CenturyLink Center (Bossier City)

The CenturyLink Center[4] (formerly CenturyTel Center and Bossier City Arena) is a 14,000-seat multi-purpose arena, in Bossier City, Louisiana. The naming rights were purchased by the telephone company CenturyLink of Monroe, Louisiana in 2010.

This article is about the arena in Louisiana. For the arena in Omaha, Nebraska that formerly had a similar name, see CHI Health Center Omaha.
CenturyLink Center
Former namesBossier City Arena (2000)
CenturyTel Center (2000–2010)
Location2000 CenturyTel Center Drive
Bossier City, Louisiana 71112
OwnerCity of Bossier City
OperatorSMG
Capacity14,000 (concerts)
12,440 (hockey)
SurfaceMulti-surface
Construction
Broke groundMarch 30, 1999[1]
OpenedNovember 2, 2000[2]
Construction cost$56.5 million
($83.9 million in 2019 dollars[3])
ArchitectAE Design Group
Structural engineerWalter P Moore
General contractorRoy Anderson Corp.
Tenants
Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (CHL) (2000–2011)
Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings (af2/AFL) (2004–2010)

Opened in 2000 during the administration of then Bossier City Mayor George Dement, the center is among several projects financed in part from revenues derived from three casinos in the city.[5]

The center was home to the Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings AFL team and the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs CHL team.

It hosted the Southland Conference men's basketball tournament in 2001. In 2011, the CenturyLink Center with the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters hosted 1st and 2nd-round games for the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament including the first two games of eventual champion Texas A&M.

On September 28, 2002, the NHL came to the arena, for a pre-season game, between the Nashville Predators and Atlanta Thrashers.

On January 14, 2007, the CHL All-Star game was played at the arena, for the first time ever, hosted by the Mudbugs.

On October 24, 2014, CLC held an NBA preseason game between the New Orleans Pelicans and Dallas Mavericks.

In December 2014, the Bossier City Council once again rejected pay increases for city employees as proposed by Mayor Lo Walker. Columnist Jeffrey D. Sadow attributed the lack of municipal funds for such raises to the recurring high costs associated with the operation of CenturyLink, which cost $1,500 per resident, or $55.6 million, nearly $20 million more than had been anticipated by city officials. Through 2013, the city spent $5 million more to operate the center. Minor league sports teams, unable to survive, abandoned the CenturyLink. In 2013 alone, the city transferred $750,000 into CenturyLink and still ran a deficit of $200,000. Those costs could have funded the pay raises Walker proposed. Sadow proposes that the city sell CenturyLink at a loss so that it not become a permanent white elephant on municipal expenditures.[6]

On October 1, 2016, CLC held another NBA preseason game between the New Orleans Pelicans and Dallas Mavericks.

Concert history
A list of notable concerts held in the arena
Date Artist Tour Supporting act(s) Attendance Revenue Notes
December 2, 2000 Elton John Medusa Tour N/A This was the first major concert in the arena.
July 18, 2002 Britney Spears Dream Within a Dream Tour O-Town 12,232 $749,181 N/A
November 16, 2002 Cher Living Proof: The Farewell Tour Cyndi Lauper 11,610 $771,806
April 25, 2003 ZZ Top Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers Tour Ted Nugent 6,300 / 7,500 $248,850
February 5, 2005 Cher Living Proof: The Farewell Tour Village People 9,323 / 12,397 $508,529
March 8, 2006 Nickelback All the Right Reasons Tour N/A
March 3, 2007 Justin Timberlake FutureSex/LoveShow N/A
November 15, 2007 Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus Best of Both Worlds Tour Jonas Brothers N/A
September 10, 2009 Taylor Swift Fearless Tour Gloriana
Kellie Pickler		 N/A
September 19, 2009 Britney Spears The Circus Starring Britney Spears Kristinia DeBarge 10,240 $610,818
February 13, 2010 Martina McBride
Trace Adkins		 Shine All Night Tour N/A
September 20, 2011 Taylor Swift Speak Now World Tour Needtobreathe 11,510 $728,546
February 13, 2013 Kid Rock Rebel Soul Tour N/A
March 8, 2014 Luke Bryan That's My Kind of Night Tour Lee Brice
Cole Swindell		 12,292 $678,063
March 22, 2014 Elton John Follow the Yellow Brick Road Tour N/A N/A
November 15, 2014 Cher Dressed to Kill Tour Cancelled due to viral infection[7]
March 20, 2015 Miranda Lambert Platinum Tour Justin Moore
Danielle Bradbery		 N/A
May 20, 2015 Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour Vance Joy 12,459 $1,458,197 This show served as the opening night of the tour's North American leg.
July 29, 2015 Eagles History of the Eagles – Live in Concert N/A N/A
March 12, 2016 Luke Bryan Kill the Lights Tour Little Big Town
Dustin Lynch		 N/A
April 22, 2016 Carrie Underwood Storyteller Tour: Stories in the Round Easton Corbin
The Swon Brothers		 10,883 $737,228
March 12, 2017 Miranda Lambert Highway Vagabond Tour Old Dominion N/A
July 15, 2017 Paul McCartney One on One N/A
April 22, 2018 Foo Fighters Concrete and Gold Tour The Struts N/A
March 16, 2019 P!nk Beautiful Trauma World Tour Julia Michaels
KidCutUp		 N/A
September 7, 2019 KISS End of the Road World Tour David Garibaldi N/A
October 5, 2019 Miranda Lambert Roadside Bars & Pink Guitars Tour Maren Morris
Pistol Annies
Tenille Townes		 N/A
March 10, 2020 Cher Here We Go Again Tour Nile Rodgers
CHIC		 — — After this show, the remaining dates of the tour were postponed to later in the year due to COVID-19.[8]
August 29, 2020 Journey 2020 Tour Pretenders — — This show was canceled due to COVID-19.[9]
September 30, 2020 Def Leppard 20/20 Vision Tour ZZ Top — — N/A
October 1, 2020 Luke Bryan Proud to Be Right Here Tour Morgan Wallen
Runaway June		 — —
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See also

References
  1. "Arena Tops Builder's Resume Bossier City Picks Anderson For Huge Multipurpose Center". Sun Herald. April 1, 1999.
  2. http://www.mib.org/~lennier/hockey/graph.cgi
  3. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  4. "Bossier City Arena Getting a New Name" (Press release). CenturyLink. 22 June 2011. Archived from the original on 20 November 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  5. "Amanda Crane, "'Mr. Bossier' turns 91"". bossierpress.com. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
  6. Jeffrey D. Sadow (December 22, 2014). "Sadow: Bossier City Fiddles While Its Arena Burns Tax Dollars". The Hayride. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
  7. Gardner, Elysa. "Cher cancels remaining tour dates". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  8. Martoccio, Angie; Martoccio, Angie (2020-03-12). "Cher Postpones Here We Go Again Tour Due to Coronavirus". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  9. "Journey's 2020 Tour Canceled". Billboard. 2020-05-04. Retrieved 2020-05-22.

Preceded by
first arena		 Home of the Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings
2001–2010		 Succeeded by
New Orleans Arena as New Orleans VooDoo
Preceded by
MGM Grand Garden Arena		 Ultimate Fighting Championship venue
UFC 37		 Succeeded by
Bellagio


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