Seattle, Washington’s Climate Pledge Arena is a multipurpose venue. Seattle Center, the site of the 1962 World’s Fair, is located north of downtown Seattle in the 74-acre (30-hectare) entertainment complex known as Seattle Center. The city of Seattle bought it and repurposed it for entertainment uses after it opened in 1962.
During the $1.15 billion redevelopment of the arena, which took place from 2018 to 2021, it maintained the original exterior and roof, which was designated a Seattle Landmark in 2017 and listed on the Washington Heritage Register in 2018 and the National Register of Historic Places in 2018. Ice hockey may be played to a capacity of 17,151 fans, while basketball can be played to a capacity of 18,300 fans.
The arena is now home to the Seattle Kraken of the NHL, the Seattle Storm of the WNBA, the Seattle University Redhawks men’s basketball team, and the Rat City Roller Derby league of the WFTDA (Women’s Flat Track Derby Association). The Pac-12 Conference’s women’s basketball tournament has also been held there.
At one time, the arena was best known as a home to the National Basketball Association’s Seattle SuperSonics (NBA). From 1967 until 1978, SuperSonics played at the Seattle Center Coliseum, which was then known as the Seattle Center Arena. Following a seven-season stay in the Kingdome, which had a larger seating capacity, the team returned in 1985. Relocation of SuperSonics home games to the Tacoma Dome in 1994–95 prompted major refurbishment of the building, which led to the renaming of KeyArena in 1995 after KeyCorp purchased naming rights 1995.
As a result of a contentious relocation to Oklahoma City, the Seattle SuperSonics were forced to vacate KeyArena in 2008. Seattle Totems of the original Western Hockey League and Central Hockey League from 1964 to 1975, and the Seattle Thunderbirds of the current Western Hockey League from 1989 to 2008 were both minor professional hockey teams that played in this arena.
For the first time in the area, a public arena was funded solely with revenue generated by the facility. Although the 2008 SuperSonics settlement award helped the arena’s finances for a few years, low activity and revenue between the team’s departure and the entrance of the NHL left little money for anything more than basic building upkeep. Despite the expiration of the naming rights agreement with KeyCorp in 2010, the building retained the KeyArena name until it was demolished in 2018.
The arena’s naming rights were purchased by Amazon on June 25, 2020. Instead of using the standard corporate naming conventions, Amazon named the arena “Arena for Climate Change Awareness”. Other than that, the arena will be powered entirely by renewable energy, incorporating solar panels both on- and off-site (as is typical in other areas), instead of the common usage of natural gas.
Designed by Paul Thiry for the Century 21 Exposition in Seattle, Washington, the arena first opened to the public in 1962. It was purchased by Seattle for $2.9 million and repurposed for 18 months into the Washington State Coliseum, a centerpiece of the new Seattle Center that replaced the Exposition Park. The Seattle University men’s basketball team was the first major tenant of the newly refurbished Coliseum when it opened.
The Seattle Center Coliseum was renamed in 1964. The Seattle Totems played their first season in the Coliseum that year. The Seattle SuperSonics played their first season in the Coliseum in 1967, and the building remained their home for the majority of the team’s tenure.
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It held two NBA Finals, one in 1978 and the other in 1979, between the Washington Bullets and Seattle SuperSonics at this location. In 1978, the Bullets triumphed in game seven against the Seattle Supersonics. Next year, the Sonics replied by defeating the Bullets in Game 5 on their home court, thereby winning their lone championship. There would be only a handful of Sonics games played at Kingdome beginning in 1976, when the stadium opened to the NFL’s Seahawks and NASL’s Sounders before being expanded to include the MLB’s expansion Mariners the following year. The team relocated to the Kingdome for the 1978-79 championship season. After the 1984-85 season, the club returned to the Coliseum, which they had previously called home.
To avoid conflicting with the Mariners’ home regular season schedule, the Sonics played some of their postseason games at the Coliseum or Hec Edmundson Pavilion during those seven years. Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, they would play occasional games at the Kingdome.
All-Star Weekend festivities were held on February 7, 1987, when former Sonics star “Downtown Freddie” Brown was MVP of the legend’s game, Boston Celtics star Larry Bird won a three-point contest and Chicago Bull Michael Jordan won a slam dunk competition in the 1987 NBA All-Star Game held in the arena. The Kingdome in Seattle was the site of the 1987 NBA All-Star Game.
Sam Schulman’s long-time owner, Barry Ackerley of Ackerley Communications Inc., purchased the Sonics from Ackerley Communications in 1983. The team’s on-court success would fade in the mid-to the late 1980s. Rain-delayed games at the Coliseum, which included the NBA’s only rain-delayed game on January 5, 1986, as the Sonics played the Phoenix Suns at the Coliseum, were a result of this sub-par home court experience.
Two players tripped and fell despite the efforts of ball boys armed with towels to clean up the puddles. The Suns led by eleven points when referee Mike Mathis blew the whistle early in the second quarter. The following night, the game was picked up where it left off, and Phoenix cruised to a 17-point victory.
Ackerley began looking into additional arena options. San Diego, Milwaukee, and Toronto were all mentioned as possible destinations for the company. Rumors of a probable move to San Diego quickly spread. He would remark in 2018 that the family had always been committed to keeping the club in Seattle and he would say that in 2018 we never wavered from our conviction that this is a valuable resource for the people of Seattle.
East of Lake Washington, near Bellevue Square, the Ackerley’s discussed building an arena in 1990.
As a result of their efforts, they would eventually acquire land in SoDo near the Kingdome, some of which would later become T-Mobile Park. Despite Ackerley’s pleas for a public contribution to the new arena, the city was reticent because it feared the city-owned Coliseum would become outmoded. The club owner turned down their offer to assist finance a refurbishment of the Coliseum.
Ackerley convinced municipal leaders that the proposed arena in SoDo could also attract a National Hockey League team to sweeten the deal. As part of a conditional expansion franchise in 1974, the city of Denver was allowed to begin to play in the 1976-77 season.
After considering moving the Pittsburgh Penguins (together with the California Golden Seals) from Pittsburgh to Seattle (as well as the Golden Seals of California from San Jose to Denver), the NHL decided to keep the teams in their current cities. Due to a lack of funding from the prospective owners, Seattle was forced to withdraw their franchise award altogether.
Despite opposition from the Seahawks and Mariners at the Kingdome, the city council in July 1990 approved an agreement for a privately owned $100 million facility to be erected in SoDo on the Ackerley land.
Approximately $31 million in tax revenues (about $1 million a year) might be waived by the city to be collected on entry fees at the new arena under the city’s commitment. In addition, a pedestrian bridge would be built over South Royal Brougham Way as part of a $2 million roadway repair package. Ackerley also agreed to negotiate a 30-year lease with the Sonics and to construct a 1,800-space parking structure for the team’s fans. Despite the Seahawks’ fears, Ackerley assured them that the venue would be vacant for any NFL games.
Fay Vincent and Bobby Brown, the former commissioners of Major League Baseball and the American League, spoke before the council before its final vote, but the Mariners were unsuccessful in their efforts to overturn the decision.
During talks, Ackerley requested a provision that would have reduced the seating capacity of the Coliseum by 9,000 seats, but the city refused to do so. It was also a major selling feature of the new arena’s luxury suites, which were a new cash source for sports team owners at the time. Financing and an agreement between Ackerley and the city were contingent on the developer’s ability to sell the 70 premium suites that were intended.
This arrangement included Ackerley’s promise that an expansion application would be submitted by September 15, 1990. Bill MacFarland, a former Seattle Totems player, and coach, and Microsoft CEO Chris Larson were leading a competing attempt to expand the franchise. Larson and MacFarland would serve as the NHL’s principal points of contact as the Ackerley application has already been submitted. Bill Yuill, owner of the Seattle Thunderbirds at the time, joined the organization as well.
On December 5, 1990, Larson and MacFarland were scheduled to make a presentation to the NHL Board of Governors with Barry Ackerley and Ackerley’s financial advisor, Bill Lear. At the meeting, Ackerley and Lear requested to speak with the board before withdrawing their application and leaving. As their names never appeared on the application, Larson and MacFarland were taken aback when they learned of the development.
Ackerley’s decision may have been influenced by the NHL’s hefty expectations for an expansion team: An unprecedented expansion payment, a $5 million down payment, and a requirement that at least 10,000 season tickets be sold in the first year – which would have made the Sonics the second most expensive team in the area at the time; a 20-year lease with a “substantial” share of arena revenues from c; and a $50 million expansion fee that was more than any NHL club at the time was valued at. Ackerley would not give up Sonics earnings to invest in a minor league hockey team.
Ackerley revealed in June 1991 that the project would not proceed nearly a year after the city had agreed to the arena arrangement. Due to rising project expenses, legal issues, and a lack of construction financing, the project was scrapped. In the end, only about 30 of the 70 luxury apartments were sold, and the Ackerley’s failed to locate a corporate buyer for the name rights.
As a result of Ackerley Communications’ financial issues, profits were also lower. Seattle Center employees filed a complaint in the state’s highest court challenging the legitimacy of the arena arrangement, and the Mariners, trade show organizers, and environmental assessment officials all had litigation pending.
Norm Rice, the newly elected mayor of Seattle, was concerned about the loss of concerts and events to towns with larger, more modern facilities, and the strong likelihood that the Sonics would leave the city. Sporting events can bring people together and Seattle Center will continue to be an important tourist destination, according to the mayor. A Center commission came up with a plan to lower the Coliseum’s floor and build a new bowl with additional seats in response to his urgings.
The Ackerley’s opted against renovating and instead chose to construct their arena in the South of Downtown. Reluctantly, they agreed to the plan for a new arena, even though they wanted a refurbishment of the current one. The Ackerley’s searched for other investors when their SoDo proposal was rejected, but they were unsuccessful. Barry Ackerley would return to the city and ask if the Coliseum renovation project was still a viable option.
The former Seattle SuperSonics home, KeyArena, in its former glory (now the Oklahoma City Thunder)
In light of renewed interest from all parties, the city council paid $250,000 on a feasibility study to see if it was even possible to excavate beneath the structure.
Planned renovations saved $15 million and kept the building safe from earthquakes by preserving the roof’s compression ring, which was discovered to be achievable. Replacement of the original cable-supported roof with a normally fixed roof with steel trusses would preserve the well-known shape.
The expected cost of the building was $73.4 million, which was significantly cheaper than the cost of other new arenas in Portland and Vancouver at the time. The city’s bond capacity was used to pay for the project. A new kitchen and support building, a parking garage on 1st Avenue N, a new team store, and a tunnel that connects the store to the arena totaled $127.3 million in construction costs. 22 concession stands, 8 portable stands with vending in the seats, three private sports clubs, and a public sports bar/restaurant would be added. There would also include a private concourse with 58 luxury suites and a 1,100-seat club-level section.
The initiative had the requirement that no taxpayer money be utilized to fund it. Concerned by the Ackerleys, a revenue-sharing scheme was devised after more than a year of negotiations. Suites, concessions, and other products sold within the arena would be split between the city and the team to pay down the city’s debt and pay the team’s bills.
The arena will be the first to generate revenue from its use. When Sonics signed a 15-year lease with a guaranteed income of $7 million per year in May 1993, the city council voted 7-2 to approve the contract. A 20-year lease with an additional guaranteed income of $9 million per year beginning in year 15 was initially rejected by the council committee in the hopes of negotiation. The Ackerley’s turned down these alterations.
In 1994 and 1995, the Coliseum was completely restored to meet NBA specifications. One of the country’s most prominent architectural firms, NBBJ, was chosen to design the project in Seattle.
The Coliseum will be shut down for a year for renovations, which is unusual. On June 16, 1994, construction began. [10] The SuperSonics’ home games for the 1994–95 season were held at the Tacoma Dome, a multi-purpose arena located about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Seattle.
After selling the naming rights to KeyCorp, the parent company of KeyBank, on April 11, 1995, the city rebranded the Coliseum as KeyArena.
[40] The city of Seattle spent $74.5 million on the project, while SuperSonics contributed about $21 million. KeyCorp paid $15.1 million for the naming rights.
The previous seating arrangement for ice hockey at KeyArena
The original roofing was preserved by utilizing the old steel trusses in combination with four new main diagonal trusses in the rebuilt arena. All of the demolition materials were either repurposed in the building of the new arena or sold to recycling companies. To save money, the original acoustical ceiling panels were repaired and utilized. To accommodate the additional 3,000 spectators, the court was lowered by 35 feet (11 meters). It was on this date, on October 26, 1995, that the remodeled arena’s doors officially opened to the public.
The SuperSonics, on the other hand, reaped the benefits of the better sightlines at the price of the junior Thunderbirds, who lost out. A standard ice rink would have barely fit on the floor. The lowest level had to be curtained off for T-Birds games because so many seats were obstructed. To make matters worse, the new scoreboard hung over one blue line rather than the faceoff circle in the center of the ice.
The SuperSonics played their first regular season game in the renamed KeyArena against the Los Angeles Lakers on November 4, 1995. SuperSonics lost in six games during its debut season when the Bulls won the NBA Finals in a seven-game series.
The Seattle SuperSonics, who had played their home games at KeyArena since 1967, were purchased by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz in 2001 from Barry Ackerley. At one point during his five years as owner, Schultz stated that the SuperSonics had lost so much money that he needed help paying for a new, more modern venue.
The Basketball Club of Seattle, led by Schultz, put the SuperSonics and their WNBA sister team, the Seattle Storm, up for sale after failing to reach an agreement with the city of Seattle over a publicly funded $220 million expansion of KeyArena. Having been unable to locate a local ownership group to purchase the team, Schultz sought bids from ownership groups in several other cities before finally agreeing to sell the team on July 18, 2006 [42][43] to an Oklahoma City ownership group interested in acquiring an NBA franchise after successfully hosting the New Orleans Hornets for two seasons during the city’s recovery from Hurricane Katrina. As of October 24, 2006, NBA franchise owners have approved a $350 million deal for Professional Basketball Club LLC (PBC) owned by Clay Bennett’s company. This purchase included a 12-month commitment from the new owners to “exercise good faith best endeavors” in finding a new arena lease or venue in the Seattle metropolitan area.
When it came to funding arena developments in Seattle, 74% of voters approved Initiative 91, a law requiring the city to show a profit on its investment before taxpayer money could be used. The lack of tax revenue for the arena, as well as the Sonics’ previous losses, “certainly doomed the Sonics’ future in the city”.
Bennett recommended on February 12th, 2007 that a new $500 million arena in Renton, a Seattle suburb, be paid for with tax money. Bennett gave up in April 2007 after the legislative session ended without a resolution being reached. When the team’s lease at KeyArena expired on November 2, 2007, they announced they will relocate to Oklahoma City. It was clear that Mayor Greg Nickels of Seattle had no intention of making it simple for Bennett to relocate the Sonics out of the city before their lease expired in 2010. A citywide movement was launched to prevent the city from accepting a buyout of the lease from Bennett’s organization because of concerns that the city would accept such an offer. An ordinance based on the initiative was enacted by the Seattle City Council in a unanimous vote.
Aubrey McClendon, a junior partner in Bennett’s ownership group, stated in an interview with The Journal Record (a newspaper in Oklahoma City) that the team was not purchased to retain it in Seattle but to relocate it to Oklahoma City. “McClendon was speaking on behalf of the ownership group,” Bennett said afterward. The NBA fined McClendon $250,000 for his statements.
As soon as it was legally possible, the Sonics ownership group told NBA commissioner David Stern that Bennett would be moving the team to Oklahoma City as soon as possible on October 31, 2007. Critics have criticized the timing of the news, which came just one day after the Sonics’ home opener, saying that it was ill-advised “Today’s announcement by Mr. Bennett is a clear attempt to sabotage the Seattle fan base and carry out his plan to relocate the franchise to Oklahoma City… The current ownership’s disrespectful behavior toward the Sonics’ loyal fans and the people of Seattle continues with this decision. Bennett also reiterated that the team was not for sale and dismissed attempts by local groups to repurchase the team.
As of September 23, 2007, Seattle had launched a lawsuit to prevent the Sonics from departing before their lease expired in 2010. When Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer promised to cover half of a $300 million makeover of KeyArena, the remainder would have to come from the city and county, the case was filed against Microsoft.
Mayor Greg Nickels of Seattle declared that the city’s efforts had failed and that the city’s last hope was to sue the state legislature if it failed to approve county funding by the deadline of April 10.
On April 13, 2008, the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Dallas Mavericks 99–95 in their final game at KeyArena.
More than 3,000 people attended the “Save Our Sonics” event at the U.S. District Courthouse in Seattle on June 16, 2008, to protest the team’s pending relocation to Los Angeles. Seattle held a rally today, on the opening day of a lawsuit against PBC to keep KeyArena open for another two years.
It was stated on July 2, 2008, just two hours before a decision in the city’s case was to be made, that PBC had agreed to pay the city $45 million immediately in exchange for breaking the lease, and an extra $30 million if Seattle was not provided a replacement club in five years. After the settlement, the Sonics’ name and colors could not be used by the Oklahoma City Thunder but may be taken by a future Seattle franchise, but no promises were offered. The SuperSonics franchise history could be “shared” with any future NBA team in Seattle by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Oklahoma City was the team’s first home and announced that the 2008–09 season would be their first as a professional sports franchise.
There was talk that KeyBank would try to change the naming rights agreement after KeyArena lost the SuperSonics and the Thunderbirds. For a cost of $300,000 per year, the city and KeyCorp agreed to a new contract in March 2009.
The Seattle University Redhawks men’s basketball team returned to KeyArena for the first time since 1980 in 2009 when they began hosting home games. A new 10-year contract for the WNBA’s Storm at KeyArena was authorized by the Seattle City Council in February 2009.
The WWE No Way Out pay-per-view event was held at the venue in 2009. To tape the March 9 episode of NXT and the March 12 episode of SmackDown, the WWE returned on March 9, 2010. Over the Limit, pay-per-view was held on May 22, 2011, a year after they first hosted it. Bullfighters brought the Built Ford Tough Series to KeyArena for the first time in April of that year.
It hosted the Seattle audition stages for the first season of Fox’s The X Factor from June 28 to 30 of that year.
For the first time in 15 years, Seattle Center announced on January 21, 2011, that KeyCorp would not be renewing its agreement for naming rights to KeyArena. Because of this, the venue was still called KeyArena until it was demolished and rebuilt in 2012.
KeyArena “would be totally fine,” according to ESPN.com reporter Scott Burnside, as a short-term home for an NHL franchise, dependent on a future arena proposal.
According to reports in June 2013, the NHL was prepared to sell the Coyotes to a private investment group if they couldn’t agree with Glendale, Arizona, on a new lease by July 2 and use KeyArena as a temporary home. The Coyotes would then be allowed to relocate to Seattle before the 2013–14 season and would use the arena as a temporary home. An agreement was reached on July 2 that would retain the Coyotes in Glendale, Arizona, and eliminate the prospect that the Coyotes would relocate to Seattle. The agreement was signed soon after, and the Coyotes’ ownership was transferred to an investor group.
KeyArena was deemed unusable even as a temporary facility by SB Nation columnist Travis Hughes in February 2012 because it had the same issues with sight lines that ultimately prompted the Thunderbirds to vacate their previous home. Even one season of NHL hockey in an arena where half of the lower bowl sat empty would be “simply intolerable,” Hughes stated in his letter.
Even worse than what they encountered at America West Arena, their first home in Phoenix, the Coyotes’ new arena, he claimed. A large portion of the rink couldn’t be seen from the upper-level seats, requiring the Coyotes to curtain off thousands of seats from 1996 to 2003.
A new arena may be needed before an NHL club relocates to Seattle, according to league executives. On All-Star Weekend in 2012, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman observed, “There’s no building.” “It’s going to be a difficult facility for hockey,” said Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, because of the vast number of obstructed-view seats.
An NBA franchise may also use KeyArena as a temporary home, KING 5 reporter Chris Daniels noted in February 2012.
When Chris Hansen’s proposed NBA/NHL arena in downtown Seattle was up for public discussion in July 2012, opponents wanted to “re-explore” using KeyArena instead of the downtown site.
The International Dota 2 eSports competitions hosted by American video game developer Valve have since featured prize pools of over $20 million.
NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament first-round games was held at KeyArena in 1999 and 2015.
For the first time, the Kellogg’s Tour of Gymnastics Champions was held at the arena on September 16, 2016.
On April 29, 2017, Roger Federer and Match for Africa 4 held an exhibition match at KeyArena. A doubles match between Roger Federer and Bill Gates was followed by a singles match between Federer and Pearl Jam members John Isner and Mike McCready. The Roger Federer Foundation received more than $200,000 from the match’s revenue.
On October 5, 2018, the Golden State Warriors took on the Sacramento Kings in a preseason game at KeyArena, where Kevin Durant previously played with the Seattle Sonics. The KeyArena hosted its final event before it was demolished to make way for renovation, and the game was largely played to commemorate those times with the NBA.
Redevelopment into Climate Pledge Arena
A request for bids for the redevelopment of Seattle’s KeyArena into an NBA and NHL-ready arena was issued in January after Mayor Ed Murray outlined the city’s plans in October. As a result of the Seattle City Council rejecting the new arena proposed for SoDo due to the street vacation of Occidental Avenue, this development occurred. [84]
Proposals for the redevelopment of the arena were filed to the city of Seattle in April 2017 by two parties, Seattle Partners (headed by AEG and Hudson Pacific Properties) and the Oak View Group (directed by former AEG CEO Tim Leiweke).
[85] This famous roof of the arena was to be preserved as a municipal landmark, hence a second proposal was sought from both organizations. In a $520 million proposal, AEG plans to extend the distinctive roofline over a previously unused section of the arena’s southern end. Within the existing roof structure, the Oak View Group filed a $564 million proposal to lower the arena’s bowl by 15 feet (4.6 m).
The city chose OVG as the preferred bidder for the renovation on June 7th of this year. As of August 2, 2017, the exterior of the arena, including its roof, has been designated as a historic landmark by a city-appointed preservation board;[88] the exterior was subsequently added to the National Register of Historic Places in May.
To restore the arena, a memorandum of understanding was signed by the city council and OVG on December 4, 2017. The new agreement with the SODO Arena was approved just a few days after the previous agreement expired.
The NHL granted the Oak View Group permission to apply for an expansion franchise in Seattle four days after the memorandum of understanding was approved. Seattle Storm, the city’s final professional basketball team, has announced that it will leave the Seattle area during the arena’s two-year closure.
A regular summer schedule at KeyArena in 2018 saw the club play from the middle of May until the start of the playoffs in early September; they went on to win the WNBA Championship. When Alaska Airlines Arena on UW’s campus was closed for renovations, the Storm played their home games at Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett.
Celebrating after Mayor Jenny Durkan signed legislation permitting the refurbishment of the area on September 25, 2018, the Seattle City Council unanimously voted 8–0 to approve the proposed $700 million reconstruction of KeyArena, which was signed into law by Mayor Jenny Durkan.
Seattle’s expansion was approved by the NHL Board of Governors on December 4, 2018. The next day, December 5, was the start of the redevelopment. As of the middle of December of last year, OVG said that the total project expenses had risen from $825 to $850 million. Mortenson Construction replaced Skanska Hunt as a general contractor despite certain design revisions and additions contributing to the cost increase.
The city of Seattle, Seattle Center, and Oak View Group formally changed the name of the project from KeyArena to Seattle Center Arena when the arena closed in October 2018 to begin redevelopment.
[99] It was also known as the New Seattle Center Arena. OVG received six inquiries about naming rights for the new arena in February of this year. [102] It was announced in January 2020 that Alaska Airlines would be the naming sponsor of the south atrium. [103] Amazon purchased the naming rights to the stadium on June 25, 2020, renaming it Climate Pledge Arena in honor of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ demand for climate action. [104] On July 8, 2020, a helicopter removed the KeyArena rooftop signage. [105] On December 5, 2020, the new signpost was installed. [106]
Arena’s roof was “separated from 20 original concrete Y-columns and four massive buttresses that formerly supported it,” being supported by “72 temporary steel columns, cross-beams, and a metal reinforcing device called a kickstand.” During the excavation of the arena bowl, 600,000 cubic yards of dirt were removed and the framework was raised upwards to meet with the roof.
Concerts by Foo Fighters and Death Cab for Cutie inaugurated Climate Pledge Arena to the public on October 19, 2021.
[108] Concerts by Coldplay were the first scheduled events to take place three days after the 17th. [109] On October 23, a Seattle Krakens regular season game against a Vancouver Canucks team took played in the remodeled venue for the first time. Defenseman Vince Dunn scored the first goal of the game for the Kraken, but the Canucks came out on top, 4–2
On October 26, the Kraken defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-1 in their debut game at the venue. The Seattle Storm beat the Minnesota Lynx 97-74 in their debut game at the new venue on May 6, 2022.