The Now Arena (originally known as the Sears Centre, Sears Centre Arena and stylized as NOW Arena) is a multi-purpose

arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a northwest

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

from

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, near land which formerly contained the Poplar Creek Music Theater. Since 2016, the arena has been home to the

Windy City Bulls The Windy City Bulls are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, and are affiliated with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls play their home games at Now Arena, from Chicago. It became the thirte ...

, the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

' affiliate in the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

History

The venue was a joint venture between Sears Holdings, Ryan Companies, and the Village of Hoffman Estates. The project began in 1998; however, plans were not finalized until 2005. Construction began in July 2005. The venue opened as Sears Centre on October 26, 2006, with performances by

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...

and

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

. In 2011, the Village of Hoffman Estates took over ownership of the arena after Ryan Companies walked away from the arena due to the arena's lack of success. However, since the village took over the arena and hired Global Spectrum to manage it, the arena has shown improvement. The naming rights to the arena were not affected by Sears Holdings declaring bankruptcy in 2018, with the company paying $1.5 million to secure naming rights for an additional 18 months. On June 23, 2020, the Village of Hoffman Estates approved an $11.5 million deal to rename the venue to NOW Arena, with the naming rights belonging to the NOW Health Group, a family-owned natural products manufacturer based in Bloomingdale, Illinois. The name change would officially take effect on September 1, 2020.

Notable events

*In 2008 and from 2010 until the present, the Illinois Recreational Cheerleading Association (IRCA) hold their annual state championship at the facility. *The fourth annual TNA Bound for Glory professional wrestling

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...

event on October 12, 2008, which was TNA's first ever event in the Chicago area. *The arena was also the venue which featured TNA's first ever '' Impact Wrestling'' outside of Orlando, Florida, on March 14, 2013. *On May 19 and 20, 2011, it played host to the Chicago audition stages in the first season of the Fox singer search program ''The X Factor''. *In 2009 and 2011, it played host to Strikeforce events. *September 12–14, 2014: Played host to the Davis Cup, hosting matches between the United States and Slovakia. * 2014 Skate America *The 2017 and 2018 Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, hosted by

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

's wrestling program, have been hosted at the Sears Centre. *September 1, 2018: All In, the largest ever independent professional wrestling event, presented by

Cody Rhodes Cody Garrett Runnels Rhodes (born June 30, 1985) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. As of April 2022, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand. He is also known for co-fou ...

and The Young Bucks, featuring wrestlers from various independent wrestling promotions and from

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...

, including Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada. This event was considered the springboard for the creation of

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. It is owned and operated by Shahid Khan, Shahid and Tony Khan, with the latter serving as President (corporate title), president an ...

(AEW) several months later. In commemoration of All In a permanent plaque was installed near the front entrance of the arena. * August 31, 2019: hosted AEW's inaugural All Out pay-per-view event, at which AEW crowned its first world champion. * November 27, 2019: hosted the first Thanksgiving Eve special episode of ''

AEW Dynamite ''AEW Dynamite'', also known as ''Wednesday Night Dynamite'' or simply ''Dynamite'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by the American Professional wrestling promotion, promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It air ...

''. * September 5, 2021: hosted AEW's third annual All Out pay-per-view event * September 4, 2022: hosted AEW's fourth annual All Out pay-per-view event. * September 7, 2024: hosted AEW's sixth annual All Out pay-per-view event. USA Gymnastics *2013 U.S. Challenge (July 26, 2013) *2013 U.S. Classic (July 27, 2013) *2014 U.S. Classic (August 2, 2014) * 2015 U.S. Classic (July 25, 2015) * 2017 U.S. Classic (July 29, 2017) * 2023 U.S. Classic (August 4-5, 2023)

External links

Official Site

References

{{Coord, 42, 4, 18.10, N, 88, 12, 34.04, W, display=title Hoffman Estates, Illinois 2006 establishments in Illinois Basketball venues in Illinois Event venues established in 2006 Gymnastics venues in Illinois Indoor arenas in Illinois Ice hockey venues in Illinois Indoor lacrosse venues in the United States Indoor soccer venues in Illinois Mixed martial arts venues in Illinois Music venues in Illinois NBA G League venues Tennis venues in Illinois Windy City Bulls Wrestling venues in Illinois