The Spurs are hoping the karma from the new $175 million SBC Center will help them win a second NBA crown in the last five seasons. Games one and two of the NBA Finals are being played at SBC June 4 and 6.
After saying goodbye to the cavernous Alamodome, the Spurs moved into the fiesta-colored SBC Center at the start of this year’s NBA season. It’s the most unique of the new breed of facilities because of its rodeo connection. Most new arenas are designed to accommodate basketball and hockey, but SBC Center was designed with rodeo in mind, as in the San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo. Rodeo is an afterthought in all other arenas, an event that must be adapted to the space after the arena is built. But at SBC Center, the sightlines for basketball, hockey and rodeo were evaluated and the optimum for the combination of events was designed and constructed into the building’s seating bowl.
A term coined during design – “ranch tech” – guided the look and feel of the building. Ranch tech fuses both forward-thinking contemporary design with the traditions and meaning of the teams and the region.
A Building Snapshot
• 700,000-sf arena for basketball, rodeo, ice hockey, concerts and the circus
• Seating capacity of 18,500 for NBA basketball; 17,000 for rodeo; 13,000 for hockey; and 19,000 for concerts with the stage in the center of the arena
• Arena floor is sunken 28 feet below street-level, making more than half the seats accessible from street-level
• Courtside club seating, 40 terrace suites and 16 courtside suites (all 56 have interactive Internet and television systems)
• Fan amenities include a terrace restaurant, two Saddles and Spurs Clubs, a sports bar and a FANFiesta! interactive area
• Parking spaces for 7,000 cars for Spurs games
About the Designers
The SBC Center is Ellerbe Becket’s 16th NBA/NHL arena. Others include Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, America West Arena in Phoenix, the Fleet Center in Boston, First Union Center in Philadelphia, Gund Arena in Cleveland and the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. An innovator since its founding in 1909, Ellerbe Becket is a leader in architecture, engineering and the construction industry with office locations worldwide. Ellerbe Becket teamed with San Antonio firms Lake / Flato and Kell Munoz on the SBC Center design.
SBC Tours
For a tour of the new facility with an Ellerbe Becket designer (or if you have questions about the new arena), contact Contact: news@ellerbebecket.com
