Music and Sports Venues

Quicken Loans Arena is a multi-purpose facility located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It opened in 1994 and is home to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Progressive Field (home to the Cleveland Indians) sits adjacent to Quicken Loans Arena and opened in the same year. Both venues are owned by the Gateway Economic Development Corporation of Greater Cleveland and are part of the Gateway Sports and Entertainment Complex. The sports complex received funding when voters in Cuyahoga County passed a sin tax on alcohol and tobacco in 1990. Construction costs for the new arena were $100 million. The arena, known as the “Q” by many of the locals, replaced the Richland Coliseum as the home of the Cavaliers and the primary venue for entertainment in the Cleveland area. The Richland Coliseum was 25 miles south of Cleveland in Richland, Ohio and was home to the Cavaliers from 1974 through 1994. The “Q” brought the Cavs back to downtown Cleveland. It has a seating capacity of over 20,500 for basketball and just over 20,000 for ice hockey. It is also home to the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League and the Cleveland Gladiators of the Arena Football League.

The arena was known as Gund Arena in its early years. Gordon Gund was the owner of the Cavaliers when the arena opened and he paid for the naming rights through August, 2005. Dan Gilbert, chairman and founder of Quicken Loans, purchased the Cavs for $375 million in 2005. He also purchased the naming rights to the arena for an undisclosed amount. The team is now estimated to be worth over $1 billion. Gilbert also purchased the inactive Utah Grizzlies of the American Hockey League in 2006 and brought them to Quicken Loans Arena. He changed the name to the Lake Erie Monsters and they began playing in the 2007-08 season. In 2016 they changed their name again to the Cleveland Monsters. In 2007 Gilbert purchased the Las Vegas Gladiators of the Arena Football League and brought them to Cleveland and Quicken Loan Arena as the Cleveland Gladiators.

Gilbert funded renovations for the arena when he purchased the Cavaliers. The renovations included upgrades to the locker rooms, suites and to security. It also included new state of the art video systems and sound systems including scoreboards and new graphics and signage in the arena. New wine-colored seats were installed throughout the arena a few sections at a time. The seating was the only upgrade that wasn’t completed before the start of the 2005-2006 season.

There are 3 levels of seating and 2 main concourses in the arena. The ground level concourse provides access to the lower 100 level seating and 32 lower suites. The upper concourse provides access to the top 200 level seats. Club level seating is between the lower and upper levels and has 2000 club seats and 60 suites. The lower level also houses the ticket office and a 2 level team store. The club level has a gym that the Cavs used as their practice court until the Cleveland Clinic Courts practice facility opened in 2007.

Quicken Loans Arena events not only include the Cavaliers, Monsters and Gladiator games but many other events take place at the arena. It is the main concert venue in Cleveland and many well-known artists have performed at the venue over the years. Billy Joel performed at the first concert in the arena on October 17, 1994. The venue has also hosted college basketball tournaments for both men and women. It has hosted the men’s Mid-Atlantic Conference (MAC) tournament every year since 2000 and the women’s tournament since 2001. In 2016 the Republican Nation Convention was held at the Q.

If you are planning to attend an event at the arena, it is within ¼ mile of major freeways. I90, I71 and I77 all run close to the arena. There are 2 parking garages that sit on-site, the Gateway East garage and the JACK Cleveland Casino garage. These 2 parking garages can accommodate 3300 cars and they have covered walkways connecting to the arena. In addition to these parking garages there are more than 17,000 parking spaces within a five to ten minute walk to the venue. The RTA (Cleveland’s rapid transit system) also offers service to the arena from all around Cuyahoga County by bus or rapid transit. There are over 8000 parking spaces throughout the city at various rail stations.

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