Music and Sports Venues

BB&T Center is located in Sunrise, Florida just outside of Miami. The venue opened on October 3, 1998 and has been home to the Florida Panthers of the NHL from the time it opened. Wayne Huizenga who owned the Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball as well as a share the Miami Dolphins was awarded an NHL franchise in 1992. He decided on the Florida Panthers as the name of the team and arranged for the team to share the Miami Arena with the Miami Heat of the NBA. The team played their first five seasons in the Miami Arena. In 1995 then City Manager Pat Salemo of Sunrise Florida came up with a $167M financing and construction plan for a civic center. Once construction was approved in 1996 the Panthers chose the site and architects Ellerbe Becket were selected to design the building and they were given just 26 months to complete construction. The Panthers needed the arena to be completed for the 1998-99 NHL season. The Miami Heat moved into American Airlines Arena in 2000 and the Miami Arena was demolished in 2008.

National Car Rental which had been purchased by Huizenga in 1997 was awarded the naming rights of the new venue in Sunrise in July, 1998. They maintained the rights until ANC Rental (National Car Rental’s parent company) went bankrupt in 2002. The naming rights went to Office Depot in 2002 and the new name became the Office Depot Center. In 2005 it was changed to the BankAtlantic Center when BankAtlantic was awarded the naming rights. In 2012 BB&T purchased BankAtlantic and the name was once again changed to the current BB&T Center. The arena has a seating capacity for hockey of 19,250 with 70 suites and 2623 Club seats. The suites all have wet bars, closed circuit monitors and leather upholstery. The seating capacity for basketball is 20,737 and for concerts it ranges from 15,207 to 22,371 depending where the stage is setup. Broward County owns the venue and it is operated by Arena Operating Company, LTD. There are 7045 parking spaces at the venue broken up as 4787 for general parking, 1430 for Suite/Club parking, 226 garage spaces, 90 disabled spaces and 512 spaces for Event staff.

The BB&T Center has had other tenants along with the Florida Panthers. The Florida ThunderCats of the NPSL (National Premier Soccer League) played there in 1998-99, the Florida Bobcats of the AFL (Arena Football League) called the arena home from 1999 to 2001, the Florida Pit Bulls of the ABA (American Basketball Association) were tenants in 2005-06 and the Miami Caliente of the LFL (Legends Football League) in 2009-10. None of these tenants were there more than 3 years.

The venue opened on October 3, 1998 with a Celine Dion concert. Elton John performed the next night and the Florida Panthers played their first home game on October 9th. Since the opening there have been many big performers who have appeared in concert. Some of the big names include U2, Paul McCartney, Beyoncé, Pink, Lady Gaga, Billy Joel, Elton John, Phil Collins, Katy Perry, Bruce Springsteen and Garth Brooks. Other events that have taken place at the BB&T Center include a Barack Obama presidential rally in 2008, a Donald Trump presidential rally in 2016 and a CNN Town Hall on gun control in 2018. The arena also hosted the 2003 NHL All-Star game and the ABA All-Star game in 2006. It serves as the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic host every December.

The original cost to build the venue was $185M however there have been many renovations that have taken place since then. During the 2011 offseason the green seats in the lower bowl were replaced with red seats. In 2012 the Club Red seating sections were completed. This all-inclusive nightclub setting which encompasses the center ice seats during hockey games was built to follow the trends of other sports venues with club sections and high-end seating. A new scoreboard was installed before the 2013-14 season. The arena also has several clubs and restaurants. Located on the Lexus Suite Level the Legends Lounge restaurant offers sit down seating. The Penalty Box is another restaurant that offers dining and seating. The ADT Club offers food and beverage on the club level. Duffy’s Sky Club can hold about 500 people and it occupies nearly 8000 square feet. There are three food courts on the Plaza Level along with Pantherland Retail and three food courts on the Mezzanine Level.

If you’re a hockey fan and you’re going to Miami during hockey season you should take the time to check out a Panther’s game at BB&T Center.

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