The American Bank Center is an entertainment complex located in

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi ( ; ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, Texas, Nueces County with portions extending into Aransas County, T ...

. The complex consists of an

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoriums can be found in entertainment venues, community halls, and t ...

convention center A convention center (American and British English spelling differences, American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a Convention (meeting), convention, where individuals and groups ...

and

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 ...

. The facility hosts numerous conventions, trade shows, exhibitions, live performances and sporting events. It is home to the Corpus Christi IceRays Tier II Jr. A

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team and the Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Islanders men's and women's

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

teams. It is owned by the city of Corpus Christi and managed by ASM Global.

Facilities

American Bank Center Arena

The American Bank Center Arena is an

indoor 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 ...

located adjacent to the American Bank Center Convention Center. The construction of the arena was a joint effort by Thompson Ventulett Stainback & Associates,

Arquitectonica Arquitectonica is an international architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, and urban planning design firm headquartered in Miami, Miami, Florida’s Coconut Grove neighborhood. The firm also has offices in ten other cities thr ...

and Gignac & Associates. The venue broke ground on November 3, 2002, and was completed in October 2004. Unique to the area is its split-tiered seating system design. This allows the large venue to have the illusion of a theatre setting. The maximum capacity of the arena is 10,000 for sporting events and concerts. The cost of the project was over $49 million.

Selena Auditorium

The Selena Auditorium opened in 1979, then known as the Bayfront Plaza Auditorium. The venue was the filming location of the '' Johnny Canales Show''. In 1996, the venue was renamed in commemoration of notable resident, Tejano musician Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, whose memorial and public viewing were held at the venue the previous year. It was renovated in 2004 to connect the property to the other buildings in the complex. The maximum capacity is 2,500. The venue is noted for its acoustics and for being "one of the most attended venues for entertainment in the

Texas Coastal Bend The Texas Coastal Bend, or just the Coastal Bend, is a geographical region in the US state of Texas. The name refers to the area being a curve along the Texas Gulf Coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The largest city of the Coastal Bend is Corpus Chri ...

area".

American Bank Center Convention Center

First opened in 1980 as the Bayfront Plaza Convention Center, it underwent renovation and was renamed American Bank Center Convention Center in November 2004. The convention center consists of five exhibits halls, two ballrooms and 21 meeting rooms. The main ballroom is called the Henry Garrett Ballroom. The South Texas Oilfield Expo was one of the largest patrons of the convention center in 2012.

Events

Professional wrestling

On May 31, 2015, WWE hosted that year's edition of their

Elimination Chamber The Elimination Chamber is a professional wrestling elimination-based match held in the WWE. The match was created by Triple H, and introduced by Eric Bischoff in November 2002. It features a large chain-linked circular steel structure which ...

pay-per-view event. In 2019, the arena hosted the December 18 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 ...

''. EliteXC: Renegade was held at the arena in 2007 and

WEC 39 ''WEC 39: Brown vs. Garcia'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on March 1, 2009 in Corpus Christi, Texas. The event aired live on the Versus Network. WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Brown made hi ...

in 2009.

Chris Benoit double-murder and suicide

In 2007, the arena was the site for a controversial event in the

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

. The same day as the scheduled ''

Monday Night Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Netflix. The show features character ...

'' taping, professional wrestler

Chris Benoit Christopher Michael Benoit ( ; May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He worked for various pro-wrestling promotions during his 22-year career, but is notorious for Chris Benoit double-murd ...

along with his wife and son were found dead, with the promotion running a tribute show while being unaware of the horrific circumstances surrounding the deaths until the show almost ended.

References

American Bank CenterDate when arena openedAmerican Bank Center requires bigger deposit than originally thought
{{Authority control 1967 establishments in Texas College basketball venues in Texas Mixed martial arts venues in Texas Sports venues completed in 1967 Sports venues in Corpus Christi, Texas Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Islanders basketball Ice hockey venues in Texas