St. Pete Times Forum

The St. Pete Times Forum is a sports arena in Tampa, Florida. It opened in 1996 as the Ice Palace and was built for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League, and is also the home of the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League. Both of these teams relocated to the Ice Palace from the former Thunderdome, a domed stadium in St. Petersburg now known as Tropicana Field.

Related Topics:
Tampa - Florida - Tampa Bay Lightning - National Hockey League - Tampa Bay Storm - Arena Football League - St. Petersburg - Tropicana Field

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The venue, located in Downtown Tampa's Channel District was a secondary location chosen after the failure of Tampa Coliseum Inc. to secure funding to construct an arena on Tampa Sports Authority land near Tampa Stadium.

Related Topics:
Tampa's - Channel District - Tampa Stadium

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Control of the venue has changed hands three times since the building's opening in 1996. The lease agreement ties the arena to the ownership of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Currently Palace Sports and Entertainment - owned by billionaire William Davidson - operate the venue, and have held control since summer 1999 when Davidson purchased the Lightning from then-owner Art Williams.

Related Topics:
Lease - Palace Sports and Entertainment - William Davidson - 1999

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Naming rights to the Ice Palace were sold to the St. Petersburg Times, a daily newspaper which circulates throughout the Tampa Bay area. Other entertainment events occasionally held in the Forum include concerts, NBA exhibition games, USF Basketball and NCAA Tournament games, tennis, professional wrestling, boxing, figure skating, and rodeos.

Related Topics:
St. Petersburg Times - Tampa Bay - NBA - USF - NCAA Tournament - Tennis - Professional wrestling - Boxing - Figure skating - Rodeos

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The building was played host to the 1998-99 NHL All Star game, and is scheduled to host the ACC Men's Basketball Tournament in 2007, the first two rounds of the Men's tournament in 2008, the Women's basketball Final Four in 2008 along with 2012 NCAA Frozen Four hockey final.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~