HP Pavilion at San Jose

Lore & Background

Plans for a San Jose arena began in the mid-1980s, when a group of local citizens formed Fund Arena Now (FAN). The group contacted city officials and pursued potential sponsors and partners from the NHL and NBA. In the late 1980s, mayor Tom McEnery met with FAN, and subsequently a measure to allocate local taxes for arena construction came up for a public vote on June 7, 1988, passing by a narrow margin. The arena was principally designed by Denver architect Charles Sink, a senior partner of Sink Combs Dethlefs. In 1991, soon after construction began, the NHL granted an expansion franchise to San Jose. After it was discovered that the arena would not be suitable for NBA or NHL use as originally designed, the Sharks requested an upgrade to NHL standards, including the addition of luxury suites, a press box, and increased seating capacity. In 1993, the arena was completed and initially named the 'San Jose Arena'. For the 1996–97 NBA season, the arena served as home to the Golden State Warriors while their regular home court in Oakland (now known as Oakland Arena) was under renovation. In 2001, naming rights were sold to Compaq, and it was renamed 'Compaq Center at San Jose' (not to be confused with the Compaq Center (formerly The Summit) in Houston, Texas). After HP purchased Compaq in 2002, the arena was renamed 'HP Pavilion', the same name as one of its computer models. In late April 2007, it was announced that the HP Pavilion at San Jose would be receiving several building improvements, including a new center-hung LED video display system from Daktronics similar to that of the TD Garden, home of the Boston Bruins of the NHL. In June 2013, German software company SAP (co-founded by Sharks managing partner Hasso Plattner, who is also SAP's chairman of the board) purchased the naming rights to the facility in a five-year deal worth US$3.35 million per year. The arena was renamed 'SAP Center at San Jose' upon approval by the San Jose City Council. In September 2022, a new center-hung system from Daktronics that doubled the surface of the old video display system was debuted ahead of the 2022-23 NHL season. The four main LED displays measure approximately 23 feet high by 41 feet wide and the size of the 14 newly installed displays total at more than 9,300 square feet of surface area. In April 2023, construction was announced on a new 10,000-square-foot penthouse

In Their Own Story

The arena lights hummed low before tip-off, casting long shadows across the pristine ice. A single puck sat frozen at center red, waiting for the drop. In the stands, a sea of teal jerseys rose in unison, the collective breath held tight against the chill. When the whistle finally blew, the roar was instantaneous, shaking the glass barriers and silencing every doubt about who owned this floor.

Reader's Guide

SAP Center at San Jose is located in San Jose, California. It is the home of the San Jose Sharks (NHL). The arena has hosted numerous events including the 1996 United States Figure Skating Championships, the 47th National Hockey League All-Star Game in 1997, the 1999 NCAA Women's Final Four, ArenaBowl XVI in 2002, the 2007 USA Gymnastics Visa Championships, UFC 139 on November 19, 2011, Intel Extreme Masters Season IX – San Jose in 2014 and Intel Extreme Masters Season X – San Jose, introductory media activities for Super Bowl 50, games 3, 4, and 6 of the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals, the USA Gymnastics Olympic Trials in 2012 and 2016, West Regional semifinals and finals of the 2002, 2007, and 2017 NCAA men's basketball tournaments, and first- and second-round games of the 2010, 2013, and 2019 tournaments. The Golden State Valkyries of the WNBA played their first playoff game at the SAP Center on September 17, 2025. Mixed Martial Arts events have included Strikeforce events from 2006 through 2012, Bellator MMA events from 2015 to 2018, and UFC events from 2011 to 2014. The arena hosted the Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions on September 18, 2016. The US Figure Skating Championships have been staged here in 1996, 2012, 2018, 2021, and 2023. WWE Pay Per Views held here include Royal Rumble (1998), SummerSlam (2001), The Great American Bash (2007), Payback (2017), and TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs (2018). The venue hosted Forbidden Door (2026), its first All Elite Wrestling PPV event, on Sunday, June 28, 2026. In 2026, it will host the CrossFit Games. Beginning in 2026, SAP Center will be home to San Jose's team in the Professional Women's Hockey League.

Did You Know?

• In 2006, SAP Center sold the most tickets (633,435) to non-sporting events of any venue in the Western United States, and the fourth highest total in the world.
• The arena was originally named San Jose Arena when it opened in 1993.
• The arena's naming rights were sold to Compaq in 2001, then to HP in 2002, and to SAP in 2013.
• The Golden State Valkyries of the WNBA played their first playoff game at SAP Center on September 17, 2025, losing 75–74 to the Minnesota Lynx in front of 18,543 fans.

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