Pepsi Center Facts

The Pepsi Center is a five-level, 675,000-square-foot sports and entertainment facility in Denver that is home to four national league teams. Spanning 4.6 acres in Colorado's Platte Valley, the Pepsi Center is one of the only sports venues in North America that provides both practice and playing basketball courts. Known for its sound and lighting system, the Pepsi Center's centerpiece is its 60,000-pound, eight-sided scoreboard that doubles as a four-direction Sony LED JumboTron.

  1. Construction and Opening

    • The layout of the Pepsi Center was designed by Kansas City's HOK Sports Facilities Group, and construction began Nov. 20, 1997. The arena took nearly 21 months and $180 million to construct. The Pepsi Center's first show was a sold-out Celine Dion concert on Oct. 1, 1999.

    Events

    • Pepsi Center is an arena dedicated to sports events, such as hockey and basketball, as well as musical acts, circuses and ice shows. It is the home arena for the Denver Nuggets National Basketball Association team, the Colorado Avalanche National Hockey League team, the Colorado Crush Arena Football League team and the Colorado Mammoth National Lacrosse League team.

      During basketball season, the Pepsi Center can seat up to 19,099 guests, while hockey, lacrosse and arena football games seat a total of 18,007. Concerts range from 500 to 20,000 seats, and the arena has 95 luxury suites and 1,900 club seats.

      According to the Pepsi Center website, more the 200 events are scheduled each year, with more than 1,000 staff members working each event.

    Sporting Venues

    • According to the Pepsi Center website, the arena's basketball court has 233 pieces that each weigh 185 pounds for a total of 41,625 pounds. The stanchions, which weigh 3,300 pounds each, are weighted to the court floor to prevent tipping.

      For ice hockey games, two forklifts and eight people are needed to construct the ice rink's glass paneling, which includes 149 pieces that weigh 50 to 250 pounds each.

      The Colorado Crush's Astroturf carpet, which is 1.25 inches thick, consists of 16 strips that are rolled out in 45 minutes by 12 people. For the Colorado Mammoth team, 14 rolls of Astroturf are rolled out by 12 people in 25 minutes.

    Restaurants and Lounges

    • The Ridgeline offers ski lodge-style, upscale dining and has a 236-guest capacity. Open to members of the ADT club, suite guests and court- or rink-side ticketholders, the restaurant opens it doors when there is five minutes left in a game.

      The Denver Post Newsroom lounge, which seats 171 guests, offers views of the Denver skyline, the Rocky Mountains and the arena's atrium, and is open to ADT, suite, and court- and rink-side guests.

      Designed with a more casual mountain-lodge atmosphere, the Blue Sky Grill is open to all. It seats 236 guests and offers healthy Western entrees.

    Business and Merchandise Center

    • The Quest Business Center offers five conference rooms that overlook the Rocky Mountains and provides state-of-the-art technology, such as audio and video conferencing, CD and DVD players, Internet access, fax machines, computer ports and satellite hookups.

      Altitude Athletics is a merchandise superstore in the Pepsi Center's Grand Atrium that provides sports apparel and accessories for fans of the Colorado Avalanche, Crush and Mammoth, as well as the Denver Nuggets.