National Basketball Association or NBA games have plenty of focus on club rivalry, players, and leagues, which leaves no room for NBA arenas to walk into the limelight. NBA arena designs, however, are a significant factor Basketball rose to popularity in entire America. And no doubt, a remarkable arena design contributes to the overall game expectations, fan experience, and overall mood from being good to spectacular.
Scroll down below to read about the top outstanding NBA arena designs to get inspired.
- Little Caesars Arena
Little Caesars Arena, spread on around 650,000 square feet, is the first list. Designed by the HOK group, the Bell Centre in Montreal is believed to have a lot of influence over its design. Its unique glass and clear plastic ceiling tend to be the center of attraction for this building. It acts as a concourse for retail shops, offices, restaurants, and box offices. The exterior of the structure capable of projecting videos projection is quite electrifying. And the vast stadium signage displayed at the facade makes the building exterior bold and inspiring for fans. And even if the stadiums are empty, fans can still enjoy the game without setting foot in the arena through the displays.
With a bowl structure, the arena possesses gondola seating suspended over the stands, and a massive center-hung scoreboard sparks excitement and fun to a whole new level. On top of it, the arena features additional LED displays spread across 16,500 square feet. The building currently has a seating capacity of 20,332. This arena is home to the Detroit pistons.
2. Tissot Dome
Tissot Dome is a project in progress set to open in 2024. The technologically advanced arena built by Intuit provides a new home to Los Angeles Clippers. The AECOM engineered design surpasses imagination due to its three-dimensional oval structure involving solar panels to make it energy-efficient and equally sustainable indoor/outdoor sky gardens. The building plans to reduce 95% of water usage by integrating low-level fixtures in the restrooms.
Apart from being environmentally supreme, the building encourages economic development by providing local businesses with retail spaces, business centers, private suits, and space to conduct community and charity events. With a whopping 18,000 capacity, the brilliant design makes the fans feel closer to the arena and significantly elevates the viewing and acoustic experience. It gives an advantage to the home team in many ways during the game.
3. Madison Square Garden
In short, Madison Square Garden, or MSG, is prominent to host various sports and concert events. The iconic building ranks first in the famous NBA arenas owing to its prominent design and hosting capacity.
Situated in a busy intersection of Manhattan, the Garden is still the most famous NBA arena apart from being the oldest. The fascinating part about the arena design is the hands-on accessibility, comfort, and convenient fan experience during every game. The design is quite challenging in terms of structure built on pen station and located in a busy area where traffic jams and rush are relatively common.
4. Staples Center
Staples Centers stands second in terms of popularity and the number of events hosted. After a magnificent opening in 1998, the arena became a potent symbol of strength, sharing its name with Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers.
Staples Center shares a strong bond with Los Angles Lakers’ Star Kobe Bryant, who passed in an unfortunate crash in 2020, owing to his 20 years long career that made it forever to be known as “The house That Kobe Built.”
5. United Center
United Center, built with $175 million and spread on 960,000 square feet, opened in 1994. The Chicago Bulls of the NBA and Chicago Black Hawks of NHL operate from the United Center. The seating capacity of 23,000 made it acquire a spot in the list of the top arenas of the World.
The significant part about its design is the building acoustics engineered to mimic ‘The Roar,’ which remains a striking characteristic of this building and thus place it among the best arenas to watch NBA.
The NBA tournaments held on the hardwood floor court laid out on the ice and puzzled together right before the game are astonishing facts about this location. This arena has witnessed three NBA finals and the Stanley Cup final.
6. Moda Center
After being renamed “Rose Garden” in August 2013, Moda Center remains a state-of-the-art NBA facility owing to its acoustics and amenities. After being opened in 1995, Moda center facilitated space for sports, cinema, and entertainment events and is extensively used for basketball, ice hockey, ice shows, concerts, and all-around entertainment events.
Around $262 million is spent constructing the Moda center, which is planned to be used for multipurpose. The current tenants of the Moda Center are Portland Trailblazer and Portland Winterhawks (WHL).
The truly outstanding design of this building is made using solid concrete, and the ceiling employs skeletal steel to take shape ultimately. Another remarkable feature of the construction is its acoustical cloud, which uses wing-shaped airplane panels to absorb and reflect sound, thus, recreating the ambiance and sound into a more intimate and vibrating form. It has a capacity of 19,993 with amenities such as a sports bar, barbeque facility, and skyboxes. The HD Video scoreboard hung over the center court is a one-star attraction considered among the biggest in NBA.
The Bottom Line
Players are battling in the arena, and in the background, NBA arenas are clashing to exceed fan expectations. And by time, the NBA arena designs evolve into better places to catch an immersive and entertaining game during a league.
