in later years. For several years, former Bucks owner and former U.S. Senator Herb Kohl proposed constructing a new downtown arena. On May 21, 2012, Kohl and representatives from BMO Harris Bank announced the bank had purchased the naming rights, and it became the BMO Harris Bradley Center. The last game was an NBA playoff game won by the Bucks over the Celtics, 97–86, on April 26, 2018. The arena's final public event was a Bon Jovi concert on April 29, 2018, and its final overall event was the annual meeting of Northwestern Mutual Life, concluding with a private concert by the Zac Brown Band from July 20 through July 24, 2018.

In Their Own Story

The arena employed about 50 full-time employees, mostly tradespeople, and about 700 part-time employees to help during events. During the summer of 2010, the arena's longtime Sony Jumbotron scoreboard was replaced with a new 3.5-million-pixel LED unit manufactured by TS Sports and Lighthouse Technologies, put into service in October 2010. Unlike many other NBA and NHL scoreboards, the bottom panel also had an LED screen, allowing display of many images above the floor itself. Following the opening of Fiserv Forum in late August 2018, the Bradley Center was demolished to make way for future development. Assets including display boards, scoreboards, equipment, and sports and concert memorabilia were auctioned off. Over $1 million in electrical equipment, luxury suite furniture, and bathroom fixtures was donated to Local 494 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Milwaukee chapter of Habitat for Humanity, and Milwaukee Public Schools. Exterior demolition began in spring 2019, starting at the northwest corner. On January 13, 2019, the roof was imploded. The final standing part was felled on May 31, 2019. During the Bucks' run to the NBA Finals in 2021, the Bradley Center site was used as part of the viewing parties in the Deer District. Landmark Credit Union Live, built on the northeast corner of the former site, opened in 2026.

Reader's Guide

The Bradley Center hosted the NCAA men's Frozen Four finals in 1993, 1997, and 2006, and the Great Midwest Conference men's basketball tournament in 1995. It was a host site for second and third-round games in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 1992, 1996, 1999, 2004, 2010, 2014, and 2017. The arena hosted World Wrestling Entertainment events since February 1989, when it hosted The Main Event II, where the Mega Powers of Macho Man Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan disbanded. WWE returned for pay-per-views No Way Out (2002), which saw the debut of the NWO, Taboo Tuesday (2004), Elimination Chamber (2012), and Fastlane (2017). The Bradley Center also hosted the first UFC event in Wisconsin: UFC Live: Hardy vs. Lytle on August 14, 2011, and UFC 164 on August 31, 2013. The Jerry Garcia Band played the Bradley Center on November 28, 1991, a show later released as Garcia Live Volume Eight. Early auditions for the tenth season of American Idol were held at the arena on July 21, 2010, with 10,000 people auditioning.

Did You Know?

• The arena was built with funds donated by broadcaster Lloyd Pettit and his wife Jane Bradley Pettit, in memory of Jane's father, Harry Lynde Bradley of the Allen-Bradley company.
• The arena's exterior featured subtle decorative outlines hinting at the Allen-Bradley company's trademark octagonal logo.
• The Bradley Center was built as an attempt to attract an NHL expansion franchise, though this never occurred.
• The arena's final public event was a Bon Jovi concert on April 29, 2018.
• During the Bucks' 2021 NBA Finals run, the Bradley Center site was used as part of the Deer District viewing parties, with over 65,000 fans in total watching Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals.