HP Pavilion
| HP Pavilion |
Location: West Santa Clara Street, San Jose, California 95113 Owner(s): City of San Jose Operator City of San Jose Tenant(s): Golden State Warriors (NBA) (1971-present) Broke ground: 1991 Opened: 1993 Cost: $162.5 million Architect: Sink Combs Dethlefs Former Names San Jose Arena (1993-2001) Tenants San Jose Sharks (NHL) (1993-present) Capacity: Maximum: 17,496 |
The HP Pavilion, commonly called The Shark Tank or just The Tank after its primary tenant or less often as San Jose Arena after its former name, is an indoor arena located at 525 West Santa Clara Street in San Jose, California.
Named after the computer company Hewlett-Packard in a naming rights arrangement, the HP Pavilion houses the following sports teams:
- NHL - Ice Hockey - San Jose Sharks
- NLL - Lacrosse - San Jose Stealth
- AFL - Arena Football - San Jose SaberCats
The arena opened in 1993 as the San Jose Arena. Before the building changed its original name because of corporate sponsorship, Sharks radio play-by-play broadcaster Dan Rusanowsky always referred to it as the "spectacular" San Jose Arena. Later, naming rights were sold to Compaq, and the facility became Compaq Center at San Jose; the geographic identifier was needed because at the time, there was a Compaq Center in Houston. After HP purchased Compaq in 2002, the company chose to name the arena after its product.
The facility has also been home to the Golden State Warriors of the NBA during reconstruction of the Oakland Coliseum Arena, and the defunct San Jose Rhinos of Roller Hockey International, San Jose Grizzlies of the CISL, and the San Jose Lasers of the ABL. It has also been used for other sporting events, such as the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the NCAA Basketball tournament (known as March Madness), the Pac-10 women's basketball championship, the Dew Action Sports Tour, and the SAP Open men's tennis tournament.
The arena is one of the most active NHL venues. Of the current arenas in the league, "The Tank" is one of the more intimate and arguably, the noisiest hockey venue since the Chicago Stadium.Template:Fact It hosts an average of 190 events a year, including many non-sporting events. For the nine-month period ending September 30, 2004, the HP Pavilion sold the most tickets to non-sporting events of any venue in the United States, and the third highest in the world. HP Pavilion has had problems with the quality of the ice during Sharks games due to the mild, moist air in San Jose.Template:Fact
The arena has also hosted its share of wrestling events, in particular WWE. The Pavilion hosted the 1998 Royal Rumble and in 2001 hosted WWE's SummerSlam. In 2007, it will host WWE Judgment Day.
[edit] Notable events hosted at HP Pavilion
- January 18, 1997 - 47th National Hockey League All-Star Game
- January 18, 1998 - WWF Royal Rumble
- August 19, 2001 - WWF SummerSlam - remembered as the night The Rock defeated Booker T to win the WCW Championship.
- March 10, 2006 - SVE: Frank Shamrock vs. Cesar Gracie - HP Pavilion hosted the largest recorded audience for a mixed martial arts event. Attendance was reported at 18,265 people. The prior record was 14,562.[1].
[edit] Fictitious Events
- 2006 Democratic National Convention in the television series The West Wing.
- A few scenes in the movie EdTV.
