Stockton Arena, Stockton, California

Stockton, California is home to the Stockton Thunder ECHL hockey league, Stockton Cougars Arena Soccer League, and the Stockton Lightning Arena Football Team. In 2003 the ground was broken on a new facility for these three teams. They needed a larger more up to date space. The new facility was named Stockton Arena and it opened in 2005. The operator of the facility is International Facilities Group. To build the arena the teams and owner had to spend $63 million. They used 360 Architecture on the design.

For hockey and indoor soccer the facility can hold up to 10,050 ticket holders and basketball can seat 11,800. When the facility opened almost the maximum capacity of seats were filled. The Stockton Arena is part of the waterfront entertainment section. This means Banner Island Ballpark with the Stockton Ports Minor League team is close by. In the last few years the WWE has hosted a couple of events at the Stockton Arena.

Stockton Arena will occasionally host other entertainment besides sports. For example the Corona Comedy Club with Dat Phan, Halloween Tattoos Expo, Joyce Cooling, Marco Antonio and Pepe Aguilar, and Stocktoberfest are just a few of the events. Cirque Dreams Illumination, Bride of Frankenstein, Pub Crawl, and Puscifer are also shows that have or will be appearing at the Stockton Arena. Mary Poppins, the Bob and Tom Comedy All Stars, and Harlem Globetrotters will also be appearing at the center. Stockton Arena does get a few entertainment performers, but with the entertainment facilities around them they may not always have top artists and performers. They do get some popular shows that are local though.

The facility has concessions and restaurants available. Guests can find souvenir snack buckets, kettle fried chips and dip, popcorn, gourmet nuts, nachos, M&M's, seasonal fruit, antipasto, nine layer dip, chilled shrimp platters, coleslaw, chili, clam chowder, chicken, pork sandwiches, and much more. Beverage choices are just as varied. Beer, soda, lemonade, wine, and other drinks are provided during the shows.

The facility will open one hour prior to the game or event. Parking is available near the Stockton Arena. The cost will vary for parking depending on the lot and event. There are VIP parking options. Parking typically starts two hours before an event. Ticket sales can be done online or at the box office. The box office is open during the week only, except for event days, where will call will be available. If there are any tickets left for a show the box office will supply ticket sales.

As with most arenas, the Stockton Arena is indoors with a variety of seating options. Above, the amount of seats was mentioned but not the seating chart. For end stage concerts there is floor seating as well as horseshoe shaped seating. In other words all seats to the side and front of the stage can be filled. The seats behind the stage are left empty. For football or hockey there are seats all around the arena floor, but nothing on the floor.