Scottrade Center, Saint Louis, Missouri

The Scottrade Center in Saint Louis, Missouri was built in 1993 as the Kiel Center and later it became the Savvis Center. The arena officially opened in 1994, with the City of St. Louis as the owners. Scottrade Center was built to offer the St. Louis Blues a home base. The Blues are a NHL team. Inside the arena are 9- second foghorns, which will blast after the team makes a goal. In fact it will blast "When the Saints Go Marching In.''

The arena is not just for ice hockey though. It has hosted and will host more performances in wrestling, concerts, ice shows, and other sporting events. Each year the venue puts on 175 or more shows serving more than 2 million people. In 2006 the facility was ranked second in US arenas and 4th worldwide for ticket sales. The Scottrade Center is definitely a place to see shows in the mid west.

Scottrade Center provided a home for the Saint Louis Bilikens NCAA, Saint Louis Steamers, Ambush, Stampede, Vipers, and River City Rage. The teams were MSL, NPSL, AFL, RHI, and NFL respectively. The most the arena has ever seen at one time was 22,612 people for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament or Arch Madness as it is referred to locally.

The center is part of a grouping of entertainment facilities. The Kiel name is still used on the adjoining Opera House. The opera house was built in 1992, several years after the arena. Scottrade bought the naming rights in 2006 for the arena portion. There have been a number of notable events at the Scottrade Center. For example Frank Sinatra performed his last concert at the arena to open the center. The WWE and WWF held such events as the Badd Blood: In Your House, Survivor Series, No Mercy, Judgement Day, and Raw. Pope John Paul II was at the arena for the 1999 Youth Day Celebration.

Alice in Chains, Braggin' Rights, Conference USA, Women's Final Four in 2001 and 2009, and Cory Spinks versus Zab Judah are some of the other events that have been held at the arena. A few acts that will be arriving at the Scottrade Center for 2009 and 2010 include the Ringling Bros. Circus, Bruce Springsteen and Miley Cyrus. The facility tries to keep top named acts visiting in between the sporting events held each year.

Scottrade Center has over 40 concession stands throughout the concourses. Some of the stands are portable carts on the plaza and mezzanine levels. Hot dogs, nachos, peanuts, pretzels, toasted ravioli, chicken wings, and hamburgers are some of the foods that are served. They also have a full selection of soft drinks such as lemonade, bottled water, iced tea, beer, and other microbrews. Candy like ice cream, cotton candy, and snow cones are also provided during most events held at the center.

The Top Shelf is a sports bar located at Scottrade Center. It is on the mezzanine concourse. They serve full course meals while having the television running so those in the restaurant bar will not miss any of the game.