Bradley Center

Bradley Center

The B.C.
Bradley Center
Location	1001 North Fourth Street Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203 United States
Coordinates
Owner	Bradley Center Sports and Entertainment Corporation
Operator	Bradley Center Sports and Entertainment Corporation
Capacity	Wrestling: 18,800 Concerts: 20,000 College basketball: 18,850 Basketball: 18,633 (1988–1997) 18,717 (1997–present) Ice hockey: 17,845 Indoor soccer: 17,800
Construction
Broke ground	October 20, 1986
Opened	October 1, 1988
Construction cost	$91 million ($182 million in 2024 dollars)
Architect	Populous Kahler Slater Torphy Architects Zimmerman Design Group
Structural engineer	Thornton Tomasetti
Services engineer	M-E Engineers, Inc.
General contractor	Huber, Hunt & Nichols
Tenants
Milwaukee Bucks (NBA) (1988–present) Milwaukee Mustangs (AFL) (1994–2001) Milwaukee Admirals (IHL/AHL) (1988–2016) Marquette Golden Eagles (NCAA) (1988–present) Milwaukee Wave (MISL) (1988–2003) Milwaukee Mustangs (AFL) (2009–2012)

The Bradley Center (known as the BMO Harris Bradley Center under sponsorship agreements) is an indoor arena located on the northwest corner of North 4th and West State Streets in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

It is home to the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA and the Marquette University men's basketball team. It is also the former home of the Milwaukee Wave of the MISL, from 1988 to 2003, the original Milwaukee Mustangs of the AFL from 1994 to 2001, along with the second incarnation of the team from 2009 to 2012, the Badger Hockey Showdown from 1989 to 2002, and the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL (and formerly of the IHL) from 1988 to 2016.

History

The arena was opened on October 1, 1988 with an exhibition hockey game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Edmonton Oilers. At $90 million, it was meant to be a modern replacement of its current cross-street neighbor, The MECCA (now named the UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena), which was built in 1950. This arena was built for an NHL expansion team; instead, the Milwaukee Admirals moved in. The MECCA, during much of its time operating as an NBA facility, had the league's smallest seating capacity, holding just over 11,000 people. Funds to build the Center were donated as a gift to the State of Wisconsin by broadcaster Lloyd Pettit and his wife, Jane Bradley Pettit, in memory of Jane's late father, Harry Lynde Bradley of the Allen-Bradley company.

Despite being one of the premier NBA facilities when completed in 1988, it is currently one of the oldest active NBA arenas (The Palace of Auburn Hills in suburban Detroit and ARCO Arena (now Sleep Train Arena) in Sacramento, California also opened in 1988), only behind Madison Square Garden in New York City (which was renovated in 2011), and Oracle Arena in Oakland (which was significantly remodeled during the mid-1990s). The donation from the Pettits did not include provision for the building's long-term capital needs or annual operating expenses. While the facility is self-sufficient, in recent years its tenants have been at a disadvantage compared with other NBA teams due to the arrangement.

Building a new, state-of-the-art downtown arena was proposed by former Bucks owner and former U.S. Senator Herb Kohl, but the community reaction to the idea of a publicly funded arena has been mostly negative. In 2009, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle included a provision in the state's capital budget seeking $5 million in state bonding support to renovate the Bradley Center. The Bradley Center's board of directors told state officials that the building needs $23 million in renovations, so they reportedly agreed to raise the remaining $18 million on their own.

Over the summer of 2010 the arena's longtime Sony Jumbotron scoreboard was replaced with a new 3.5-million-pixel LED unit manufactured by TS Sports and Lighthouse Technologies, and was put into service in October 2010 at the start of the Admirals season. Unlike many other NBA and NHL scoreboards, however, the bottom panel also has an LED screen, allowing display of many images above the floor itself rather than a static image of a sponsor or team logo.

On May 21, 2012, the Bucks' then-owner Herb Kohl and representatives from BMO Harris Bank announced that the bank had officially purchased the naming rights for the Bradley Center, and it would now be called the "BMO Harris Bradley Center".

Replacement

Further information: Milwaukee Bucks Arena

On September 18, 2013, then-deputy NBA commissioner Adam Silver toured the arena and found it unbefitting of an NBA team. Silver said that the building was a few thousand square feet short of NBA standards, and also lacked numerous amenities. The NBA issued a mandate requiring the Bucks to relocate, or be close to completion of a new facility, by 2017. On April 16, 2014, Bucks' owner Herb Kohl announced an agreement to sell the franchise to New York hedge-fund investors Marc Lasry and Wesley Edens. The deal included provisions for $100 million each from Kohl and the new ownership group, for a total of $200 million, toward the construction of a new downtown arena. On July 15, 2015, the Wisconsin Senate approved funding for the new Milwaukee Bucks Arena by a 21-10 margin, and on July 28, 2015, the Wisconsin State Assembly approved funding by a 52-34 margin. On August 12, 2015, Governor Walker signed the arena spending plan at Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin.

Notable events

The arena hosted the NCAA Frozen Four finals in 1993, 1997 and 2006 and the Great Midwest Conference men's basketball tournament in 1995.

Diana Ross was scheduled to perform during her Return to Love Tour on July 16, 2000, but the show was cancelled, due to low ticket sales.

Lady Gaga brought The Monster Ball Tour to the arena on September 2, 2010 to a sold out crowd.

Early auditions for the tenth season of American Idol were held at the arena on July 21, 2010.

Justin Bieber brought his Believe Tour to the arena on October 21, 2012 to a sold out crowd.

The arena hosted Taylor Swift's Speak Now World Tour on June 8, 2011. During which, the event was broadcast on national television during the 2011 CMT Music Awards when Swift accepted the award for Video of the Year via satellite. She did not attend the awards ceremony in order to perform the concert.

The BMO Harris Bradley Center also played host to the first UFC event in Wisconsin: UFC Live: Hardy vs. Lytle on August 14, 2011. UFC 164 was also held at the arena on August 31, 2013.

The Bradley Center has been a fixture for World Wrestling Entertainment since February 1989 when it hosted The Main Event II, where the Mega Powers of Macho Man Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan "exploded", setting up a match between the two stars at Wrestlemania V. Shortly thereafter, WWE's ratings fell and they began using the smaller MECCA for shows, but they have since returned and the Bradley Center has hosted WWE Pay Per Views No Way Out (2002), Taboo Tuesday (2004), and Elimination Chamber (2012). The Bradley Center also regularly hosts Raw and Smackdown.

The Bradley Center hosted P!nk's Truth About Love Tour to a sold out arena, on January 9, 2014.

The Bradley Center was a host site for second and third-round games in the 2014 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, for the sixth time since 1992.

On September 25 and 26 of 2015, Garth Brooks performed 3 separate shows at the arena during his World Tour along with his wife Trisha Yearwood and Country newcomer Karyn Rochelle.

Bruce Springsteen's sold out show on March 3, 2016 is his eighth time playing the venue, the most of any artist.

Images

• 

  Southeast entrance.

• 

  The arena set up for a Milwaukee Bucks game in 2005.

• 

  The arena set up for a Milwaukee Admirals game in 2011.

• Milwaukee Iron At The Bradley Center.jpg

  The arena set up for a Milwaukee Iron game in 2009.

See also

• Milwaukee Bucks Arena

External links

• BMOHarrisBradleyCenter.com
• BMO Harris Bradley Center – Bucks.com
• BMO Harris Bradley Center – Marquette University Athletics

Events and tenants
Preceded by MECCA Arena	Home of the Milwaukee Bucks 1988–2017	Succeeded by current
Preceded by Knickerbocker Arena Albany, New York	Host of the Frozen Four 1993	Succeeded by Saint Paul Civic Center St. Paul, Minnesota
Preceded by Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati	Host of the Frozen Four 1997	Succeeded by FleetCenter Boston
Preceded by Value City Arena Columbus, Ohio	Host of the Frozen Four 2006	Succeeded by Scottrade Center St. Louis, Missouri