Climate Pledge Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is located north of downtown Seattle on the campus of the Seattle Center, a civic and entertainment center first built for the Century 21 Exposition otherwise known as the 1962 World's Fair. It sits on the site of the original Washington State Pavilion exhibition facility (alternately referred to as the Washington State Coliseum or Century 21 Coliseum), subsequently bought by the city of Seattle and renovated in 1964 into a sports and entertainment venue, the Seattle Center Coliseum. Following an extensive $1.15 billion site redevelopment from 2018 to 2021, the new arena replaced the older facility, then named KeyArena. It reuses the original building's iconic roof and exterior window curtain walls, which were landmarked by the city in 2017 and added to both the Washington State Heritage Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 2018. An extended atrium on its south end houses the entrance to the modern venue. It holds a seating capacity of 17,151 for ice hockey, 18,300 for basketball, and up to 17,340 for concerts and other events.
It is currently home to the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL), the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), the Seattle Torrent of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL), the Seattle University Redhawks men's basketball team, and the Rat City Roller Derby league of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association. It has also played host to the Pac-12 Conference's women's basketball tournament and may be used as a host venue for the Big Ten Conference's Women's Basketball and Men's ice hockey tournaments in the future. Though opening in October 2021, Climate Pledge Arena is sometimes considered the oldest arena in the NHL due to the age of the original roof and exterior walls.
The original arena was most notable as the long-time home of the Seattle SuperSonics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The SuperSonics first played at the facility, then the Seattle Center Coliseum, from their founding in 1967 to 1978. After a seven-season stint in the higher capacity Kingdome, they returned to the arena in 1985. The venue's renovation after the 1993–94 season necessitated the relocation of SuperSonics home games to the Tacoma Dome for the 1994–95 season. The Coliseum was renamed KeyArena after KeyCorp bought the naming rights in 1995. The rights lasted through 2010, though the building maintained the name until its 2018 closure for the site redevelopment. The SuperSonics left KeyArena in 2008 amid a controversial relocation to Oklahoma City. The arena was also known for hosting non-NHL hockey teams, first as home to the Seattle Totems of the original Western Hockey League and the Central Hockey League from 1964 to 1975, followed by the Seattle Thunderbirds of the current Western Hockey League from 1995 to 2008.
KeyArena was the first publicly financed arena in the area that was fully supported by earned income from the building. Arena finances were bolstered for several years by a payment following the settlement of a lawsuit over the lease with the SuperSonics in 2008. However, the lower level of activity and revenue after the departure of the Sonics left little reserve beyond basic building maintenance. In contrast, Climate Pledge Arena was completely privately financed with the city receiving annual rent and a portion of additional revenue generated by events and surrounding parking. Amazon bought the naming rights to the new arena in June 2020, dedicating the arena name to bringing attention to climate change, specifically the pledge promoted by the advocacy group Global Optimism for businesses to reach net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2040.
History
Seattle Center Coliseum
The arena opened in 1962 as the Washington State Pavilion for the Century 21 Exposition, the work of architect Paul Thiry. After the close of the Exposition, the Pavilion was purchased by the city of Seattle for $2.9 million and underwent an 18-month conversion into the Washington State Coliseum, one of the centerpieces of the new Seattle Center on the former Exposition grounds. When the newly renovated Coliseum opened, the Seattle University men's basketball team became the arena's first major tenant. In 1964, the facility was renamed the Seattle Center Coliseum. That same year, the Seattle Totems moved into the Coliseum. The Coliseum became home to its most famous resident, the Seattle SuperSonics, beginning with their inaugural season in 1967 and remaining as host throughout most of the team's lifetime.
The Coliseum in this incarnation hosted two NBA Finals, in 1978 and 1979, both between the Washington Bullets and SuperSonics. The Bullets won in 1978, prevailing in in Seattle. The Sonics retaliated the following year, winning in Game 5 on the Bullets' home court, thus capturing the franchise's only championship while based in Seattle. Upon the opening of the new Kingdome in 1976, which first hosted the Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL) and the Sounders of the North American Soccer League (NASL), followed by the expansion Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB) in 1977, the Sonics would begin playing a small number of home games at the stadium. For the championship 1978–79 NBA season, the basketball club moved into the Kingdome full-time. They would call it home through the 1984–85 season, after which the team returned to the Coliseum. During those seven years, the Sonics would occasionally play home playoff games at the Coliseum or Hec Edmundson Pavilion so as to not interfere with the Mariners' regular season home schedule. They would continue to play occasional games at the Kingdome through the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The arena hosted the NBA All-Star Game once, in 1974; the 1987 game had included NBA All-Star Saturday festivities on February 7, where former Sonics star "Downtown Freddie" Brown was the MVP of the legends game, Boston Celtics star Larry Bird won the three-point contest, and Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan won the slam-dunk competition. The NBA All-Star Game itself for 1987 in Seattle was held at the Kingdome.
In 1983, Barry Ackerley, head of the Washington, D.C.-based television, radio, and billboard company Ackerley Communications Inc., purchased the Sonics from long-time owner Sam Schulman. In the mid-to-late 1980s, the team's on-court success would decline. This was coupled with a sub-par home court experience at the Coliseum, which included the NBA's lone rain delayed game on January 5, 1986, when rain water leaked from the roof onto the court as the Sonics played the Phoenix Suns. Timeouts were called so ball boys armed with towels could do their best to wipe up the puddles, but even so, two players slipped and fell on the wet surface. Early in the second quarter, referee Mike Mathis suspended the game with the Suns up by 11 points. The game was resumed from that point the following night, and Phoenix won by 17.
The arena hosted the basketball competitions of the Goodwill Games in 1990.
Ackerley began exploring new options for an arena. Heavy relocation rumors began to circulate, amongst them a potential move to San Diego or possible sales to groups in other markets like Milwaukee or Toronto. In 2018, Ackerley's son Chris would say that the family was always committed to keeping the team in Seattle, and that "[...] in each case, we stood on our principles that this is a Seattle community asset."
Potential replacement by arena in SoDo In 1990, the Ackerleys talked about building an arena east of Lake Washington near Bellevue Square. They would eventually purchase land in the SoDo district near the Kingdome, some of which includes the site that would later become the Mariners' home, T-Mobile Park. Ackerley approached the city about a public contribution to the new arena, but the city was reluctant over fears the city-owned Coliseum would become obsolete. They offered to help finance a renovation of the Coliseum, but the team owner declined. To sweeten the offer, Ackerley sold city leaders on the idea that the new arena in SoDo could also attract a National Hockey League club. The city, along with Denver, had been conditionally granted an expansion NHL franchise in 1974 to begin play in the 1976–77 season. The NHL briefly flirted with relocating the Pittsburgh Penguins to Seattle (and the California Golden Seals to Denver) to address a troubled market and fill the expansion commitment, but ultimately kept the team there. Eventually, the Seattle franchise award was rescinded altogether when the potential ownership group was unable to secure the funds for the expansion fee.
In July 1990, the city council approved a deal for a privately owned $100 million facility to be built on the Ackerley land in SoDo, despite objections over traffic and parking by the Seahawks and Mariners in the neighboring Kingdome. The city's contribution would be to waive about $31 million in tax revenues (about $1 million per year) to potentially be collected on admissions fees at the new arena. It would also pay $2 million for street improvements around the proposed site, including a pedestrian walkway over South Royal Brougham Way. Ackerley also agreed to sign a 30-year lease for the Sonics and to build an 1,800-stall parking garage. Ackerley appeased the Seahawks' concerns, noting the arena would be empty during any NFL games. The Mariners unsuccessfully continued to object, even enlisting then-MLB commissioner Fay Vincent and then-American League president Bobby Brown to speak before the council ahead of their final vote.
During negotiations, Ackerley had asked for a provision to reduce the seating at the Coliseum by 9,000 seats so the older arena could not compete with the new building, but the city would not agree. Another selling point of the new arena were luxury suites, a means to attract corporate money and sponsorship that was then an emerging new revenue stream for sports team owners. Ackerley's financing and agreement with the city hinged on the ability to sell the 70 proposed luxury suites.
Ackerley also committed to submitting an expansion application to the NHL by a September 15, 1990, deadline as part of the arena deal. His son Bill would head the expansion effort, while a competing group led by Microsoft executive Chris Larson and former Seattle Totems player then coach Bill MacFarland was preparing their own application. With the Ackerley application already submitted, the two groups would merge with Larson and MacFarland being primary points of contact with the NHL. Then owner of the Thunderbirds, Bill Yuill, also joined the group. Larson and MacFarland, along with Barry Ackerley and Bill Lear, Ackerley's financial advisor, were set to make a presentation to the NHL's Board of Governors on December 5, 1990. At the meeting, Ackerley and Lear asked to meet with the board first, promptly withdrew their application, and left. Larson and MacFarland were stunned to learn of the development but were unable to pursue any recourse as their names were never on the submitted application.