Home Court:
Amway Arena
600 W Amelia St.
Orlando, FL 32801
Amway Arena (formerly known as the Orlando Arena, TD Waterhouse Centre, and The Arena in Orlando [1], and colloquially known by the nickname of O-Rena) is an indoor arena in Orlando, Florida. It is part of the Orlando Centroplex, a sports and entertainment complex located in downtown Orlando. The arena is home to the Orlando Magic of the NBA, Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League and beginning in fall 2007, the arena will also be home to the Orlando Sharks of the Major Indoor Soccer League. It also hosts the PlayStation Pro event on the Dew Action Sports Tour and the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus annually, along with various concerts and other events.
TD Waterhouse, a division of Canadian finance company Toronto Dominion, purchased naming rights to the Orlando Arena in 1999, and named the venue the TD Waterhouse Centre (utilizing Canadian spelling). Before the Orlando Arena's naming rights were sold, the other two buildings in the Orlando Centroplex--Orlando Expo Centre and Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre--utilized that spelling as well, so it was more than simply the fact that TD Waterhouse is a Canadian company that the building used the "Centre" spelling. Those naming rights expired on November 30, 2006, and TD Ameritrade, which bought TD Waterhouse's U.S. operations earlier in the year, chose not to renew them. The venue was briefly known as "The Arena in Orlando" before the new naming rights contract was signed, a period of approximately one week. On December 7, 2006 it was announced that Amway would become the new sponsor, renaming the building as the Amway Arena. Amway will pay $1.5 million over 4 years, or $375,000 a year, for the rights. Amway will also have an initial exclusive option to negotiate for the right to name the new Orlando Events Center. Amway founder Richard DeVos owns the Orlando Magic team.
The nickname of the building for Predator games is "The Jungle". During the 2005-2006 AFL seasons, the facility was referred to as Hummer Field at TD Waterhouse Centre.
In 1991, the facility was voted "Arena of the Year" by Performance Magazine. It was also nominated for "Best Indoor Concert Venue" in the Pollstar Concert Industry Awards.
Beginning around 1999, the Orlando Magic and the City of Orlando entered discussions for a complete refurbishment or demolition of the TD Waterhouse Centre in favor of a new facility. In recent years, arena and city officials had reported revenue losses, and criticized the facility for not being large enough compared to more recently constructed arenas. The media have offered rumors that the Orlando Magic may relocate to another city, but team officials denied such claims.[citation needed] The facility currently ranks near the bottom in the NBA as far as capacity and luxury.
On September 29, 2006, the City of Orlando and Orange County came to an agreement on a $1.1-billion improvement package that includes $480 million for a new arena. The Magic will provide $114 million in cash and up-front lease payments, and guarantee $100 million in bonds, toward the arena. The venue plan received final approval on July 26, 2007, and the arena is expected to be complete in time for the 2010-11 NBA season. Once the new arena is finished, the Amway Arena is expected to be sold off and potentially torn down.
Official Orlando Magic Web Site