Time Warner Cable Arena

Time Warner Cable Arena (also known locally as The Uptown Arena and CBA, and for hockey uses, St. Lawrence Homes Home Ice) is an 18,500-seat entertainment and sports venue located in the Uptown area of Charlotte, North Carolina. Its primary use is as the home court of the Charlotte Bobcats of the NBA. It made its grand opening in October of 2005 for a concert by The Rolling Stones and hosted its first Bobcats game on November 5, 2005. The arena’s center-hung Daktronics video screens measure 16 feet by 28 feet, making them the largest of any indoor arena.

Seating Capacity: – NBA Basketball: 19,026
Opened: – October, 2005
Owner: – City of Charlotte
Operator: – Charlotte Bobcats

Though the arena was constructed with the Bobcats in mind, the arena hosts many types of sports and entertainment events. As North Carolina is a hotbed for college basketball, it is expected that the arena will host many NCAA basketball games; indeed, the venue has already been chosen as a men’s regional site for the 2008 NCAA Tournament, and the Charlotte 49ers have tentatively agreed to play several high-profile games there over the next several seasons. The 2008 ACC men’s basketball tournament will be played there too. The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), the oldest collegiate association of historically black colleges and universities in the United States, will hold their annual Men’s and Women’s conference basketball tournament at the venue beginning in 2006 and will continue to hold the event there until at least 2009 (the dates of the event will be February 6- March 4 each year).

In addition to the Bobcats, the arena currently has one other permanent tenant. The Charlotte Checkers of the ECHL vacated historic Cricket Arena to play in the new arena in the fall of 2005. The NASCAR Nextel All-Star Pit Crew Challenge, part of the NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge, is held on the Wednesday night of the race week at the arena, creating an indoor atmosphere so the pit competition will occur, rain or shine.

Controversy

The arena was originally intended to host the Charlotte Hornets, the city’s original NBA team. In 2001, a non-binding public referendum for an arts package, which included money to build the new uptown arena, was placed on the ballot for voters. This was done in order to demonstrate what was believed to be wide public support for construction of a new uptown venue. The arts package would be funded with the issuance of bonds by the city.

The referendum seemed to be on its way to passage despite extensive opposition, mostly from conservatives who felt that the city shouldn’t fund a new arena at all. However, Mayor Pat McCrory vetoed a living wage ordinance just days before the referendum. As a result, Helping Empower Local People, a grass-roots organization supporting a living wage, launched a campaign to oppose the arena. It argued that it was immoral for the city to build a new arena when city workers didn’t earn enough to make a living. Many of the city’s black ministers switched sides in the arena deal and urged their parishioners to oppose it. As a result, the referendum went down to defeat.

City leaders then devised a way to build a new arena in a way that didn’t require voter support, but let it be known that they would not even consider building it unless Shinn sold the team. While even the NBA acknowledged that Shinn had alienated fans, NBA officials felt such a statement would anger owners. As it turned out, the NBA approved the Hornets’ application to move to New Orleans. However, the league promised that the city would get a new team (what became the Bobcats) as part of the deal.

The total cost of the arena to Charlotte and Mecklenburg County is not known, but estimated at around $260 million. The construction was approved by the city council, which did not opt to present another referendum to the public. In early 2006, the arena was again the center of controversy as the Bobcats charged a $15,000 fee to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools for graduations. The fee was eventually waived following a story in the Charlotte Observer concerning the fees.

Some schools in the area have moved graduations to Cricket Arena because of the costs.

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