Philips Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Atlanta, Georgia. It was completed and opened in 1999 to replace (and occupying the former site of) The Omni, at a cost of $213.5 million. Philips Arena is home to the Atlanta Hawks, of the National Basketball Association, and the Atlanta Dream, of the Women's National Basketball Association. It also served as home to the National Hockey League's Atlanta Thrashers from 1999-2011, before the team moved to Winnipeg. It is owned by the Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority and operated by Atlanta Spirit, LLC, the group of investors that also owns the Hawks. The arena seats 18,238 for basketball and 17,624 for ice hockey. The largest crowd ever for an Atlanta Hawks basketball game at the arena was Game 6 of the 2008 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals on May 2, 2008 (against the Boston Celtics), where there was an announced attendance of 20,425. The arena includes 92 luxury suites, 9 party suites, and 1,866 club seats. For concerts and other entertainment events, the arena can seat 21,000. The arena is laid out in a rather unusual manner, with the club seats and luxury boxes aligned solely along one side of the playing surface, and the general admission seating along the other three sides (the arrangement was later emulated at the Detroit Lions' home, Ford Field, and UCF Arena in Orlando, FL). This unique layout is a vast contrast to many of its contemporaries, which have their revenue-generating luxury boxes and club seats located in the 'belly' of the arena, thus causing the upper deck to be 2--4 stories higher. The layout at Philips was done so as to be able to bring the bulk of the seats closer to the playing surface while still making available a sufficient number of revenue-raising club seats and loges. Since 2005 for Hawks games and for the 2010--11 Atlanta Thrashers season, the 400 level has been curtained off. On the exterior, angled steel columns supporting the roof facing downtown spell out "ATLANTA" and the side facing the Georgia World Congress Center spells out "CNN." The arena adjoins the CNN Center. The Dome/GWCC/Philips Arena/CNN Center rail station below the arena provides access to MARTA public transportation. The Dutch Royal Philips Electronics, based in Amsterdam, purchased the naming rights to the arena upon construction. For the 2007--2008 season, Philips Arena utilized the new "see-through" shot clock units which allow spectators seated behind the basket to see the action without having the clocks interfere with their view, joining FedExForum, Wells Fargo Center, TD Garden, United Center, US Airways Center and the Time Warner Cable Arena. Video advertising panels replaced the traditional scrolling panels. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, many cities started building new state-of-the-art sporting venues for their NBA and/or NHL franchises, or in hopes of attaining one. Many of these arenas had modern amenities for their high-end customers, such as luxury boxes, club seats, and large, posh club-level concourses; some even had practice facilities on-site. These attractions were rarely found in arenas constructed in the early 1970s, when The Omni was built; its chief tenant, being the Atlanta Hawks. The operating manager of the current arena in place, Ted Turner, wanted an expansion hockey team but was told by the NHL that a new arena would have to be built. That, along with The Omni's faster-than-anticipated deterioration, led to a new venue being seriously considered. After much consideration of possible other sites both in Downtown Atlanta and in the suburbs, it was decided that The Omni would be demolished, and a new structure built in the same location, starting in 1997. This new coliseum would become the Philips Arena. The Philips Arena held its first event with a September 1999 concert by the musician Sir Elton John. The Omni's "center-hung scoreboard" now hangs in the lobby of Philips Arena, where it still displays The Omni's logo along with those of Philips Arena, the Hawks, and the Thrashers (who never played in The Omni). The scoreboard still functions and displays information relevant to the game taking place in the arena. On April 2, 2009, Philips Arena achieved LEED for Existing Building: Operations and Maintenance certification as specified by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). It was the world's first LEED certified NBA/NHL arena. It has been nicknamed the "Highlight Factory." Philips Arena is among the busiest arenas for concerts in the world, having sold well over 550,000 concert tickets in 2007 and ranked as the third-busiest arena in the U.S. in 2011.

• published: 03 May 2011
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