The Sports Business Journal released its list of 2022 Sports Business Awards winners Thursday, with Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena named Sports Facility of the Year.
Built on the site of the former KeyArena, the building serves as the home of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken and the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, and regularly hosts big-name concerts and other events.
Renovations of the arena began in 2018.
To build the arena, developers preserved the historic, 44 million-pound KeyArena roof, holding it up in place as a new arena bowl was built underneath it.
Climate Pledge Arena finally opened its doors to visitors in October 2021, when the Foo Fighters held a breaking-in concert before Coldplay played at the venue for its official opening later that week.
“The $1.15 billion project was more complex than probably any North American stadium or arena, owing to the tight footprint of the site and the engineering undertakings: preserving the roof, propping it up (44 million pounds), then building a new arena beneath it,” Sports Business Journal said. “Home to the NHL Seattle Kraken and WNBA Seattle Storm, the venue’s naming-rights deal with Amazon supports environmental sustainability efforts and is backed up with substance inside.”
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