TD Garden
"The Garden"
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Former names |
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Address | 100 Legends Way |
Location | Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Coordinates | 42°21′58.69″N 71°3′44.02″W / 42.3663028°N 71.0622278°W |
Public transit | Amtrak:
Downeaster
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Owner | Delaware North Companies |
Operator | Delaware North |
Capacity |
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Surface | Various |
Construction | |
Broke ground | April 29, 1993 |
Opened | September 30, 1995 |
Renovated | 2006, 2009, 2014, 2019 |
Construction cost |
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Architect | Morse Diesel International[6] |
Tenants | |
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Website | |
tdgarden |
TD Garden is a multi-purpose
TD Garden is the home arena for the
Besides sporting events, the TD Garden has also served as a concert venue for numerous nationally touring acts in music and comedy.
The naming rights deal for the arena is scheduled to continue through June 30, 2045, with TD Bank and Delaware North extending the agreement on January 12, 2023.[9]
History
Planning
As early as the late 1970s, the Bruins were looking for a new arena. The
In 1985, Boston Garden owner Delaware North was awarded the rights to construct a new arena by the Boston Redevelopment Authority and Mayor Raymond Flynn. However, poor economic conditions delayed the project.[12][13]
On May 8, 1992, Delaware North announced that it had secured funding for a new arena in the form of $120 million worth of loans evenly split between
Construction
Construction began on April 29, 1993. Though the new arena was intended to be situated slightly north of the old facility, there were only nine inches (23 cm) of space between the two buildings when construction was completed.[18] The site for the new arena occupied 3.2 acres (13,000 m2) and eventually cost $160 million. Construction was completed in 27 months, including seven weeks of delay caused by heavy snowfall.[18]
Opening
On the evening of September 29, 1995, a farewell event was held in the old Boston Garden hosted by
The following night, opening ceremonies were held at the FleetCenter, including performances by the Boston Pops, Walt Disney's World on Ice, Olympic figure skaters Nancy Kerrigan and Paul Wylie, and musical acts James Taylor, Patti LaBelle and US3.[20]
The Boston Bruins played their first game in the new arena on October 7, a 4–4 tie with the New York Islanders.[21] The Boston Celtics lost their first game at the FleetCenter by a score of 101–100 to the Milwaukee Bucks on November 3.[22]
Naming
TD Gardens is named after its sponsor, TD Bank, a subsidiary of the Canada's Toronto-Dominion Bank. During the construction phase, the naming rights to the "New Garden" were sold to Boston-based Shawmut Bank, and the arena was originally slated to open as the Shawmut Center. However, just as the arena was being completed, Shawmut merged with Fleet Financial Group, forcing every seat in the arena, which had all been stamped with the Shawmut logo, to be replaced. The interior color scheme also had to be adjusted from Shawmut's darker blue to Fleet's marginally lighter blue.[23]
The name of the arena was expected to change as a result of the April 1, 2004 merger of
In early 2005, while still searching for a long-term corporate sponsor, the FleetCenter conducted auctions on eBay to sell one-day naming rights.[25] From February 10 to March 13, the FleetCenter sold the naming rights 30 different times. The net proceeds of $150,633.22 generated during the auction were donated to charities in the greater Boston area. The FleetCenter also made private arrangements with a few companies for one-day naming rights, and offered one-day rights in an employee raffle.
During the name auction, only twice were names reported to have been rejected. Kerry Konrad, a New York City lawyer and Yankees fan, won naming rights for March 1 with a bid of $2,300. He proposed the name "Derek Jeter Center" after the New York Yankees shortstop, a stab at fellow Harvard College alumnus and Boston Red Sox fan Jerry Rappaport Jr., with whom he had a 25-year-old rivalry. With the arena located in the home city of the Red Sox, the name did not sit well with the executives and was rejected. An agreement was reached in which Rappaport added $6,300 for a total bid of $8,600, representing the 86 years of the Curse of the Bambino, and named the arena "New Boston Garden, Home of the Jimmy Fund Champions". Fark.com founder Drew Curtis held a contest on his website to name the arena after he bought single-day rights. A user vote resulted in the name of "Fark.com UFIA Center", but the name was rejected because of its inappropriate meaning. The name eventually selected by Curtis and company was "Boston Garden".
- Including its present name, the TD Garden has had 33 different names.
- Celtics players dubbed it "The Jungle" during the team's 2002 playoff run.
In April 2008, TD Banknorth became TD Bank, after a merger with Commerce Bancorp, a New Jersey–based bank. Owner Delaware North Companies announced on April 15, 2009, that the building would be renamed TD Garden in July 2009.[26][27]
Delaware North and TD Bank announced the extension of the naming rights deal on January 12, 2023, with the rights now extending until June 30, 2045, which would keep the arena's name stable for forty years. The same agreement also saw TD Bank extend their helmet advertising rights for the Bruins acquired at the start of the 2020-21 NHL season, until the end of the 2044-45 NHL season.[9]
Renovations
Before the 2006–2007 season, the TD Garden underwent a major overhaul, installing a new
On January 25, 2013, during a Celtics vs. Knicks game at the Garden, television announcer Marv Albert accused the TD Garden production crew for being one of those arenas that "constantly" use fake sound effects to intensify the crowd reactions on nationally televised games (which is very similar to "sweetening" on television); however, the official Twitter account of the Boston Celtics stated that the Celtics have never used artificial crowd noise.[29] Following their 2011 Stanley Cup Finals win, the Bruins changed their previous Stanley Cup banners to reflect the changes in the team's main jersey logo through time during their past five Cup wins, as the logo adorns the 2011 Cup win's banner.[30]
Just before the
Before the 2021–22 NHL season, TD Garden underwent more renovations, adding a new jumbotron, along with a new audio system. The new jumbrotron, dubbed the "Hub Vision" has capabilities to go over 4K resolution, and it now has the highest resolution of the NHL and NBA. The main replay screen sizes are almost double of the old ones, at 18 feet by 32.5 feet wide. Unlike the old jumbotron, Hub Vision now has 4 underbelly screens which measure at 6.5 feet tall by 23 feet wide to cater to those sitting in the first few rows. Above the main boards, are 2 new ring displays. Each ring is 3.5 feet tall, and has a circumference of 179 feet. Hub Vision only has 2 rings above the main screens, unlike the old jumbotron with 2 at the top, and one at the bottom. TD Garden partnered with Clair Global Integration to add Cohesion Series CO10 loudspeakers to help improve the sound system.
This renovation was an extension of TD Garden's Legendary Transformation, which was a $100 million investment from the Jeremy Jacobs family.[32]
Use
Among the non-sporting events hosted by the Garden are concerts, shows, graduations, seminars, Disney on Ice, the circus, and commencement exercises for Northeastern University.
Sports
The arena is primarily the home venue for the
From March 28 to April 3, 2016, TD Garden hosted the 2016 World Figure Skating Championships.[33]
Eddie Palladino is the public address announcer for Celtics games, while Steve Forni is the public address announcer for Bruins games. Jim Martin is the former PA announcer for the Bruins as he formerly served for them between 1992 and 2020. Ron Poster is the arena organist.
As the former Boston Garden had from 1954 through 1995 - and the still-standing
High school championships and tournaments for the
TD Garden is one of two NBA arenas (along with
A traditional floor was used in the 2006 NCAA Women's Final Four, the 2009 NCAA Men's East Regional and the 2018 NCAA Men's East Regional (NCAA rules require a special NCAA-specification floor be used for all tournament games). While not yet confirmed, it is likely that the 2024 NCAA Men's East Regional will also use a traditional floor. When the 2012 NCAA Men's East Regional was held at TD Garden, a maple parquet floor was used with the same NCAA-specific design.
In 2021, TD Garden hosted the
Boxing
Ricky Hatton began his 'American dream' here on May 13, 2006, he stepped up to welterweight to fight WBA world champion Luis Collazo.
Gymnastics
On November 13, 2016, the arena hosted the Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions.[38]
Mixed martial arts
In August 2010, the TD Garden hosted UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn 2, which was the first time that the UFC held an event in Boston.[39] UFC president Dana White confirmed that the UFC would return to The Garden on August 17, 2013.[40][41] The TD Garden hosted UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen, the launch of the new Fox Sports 1 cable channel, on August 17, 2013. This was the second UFC event to take place at the TD Garden. The UFC returned on January 18, 2015, for UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Siver,[42] and again on January 17, 2016, for UFC Fight Night: Dillashaw vs. Cruz.[43] On January 20, 2018, the TD Garden hosted UFC 220: Miocic vs. Ngannou.[44] On October 18, 2019, the arena hosted UFC on ESPN: Reyes vs. Weidman.[45] On August 19, 2023, the TD Garden hosted UFC 292: Sterling vs. O'Malley.[46]
Concerts
In film
The TD Garden has been seen/mentioned in movies such as The Town (2010), Knight and Day (2010), Zookeeper (2011), What's Your Number?[47] (2011) and Ted (2012).
Other events
Comedians such as Bill Burr, Denis Leary, Chris Rock and Louis C.K., among many others, have all performed at the TD Garden during their nationwide tours. Dane Cook did two sellout shows.
From July 26 to 29, 2004, the TD Garden (then the FleetCenter) was the host of the
The Hub on Causeway
In May 2013,
Community fundraising controversy
In the spring of 2017, a group of local teenagers from the Hyde Square Task Force group investigated the terms of TD Garden's original development agreement, and concluded that its owners had never satisfied a legal requirement to host three fundraisers a year to benefit the agency that oversees Boston's recreational facilities.[49] By mid-August 2017, the Massachusetts governor at the time of the TD Garden's original construction, Bill Weld, reminded Jeremy Jacobs about the deal he had made with the state's government in 1993 concerning the agreement.[16] As a result, in August 2017, the TD Garden agreed to pay the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation nearly $2 million.[50]
Features
Statue
In May 2010, a bronze statue of Bruins defenseman Bobby Orr, in a flying pose celebrating "The Goal", was unveiled outside the stadium.[51]
Museum
Located in TD Garden is
Facilities
Just as the Boston Garden was, the TD Garden is built on top of Boston's North Station, a major transportation hub. The Commuter Rail waiting area becomes crowded during events due to this design: the fans shared a relatively small area with commuters and several fast food concessions. (There is a concourse on the second floor which is about the same size as the former main ground floor concourse, but this is utilized only as an entryway for the arena.) Work finished on the expanded North Station concourse in early 2007. A new, larger, railway concourse gives railway passengers a waiting area which does not interfere with patrons entering or leaving the Garden.
Connections to the
Awards and recognitions
The arena has been recognized by many industry publications as one of the top arenas in the country. Arena industry publication Venues Today ranked the TD Garden as the No. 3 arena in the country for 2006. Additionally, the TD Garden has been recognized with the following recent awards and achievements:
- 2007 TD Garden selected as finalist for National Sports Forum Achievement Award
- 2008 TD Garden receives EPAAward
- 2009 Nominated for Sports Facility of the Year by Sports Business Journal[53]
See also
- Matthews Arena, formerly Boston Arena, the Bruins' original home rink, built in 1910 and still in use
- List of indoor arenas by capacity
References
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- ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ a b TD Garden Archived June 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine architect: Ellerbe Becket
- ^ "TD Banknorth Garden; Boston, Massachusetts". Upton & Partners. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
- ^ "Home LeMessurier".
- ^ "The Garden". TD Garden. Archived from the original on March 11, 2012. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
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- ^ Boston Globe. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
- ^ "Delaware North will not move to New Hampshire". The New York Times. June 24, 1981. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
- ^ Clauss, Kyle Scott (August 27, 2015). "Throwback Thursday: When the Celtics Almost Moved to Revere". Boston Magazine. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
- ^ "Boston Garden Owners Agree to Build New Boston Arena". Bangor Daily News. Associated Press. January 6, 1989. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
- ^ Ackerman, Jerry; Kindleberger, Richard (July 5, 1992). "Rowes Warfare". The Boston Globe.
- ^ Butterfield, Fox (May 8, 1992). "After Long Wait, New Boston Garden Planned". The New York Times. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
- ^ Butterfield, Fox (February 17, 1993). "Hopes for a New Boston Garden Dim With Political Quarreling". The New York Times. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
- ^ a b "Editorial - Bill Weld to TD Garden: Do the right thing". bostonglobe.com. Boston Globe. August 17, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
Bill Weld to Jeremy Jacobs: Do the right thing and live up to the agreement you made with the state of Massachusetts when you got the go-ahead to build a new Boston Garden...Back in 1993, then-governor Weld championed legislation that allowed Jacobs, the wealthy owner of the Garden and the Boston Bruins, to obtain air rights and property easements needed to build a new arena. The final product involved a flurry of last-minute horse-trading. That's how Chapter 15 — An Act Furthering the Establishment of a Multi-Purpose Arena and Transportation Center — came to include Section 7, a provision requiring Jacobs to "administer, produce, promote and sponsor no less than three charitable events per year at the New Boston Garden" and pay the net proceeds to the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC), now the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).
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- ^ Dupont, Kevin Paul (September 30, 1995). "FleetCenter Opening Ceremonies". The Boston Globe. p. 70.
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- ^ Kerber, Ross (April 1, 2008). "Commerce Bank & Trust Sues to Guard Mass. Identity". The Boston Globe. Retrieved August 30, 2010.
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- ^ Kerber, Ross (July 24, 2008). "Sports Arena Name is Still Up in the Air". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 2, 2009.
- ^ staffwriter. "Boston's TD Garden Set for 70 Million Upgrade". The Providence Journal. Archived from the original on August 20, 2014. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
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- ^ UNH GH (September 13, 2011). "Re: 2011 NHL Off-Season: The Puck Boat edition". USCHO Fan Forum. USCHO.com. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
- ^ McDonald, Joe (September 16, 2018). "Bruins give thumbs up to new lighting in TD Garden as preseason action begins". theathletic.com. The Athletic. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
Along with arenas in San Jose, Dallas, Tampa and Colorado, TD Garden added LED lighting in the offseason...Bruins captain Zdeno Chára said the changes were obvious as soon as the players took the ice.
- ^ "TD GARDEN DEBUTS NEW 'HUB VISION' | TD Garden". www.tdgarden.com. September 29, 2021. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
- ^ "2016 ISU World Figure Skating Championships Official Site". 2014. Archived from the original on October 8, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
- ^ a b Snow, Taylor (February 17, 2016). "Parquet Magazine: New Court, Old Flair". NBA.com. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
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- ^ "2016 Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions takes center stage beginning Sept. 15". usagym.org. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
- ^ Ryan, Bob (August 29, 2010). "Ultimately, This Sport is a Big Hit". The Boston Globe. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
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- ^ Staff (October 30, 2017). "UFC 220 set for Jan. 20 in Boston". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
- ^ "UFC Fight Night: Reyes vs. Weidman". ESPN. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
- ^ Mahjouri, Shakiel (August 20, 2023). "UFC 292 results, highlights: Sean O'Malley scores upset of Aljamain Sterling with blasting TKO, wins title". CBS Sports. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
- ^ "Anna Faris and Chris Evans Interview WHAT'S YOUR NUMBER?". Collider. September 27, 2011. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
- ^ Catherine Carlock (November 5, 2015). "Boston Properties clears major hurdle for ambitious Boston Garden project". Boston Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
- ^ "TD Garden owners agreed to hold fund-raisers for Boston — but they never have". Archived from the original on September 19, 2017.
- ^ Piper, Tim (August 4, 2017). "Boston's TD Garden pays $1.65M after not hosting fundraisers". WWLP. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
- ^ "Bruins: Bobby Orr statue unveiled".
- ^ Belcher, Jonathan (June 27, 2015). "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district 1964-2015" (PDF). NETransit. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
- ^ "About the TD Garden". TD Garden. Archived from the original on March 11, 2012. Retrieved February 1, 2013.