The Carolina Hurricanes call PNC Arena home which is around the average age of NHL arenas, being constructed in the late 1990’s. Unlike other NHL arenas it was not designed with the Hurricanes in mind, but rather focused around the NC State Wolfpack men’s basketball team.
Table of Contents
Arena Guide by Ice Hockey Tripper
History
This was during the peak times of the program with Jim Valvano who has an amazing story in his own right. However the entire arena was centered around them for basketball until 1997 when it was announced that it would be used to relocate the Hartford Whalers who had been losing popularity in the northeast. This only furthered the need for the arena and allowed for construction to begin in 1997 following this announcement. The construction was completed later that decade in 1999 and cost a total of $158 million. Of course, just like other arenas it went through many name changes until it came to the current name of PNC Arena.
As for some fun facts about the arena, on a daily basis it employs around 400 people per sporting event as a mixture of security and concession stand workers. The most fans in attendance occurred in 2019 with a record of 19,495 fans when the arena hosted a Hurricane playoff game for the first time that decade. It is safe to say that a majority of their other attendance records have also occurred during the playoff times, but with a majority of the records coming in 2019 alone. NC State basketball is not as popular as it once was, but they still host all of their games in the arena. The arena has also been used to film a television series known as One Tree Hill if you are familiar with that. This arena will certainly see even more history in its years to come.