Angel of the Winds Arena

Angel of the Winds Arena (originally known as Everett Events Center) is a multi-purpose sports arena complex in Everett, Washington, United States, designed and developed by the Everett Public Facilities District. It opened in October 2003 and primarily serves as the home of the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League. The arena has 8,149 seats in its ice hockey configuration and 10,000 for concerts and other events. The naming rights to the venue were sold to Comcast in 2007 and subsequently to Angel of the Winds Casino Resort in 2017.[8][9][10] The venue has hosted a variety of concerts and other performances, including the Ringling Brothers Circus, Disney on Ice, the Harlem Globetrotters, and Sesame Street Live.

"Comcast Arena" and "Xfinity Arena" redirect here. For other uses, see Comcast Center (disambiguation) and Xfinity Center (disambiguation).
Angel of the Winds Arena
The arena (then the Comcast Arena) pictured in 2009
Angel of the Winds Arena is located in Washington (state)
Angel of the Winds Arena
Angel of the Winds Arena
Location within Washington
Angel of the Winds Arena is located in the United States
Angel of the Winds Arena
Angel of the Winds Arena
Location within the United States
Former namesEverett Events Center (2003–2007)
Comcast Arena at Everett (2007–2014)
Xfinity Arena (2014–2017)
Location2000 Hewitt Avenue
Everett, Washington, U.S.
Coordinates47°58′43″N 122°12′13″W
OwnerEverett Public Facilities District
OperatorSpectra Experiences
CapacityHockey: 8,149[1]
Center stage concert: 10,000
End stage concert: 9,000
Construction
Broke groundApril 23, 2002[2]
OpenedSeptember 27, 2003[3]
Construction cost$71.5 million
($114 million in 2022 dollars[4])
ArchitectLMN Architects[5]
PBK Architects, Inc.[6]
Structural engineerMagnusson Klemencic Associates[7]
Services engineerHermanson Co. LLP[7]
General contractorPCL Construction[7]
Tenants
Everett Silvertips (WHL) (2003–present)
Tilted Thunder Rail Birds (2010–present)
Everett Hawks (NIFL/AF2) (2005–2007)
Everett Explosion (IBL) (2007)
Washington Stealth (NLL) (2010–2013)
Everett Raptors (IFL) (2012)
Seattle Storm (WNBA) (2019–2021)

The venue also hosted 2008 Skate America, a three-day ice-skating championship featuring world-class skaters. The events were both nationally and internationally televised on NBC. It was the first event of six in the 2008-2009 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition. This was Skate America's largest attendance ever recorded in its history.[11]

History

Construction on the arena began in April 2002 and was completed in late 2003 at a cost of $71.5 million.[2] The Everett Events Center hosted its first Western Hockey League game on October 8, 2003. The new arena booked several events that had traditionally used the Tacoma Dome, including Disney on Ice and the Harlem Globetrotters.[12]

Tenants and events

In 2016, the arena served as the host for the 2016 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships. It also hosted WWE's flagship TV show Monday Night Raw on February 17, 2020.[13]

Hockey
An Everett Silvertips regular season game at Angel of the Winds Arena in 2023

Angel of the Winds Arena is the home of the Everett Silvertips, a Western Hockey League franchise. In their first season (2003–04), the Everett Silvertips won the WHL Western Conference Championship.

The arena also hosted a preseason game between the National Hockey League's Seattle Kraken and Edmonton Oilers on October 1, 2021.[14]

Basketball

The Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association announced that it would play five home games during its 2019 season in Everett, while the rest are played at their temporary home in Seattle, the Hec Edmundson Pavilion on the University of Washington campus.[15] The Storm played their season opener in Everett on May 25, 2019, using the same floor that had previously been installed at KeyArena.[16] The team planned to return in 2020 for eight games in Everett, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all WNBA games were moved to Bradenton, Florida.[17]

The Storm played all 16 home games of their 2021 season at Angel of the Winds Arena with up to 2,000 fans allowed to attend per the state's COVID-19 reopening guidelines.[18]

Curling

In 2017, the arena, then known as Xfinity Arena, was host to the USA Men's and Women's Curling National Championships. The men's championship was won by 2018 Winter Olympics gold medalists Team John Shuster, while Team Jamie Sinclair captured the women's crown.

Banked track roller derby

Angel of the Winds Arena is also home to the Tilted Thunder Rail Birds, a Seattle-based, all-female, banked track roller derby league.[19]

Tennis

On February 7–8, 2020 Angel of the Winds Arena hosted USTA Fed Cup qualifying event with competing teams USA and Latvia.[20]

Rodeo

The PBR's premier bull riding tour, the Unleash the Beast Series, made its first-ever stop in Everett for an event at the arena on April 6, 2022.[21]

Other uses

On April 1, 2020, the arena opened as a COVID-19 quarantine center with 150 beds amid the coronavirus pandemic. The quarantine center was meant for patients with COVID-19 and are unable to self-isolate or quarantine at home.[22]

Former tenants

The arena was also home to the International Basketball League's Everett Explosion for one season in 2007 before they moved to Monroe and were renamed the Snohomish County Explosion, where they played until 2010. Comcast Arena also hosted arena football for three years (2005–07). The Everett Hawks were a primary football tenant in the arena for the NIFL in their first season at Everett, going undefeated at 14–0, but lost in the playoff semifinal to the Tri-Cities Fever. The team switched to af2 in 2006 and became a minor-league team where they didn't find much success, which led to their folding in 2007.

In 2012, Comcast Arena was the home of the now-defunct Everett Raptors of the Indoor Football League.

Lacrosse

In 2010, Comcast Arena became home to the Washington Stealth of the National Lacrosse League. The franchise was previously known as the San Jose Stealth, and before that the Albany Attack.[23] After four seasons in Everett, the Washington Stealth were relocated to British Columbia in 2014.[24][25]

Conference Center

The Edward D. Hansen Conference Center is a three-story addition to the arena that cost US$12 million to construct. The facility includes a 11,385-square-foot (1,057.7 m2) ballroom that is capable of accommodating 800 guests. In addition to the ballroom, the conference center has three executive meeting rooms available as private meeting space. The conference center hosts approximately 200 events annually. It is also home to a public art collection, which includes artwork from the Pilchuck Glass Collection.[26]

Ice rink

The Xfinity Community Ice Rink is an NHL regulation 200' x 85' ice rink that is located inside Angel of the Winds Arena. It is a public ice skating rink, which is used for public skating, local hockey leagues, figure skating, instructional sessions, and much more. Currently the rink is open year-round, and has the versatility to transform into a 57,000-square-foot (5,300 m2) space with the capability to host trade shows, expositions, consumer shows and special events.

Concerts
List of Concerts

References
  1. 2011-12 WHL Media Guide Archived February 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  2. Wade, Susan (April 20, 2002). "Yuill Signs Everett Lease; T-birds Owner Will Sell Team to Buy New WHL Franchise". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  3. Tuinstra, Rachel (September 24, 2003). "A $71.5 million Venue Represents a Big Leap of Faith' for the City". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  4. 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  5. "LMN Architects: Everett Events Center". Archived from the original on May 5, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  6. "Everett Regional Events Center - PBK Architects". Archived from the original on March 18, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  7. Broughton, David (November 24, 2003). "Washington City Opens Home for Junior Hockey League Team". SportsBusiness Journal. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  8. "Comcast Arena is now XFINITY Arena at Everett" (Press release). Everett, Washington: Xfinity Arena at Everett. September 10, 2014. Archived from the original on September 11, 2014. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  9. Winters, Chris (September 10, 2014). "Everett's events center renamed Xfinity Arena". The Everett Herald. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  10. Davis, Jim (December 13, 2017). "Angel of the Winds pays $3.4M for Everett arena naming rights". The Everett Herald. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  11. Nick Patterson (October 30, 2018). "Can Everett become a regular on the figure-skating circuit?". The Everett Herald. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  12. Ruiz, Don (October 9, 2003). "Drop of pucks heralds a new hockey season". The News Tribune. p. C1. Retrieved December 24, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships return to Everett, Wash., in 2016".
  14. "On the Road to Season Start Kraken announce preseason 'home'". NHL. July 9, 2021.
  15. Horton, Joshua (December 20, 2018). "Why the Seattle Storm will make a 'second home' of Everett". The Everett Herald. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  16. Patterson, Nick (May 15, 2019). "Stage is set for the WNBA's Seattle Storm to play in Everett". The Everett Herald. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  17. Patterson, Nick (June 15, 2020). "Seattle Storm won't play any games in Everett this year". The Everett Herald. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  18. Allen, Percy (May 5, 2021). "Storm to welcome a limited number of fans back for 2021 home games". The Seattle Times. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  19. "About the League | Tilted Thunder Rail Birds". tiltedthunder.com. Archived from the original on February 21, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  20. "Fed Cup Everett". usta.com. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  21. "PBR Everett Invitational".
  22. Davey, Stephanie; Riley, Rachel (April 1, 2020). "Everett hockey arena opens as COVID-19 quarantine center". The Everett Herald. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  23. "NLL.com -- Official Website of the National Lacrosse League - Articles - STEALTH MOVE NORTH TO WASHINGTON". nll.com. Archived from the original on June 21, 2009.
  24. "Stealth relocate to Vancouver | National Lacrosse League". Archived from the original on July 8, 2013. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  25. "Stealth Relocate to Vancouver".
  26. "Edward D. Hansen Conference Center".
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