PNC Arena


PNC Arena is an indoor arena located in Raleigh, North Carolina. The arena seats 19,722 for basketball and 18,680 for ice hockey, including 59 suites, 13 loge boxes and 2,000 club seats. The building has three concourses and a 300-seat restaurant.
PNC Arena is home to the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League and the NC State Wolfpack men's basketball team of NCAA Division I. The arena neighbors Carter–Finley Stadium, home of Wolfpack Football; the North Carolina State Fairgrounds and Dorton Arena. The arena also hosted the Carolina Cobras of the Arena Football League from 2000 to 2002. It is the fourth-largest arena in the ACC and the eighth-largest arena in the NCAA.

History

The idea of a new basketball arena to replace the Wolfpack's longtime home, Reynolds Coliseum, first emerged in the 1980s under the vision of then-Wolfpack coach Jim Valvano. In 1989, the NCSU Trustees approved plans to build a 23,000 seat arena. The Centennial Authority was created by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1995 as the governing entity of the arena, then financed by state appropriation, local contributions, and University fundraising. The Centennial Authority refocused the project into a multi-use arena, leading to the 1997 relocation agreement of the then-Hartford Whalers, who would become the Carolina Hurricanes. Construction began that year and was completed in 1999 with an estimated cost of $158 million, which was largely publicly financed by a Hotel and Restaurant tax. The Hurricanes agreed to pay $60 million of the cost, and the state of North Carolina paid $18 million. As part of the deal, the Hurricanes assumed operational control of the arena.
Known as the Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena from 1999 to 2002, it was renamed the RBC Center after an extended search for a corporate sponsor. RBC Bank, the US division of the Royal Bank of Canada, acquired 20-year naming rights for a reported $80 million. On June 19, 2011, it was announced that PNC Financial Services bought US assets of RBC Bank and acquired the naming rights to the arena pending approval by the regulatory agencies. On December 15, 2011, the Centennial Authority, the landlord of the arena, approved a name change for the facility to PNC Arena. The name change officially took place on March 15, 2012. On a normal hockey day, PNC Arena has more than 400 people on duty for security and concessions.
The arena has also seen use in fictional media, as a season four episode of The CW series One Tree Hill saw the Tree Hill High School Ravens playing a NCHSAA championship game in the venue.

Hockey

Raleigh experienced its first NHL game on October 29, 1999, when the Hurricanes hosted the New Jersey Devils on the building's opening night. The first playoff series at the Entertainment and Sports Arena were held in 2001 when the hurricanes hosted the Devils in games 3, 4, and 6, of the 2001 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but the Hurricanes lost in 6. The ESA hosted games of both the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs and Finals; however, the Hurricanes lost in the Finals. On June 19, 2006, the Hurricanes were on home ice for a decisive game seven of the Stanley Cup Final, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 3–1 to bring the franchise its first Stanley Cup and North Carolina its first and only major professional sports championship. The arena hosted the playoffs again in 2009, with the Hurricanes losing in the Eastern Conference Finals. In 2019, the arena hosted playoff hockey for the first time in 10 years, with fans setting a single-game record attendance of 19,495 in game 4 of the second round vs the Islanders.

Top 10 attended Hurricanes games at PNC Arena

Attendance numbers come from press numbers from ESPN, the PNC Arena, the Raleigh News and Observer, as well as Hockey Reference.com. Italics represent playoff games.
DateOpponentResultAttendanceRank
May 3, 2019New York IslandersW 19,4951
April 18, 2019Washington CapitalsW 19,2022
May 2, 2019New York IslandersW 19,0663
June 8, 2002Detroit Red WingsOTL 18,9824
June 19, 2006Edmonton OilersW 18,9785
April 22, 2019Washington CapitalsW 18,9136
May 8, 2009Boston BruinsW 18,8787
May 23, 2009Pittsburgh PenguinsL 18,7898
April 15, 2019Washington CapitalsW 18,7839
May 14, 2019Boston BruinsL 18,76810

Renovations

A ribbon board was installed in 2003 which encircles the arena bowl. In 2008, the arena renovated its sound system. Clair Brothers Systems installed a combination of JBL line arrays to provide improved audio coverage for all events. In June 2009, video crews installed a new Daktronics HD scoreboard. It replaced the ten-year-old scoreboard that had been in the arena since its opening in 1999. The scoreboard was full LED and four-sided with full video displays, whereas the previous scoreboard was eight-sided; four of those sides featured alternating static dot-matrix displays. In addition, the scoreboard featured an octagonal top section with full video capability, along with two rings above and below the main video screens; they were similar to the ribbon board encircling the arena.
In October 2015, architects met with the Centennial Authority to discuss a potential arena renovation. Their proposal includes all-new entrances, a new rooftop restaurant and bar, covered tailgating sections, and moving the administrative offices elsewhere in the arena as a result. The plans also call for new office spaces, additional meeting spaces, removing stairwells and aisles, adding wider seats, and perhaps building lounges on the mezzanine levels below the main concourse level. Project costs have not yet been decided, as the architects were given until May/June 2016 to come up with estimates. The estimated cost could be almost $200 million. The Centennial Authority would have to approve the estimates before official voting could begin. If the funds are approved the renovation start time would be 2020 and at the earliest, it could be completed by 2022.
During the summer of 2016, the ribbon boards were upgraded and a second ribbon board was added to the upper level fascia. Static advertising signs inside the lower bowl of the arena were replaced with LED video boards. In 2018, they renovated the NHL home locker rooms and replaced the seating in the upper bowl as well as an ice/court projection system that was first used December 23 at a Hurricanes game against the Boston Bruins.
In April 2019 it was announced the arena would receive a new Daktronics video board later that year. The board would be nearly 3 times as large as the then-current board. The new video board would feature a full 360 degree display, two underbelly screens and 2 underbelly static advertising signs. It will also be the first of its kind and one of only a few 360 degree video boards in the NHL. The board would cost $4.7 million, would stretch blue line to blue line, and would be. Original plans called for a 2018 installation, but the project was bumped back due to structural/roof issues. The old video board was taken down on June 1, 2019. Its last day in operation was May 31 for a Special Olympics event. The new board debuted on September 18, 2019.
In November 2019, Raleigh approved funding for the arena at $9 million a year for 25 years for arena enhancements, putting the grand total to $225 million. Some concessions in the arena were updated in 2019 in addition to the LED upgrade. They included a new marketplace in the upper concourse as well as other concessions renovated and a new color changing lighting system on the exterior of the South End. The Centennial Authority and the Hurricanes are also meeting to further discuss the future renovations and the future of the Hurricanes at PNC Arena. Most offices are expected to move out before the 2020-21 NHL Season and renovations should start.

Notable events

In addition to hockey and college basketball, PNC Arena hosts a wide array of concerts, family shows, and other events each year. Past performers include Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Cher, Eric Clapton, Taylor Swift, Billy Joel, Justin Timberlake, Big Time Rush, Elton John, Lady Gaga, One Direction, Celine Dion, George Strait, Bon Jovi, Journey, Def Leppard, Keith Urban, and many other artists. Family shows have included Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Sesame Street Live, Disney On Ice, and the Harlem Globetrotters. The arena has also hosted several college hockey games between NC State and North Carolina.