Toyota Center

Toyota Center is an indoor arena located in downtown Houston, Texas. It is named after the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. The arena is home to the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association, and it was once the home of the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey League.

This article is about the Houston, Texas, USA arena. For other uses, see Toyota Center (disambiguation).

Toyota Center

Exterior view of the Toyota Center
Toyota Center Location in Downtown Houston Show map of Houston Downtown Toyota Center Location in Texas Show map of Texas Toyota Center Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Address	1510 Polk Street
Location	Houston, Texas
Coordinates	29°45′3″N 95°21′44″W
Public transit	Bell
Owner	Harris County Houston Sports Authority
Operator	Clutch City Sports and Entertainment
Capacity	Basketball: 18,055 Concerts: 19,000
Construction
Broke ground	July 31, 2001
Opened	October 6, 2003
Construction cost	US$235 million ($327 million in 2019 dollars[1])
Architect	Populous (then HOK Sport)[2] Morris Architects John Chase Architects
Structural engineer	Walter P Moore[3]
Services engineer	Bovay Engineers, Inc.[4]
General contractor	Hunt Construction Group[5]
Tenants
Houston Rockets (NBA) (2003–present) Houston Aeros (AHL) (2003–2013) Houston Comets (WNBA) (2004–2007)
Website
http://www.houstontoyotacenter.com

Rockets owner Leslie Alexander first began to request a new arena in 1995, and attempted to release the Rockets from their lease at The Summit, which ran until 2003. However, he was denied by arena owner Chuck Watson, then-owner of the Aeros, who also wanted control of a new arena. The two sides agreed to equal control over an arena in a deal signed in 1997, but the proposal was rejected by city voters in a 1999 referendum. It was not until the city and the Rockets signed an amended agreement in 2001, excluding the Aeros, that the proposal was accepted.

Construction began in July 2001, and the new arena was officially opened in October 2003. The total costs were $235 million, with the city of Houston paying the majority, and the Rockets paying for enhancements. Toyota paid US$100 million for the naming rights.

History

The interior of the arena during a Rockets game, prior to 2012.

Opening tip in Game 7 of the 2018 NBA Western Conference Finals between the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors.

In May 1995, several Texas sports teams, including the Houston Rockets, proposed legislation that would dedicate state tax revenue to build new arenas.[6] Although the bill was failed in the Texas House of Representatives,[7][8] Rockets owner Leslie Alexander announced he would continue to study the possibility of constructing a new arena in downtown Houston,[9] saying the 20-year-old Summit arena was too outdated to be profitable.[10] Although the Summit's management said they could renovate the building for a small part of the cost of a new arena,[11] the Rockets began talks with the city of Houston on a possible location for an arena,[12] They also negotiated with Houston Aeros and Summit owner, Chuck Watson, to release them from their contract with the Summit, which ran until 2003.[13]

As the negotiations continued into 1996, a panel appointed by Houston mayor Bob Lanier reported that building a new arena was "essential to keep pro sports in Houston".[14] After Watson rejected a contract buyout proposal of $30 million,[15] the Rockets filed a legal challenge against their lease,[16] stating the "need to be able to buy out" of the lease.[17] However, the city of Houston filed a counterclaim to force the Rockets to stay at the Summit, saying that if the Rockets did not honor their contract, then they might "have no incentive to honor any new agreement with the city of Houston to play in a new downtown sports arena".[18] The validity of the lease was eventually upheld,[19] and in April 1997, Lanier announced that the Rockets and Watson would have to agree to share control of the new arena equally, or lose access to it altogether.[20] After both parties agreed to the terms,[21] a bill that authorized increased taxes to pay for a new arena was signed into law in July, by then-Governor George W. Bush.[22]

However, after the NHL decided not to consider Houston as a location for an expansion team because of the indecision over the new arena, Lanier said that he would not have a referendum in November.[23] The Rockets began an appeal in January 1998 against the court order to stay at the Summit,[24] but then dropped it in May, because they felt that a new arena would be ready by the time they finished their lease.[25] In January 1999, recently elected mayor Lee Brown guaranteed a referendum on the issue before the end of the year.[26] After several months negotiating with the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority, the Rockets finalized a deal to pay half of the constructions costs, and a referendum was set for November 2.[27] The deal was approved by Brown and the Houston City Council,[28] but Watson started an opposition group against the referendum,[29] saying the arena was "not in Houston's interest".[30] On November 3, the results of the referendum were announced, and the arena proposal was rejected by 54% of voters.[31] Alexander said "we never thought we would lose" and that they were "devastated by the loss".[31]

After the vote, NBA commissioner David Stern said "if there's not a new building...I think it's certain that the team will be relocated."[32] The Houston Sports Authority had not planned to meet with the Rockets until after the 1999–2000 NBA season ended, but after the Rockets began to talk to other cities about relocation, they resumed talks in February 2000.[33] Although the Rockets continued to negotiate with Louisville, Kentucky,[34] a funding plan for the arena in Houston was released in June.[35] A final agreement was proposed on July 6,[36] and both the Rockets and mayor Brown agreed to the terms.[37][38] After the city council approved the deal,[39] the proposal was placed on the November referendum ballot.[40] Leading up to the vote, the Rockets stressed that there would be "no new taxes of any kind",[41] although opponents said the new arena would raise energy consumption, and also contended that the public would pay for too much of the costs of the arena.[42] Contributions for the campaign for the arena included donations of US$400,000 from Reliant Energy, and a total of $590,000 in loans and contributions from Enron and Ken Lay,[43] who the Rockets said was a "tireless" force in the campaign.[44] On November 8, the arena was approved by 66% of voters.[45]

Construction

the back side of Toyota Center.

Toyota's logo is seen on the roof of the arena.

Toyota Center Tundra Parking Garage

According to the agreement signed, the city of Houston bought the land for the arena and an adjoining parking garage,[46] which was near the George R. Brown Convention Center,[47] and paid for it by selling bonds and borrowing $30 million.[48][49] Morris Architects, designed the 750,000-square-foot (70,000 m²) building, and Hunt Construction was contracted to build the arena.[50] A building formerly owned by Houston Lighting and Power Company was demolished to make way for the arena, and two streets were closed for the duration of the construction.[51] A groundbreaking ceremony was held on July 31, 2001,[52] and construction continued for 26 months.[51]

At the request of Alexander, the arena was built 32 feet (9.8 m) below street level, so fans would not have to walk up stairs to reach their seats.[50] To sink the arena, $12 million was spent to excavate 31,500 cubic yards (24,100 m³) of dirt over four months,[51] which was the largest excavation in Houston history.[53] Concrete was poured for the foundation throughout the summer of 2002, and structural work began in October. The roof was set on in December, as work continued inside, with a peak workforce of 650. In September 2003, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to mark the official opening of the arena.[51] The total cost of construction was $235 million, with the city paying $182 million, and the Rockets adding $43 million for additions and enhancements.[54]

Arena interior

The arena can seat 18,104 for a basketball game, 17,800 for ice hockey games, and 19,300 for concerts.[48] The prices for courtside seats to a Rockets game in the new arena were raised by as much as 50% compared to prices in the team's old home, while upper-deck seat prices were lowered.[55]

It has 103 luxury suites and 2,900 club seats (Sections 105–109, Frost Bank West Club; Sections 118–122, Frost Bank East Club). The Rockets East & West Clubs feature upscale concessions, extra wide seats, full private bar featuring premium wine and beverage selections and concierge service.[56] The adjacent 2,500-space Toyota Tundra garage is connected to the arena by a private skybridge that can be accessed by Suite, Court-side and Club Seat holders.[57]

Additionally, the floor level features three separate private club lounges for access from court-side seat holders and floor seat concert goers. Lexus Lounge and Golden Nugget Club are on the west side of the floor level and the Bogarts Platinum Lounge is located on the east side of the floor level.[58] All feature upscale amenities including multiple flat screen televisions, private bar, restrooms, and plush seating. The Lexus Lounge has its own pool tables and all three court-side lounges feature numerous private court-side suites.[59]

Toyota Center also features the Sterling Vineyards Red & White Wine Bistro, located on the lower suites level on the south side of the arena.[60] The restaurant features a huge dining room, private bar, two twin 1,500 bottle wine towers and views of the arena floor.

Levy Restaurants manages concession services at the arena, and offers fast food on the main concourses, while also catering a VIP restaurant for Suite and Club Seat holders.[61] Alexander personally chose colors for the restaurant to help customers feel "warm and comfortable", and Rockets president George Postolos said that the Rockets looked "for a relationship with the people that attend events in our venue".[53] Originally, a 40 feet (12 m) by 32 feet (9.8 m) centerhung video system from Daktronics, which has four main replay screens and eight other full-color displays, hung from the ceiling of the arena, and had the highest-resolution display of any North American sports facility. In 2012, the Toyota Center installed a larger, 4 panel scoreboard, similar to the one installed at AT&T Stadium, measuring 58 feet (18 m) by 25 feet (7.6 m) on the sidelines, and 25 feet (7.6 m) by 25 feet (7.6 m) on the ends, making it the largest such video board in an indoor arena. This larger scoreboard was installed by Panasonic and made its debut during the Houston Rockets 2012–13 season opener. The arena has two additional displays located at each end of the court, and a "state-of-the-art" audio system.[53][62][63]

Another amenity new to the Toyota Center in the 2012–2013 season is Wi-Fi. Designed by SignalShare and implemented by OfficeConnect.net, the Wi-Fi network is deployed throughout the arena and allows high-speed internet access during events. Its implementation was timed to be ready for the NBA All-Star Game.[64][65]

Sponsorship

In July 2003, the arena was named the Toyota Center. The logo of the company was placed on the roof of the building, as well in other prominent places inside the arena, and the company was given "a dominant presence" in commercials shown during broadcasts of games played in the arena.[66] Toyota USA has satellite offices in Houston.

Seating capacity

The seating capacity for basketball games has been as follows:[67]

Years	Capacity
2003–2007	17,982
2007–2012	18,430
2012–2014	18,230
2014–2015	18,104
2015–present	18,055

Events

The arena's first event was a Fleetwood Mac concert on October 6, 2003, and the first Rockets game at the Toyota Center was against the Denver Nuggets on October 30.[68]

Concerts

Many concerts have also taken place in the Toyota Center, like Prince, Tool, Duran Duran on their Astronaut tour, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Tina Turner, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Gloria Estefan, Shakira, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, Bruno Mars, Christina Aguilera, P!nk, Andrea Bocelli, Muse, High School Musical The Concert, Aerosmith, Guns N' Roses, Coldplay, RBD, Laura Pausini, Alanis Morissette, Matchbox Twenty, Fiona Apple, Nickelback, Depeche Mode, Bon Jovi, Enrique Iglesias, Katy Perry, Drake, Cher, Britney Spears, Kanye West and Jay-Z, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, The Rolling Stones, One Direction, Ariana Grande, Carrie Underwood, Rammstein, Adele, Lana Del Rey, G-Dragon, Panic! At The Disco, Garth Brooks with Trisha Yearwood, and many more.

On July 23, 2016, Hillsong UNITED performed in the arena to record their live album recording of Empires.

Date	Artist	Opening act(s)	Tour / Concert name	Attendance	Revenue	Notes
October 6, 2003	Fleetwood Mac	—	Say You Will Tour	11,790 / 14,158	$891,183	The arena's first event
February 26, 2004	Linkin Park	—	Meteora World Tour	—	—
August 6, 2004	Prince	—	Musicology Live 2004ever	31,504 / 31,504	$1,816,214
August 7, 2004
August 8, 2004	Gloria Estefan	—	Live & Re-Wrapped Tour	—	—
August 19, 2005	Green Day	—	American Idiot World Tour	—	—
August 20, 2005	Destiny's Child	—	Destiny Fulfilled... and Lovin' It	—	—
February 20, 2005	Duran Duran	—	The Astronaut Tour	—	—
October 28, 2005	U2	Damian Marley	Vertigo Tour	17,002 / 17,002	$1,652,699
November 7, 2005	Depeche Mode	The Bravery	Touring the Angel	—	—
December 1, 2005	Rolling Stones	Los Lonely Boys	A Bigger Bang	15,251 / 15,251	$2,616,385
January 23, 2006	Aerosmith	Lenny Kravitz	Rockin' the Joint Tour	—	—
February 21, 2006	Bon Jovi	—	Have a Nice Day Tour	12,723 / 12,723	$800,988
July 23, 2006	Marc Anthony Laura Pausini Marco Antonio Solís	—	Juntos en concierto 2006	—	—	[69][70]
August 25, 2006	Nickelback	Hoobastank Chevelle	All the Right Reasons Tour	—	—
September 19, 2006	Shakira	—	Oral Fixation Tour	—	—
December 18, 2006	High School Musical Cast featuring Drew Seeley	Jordan Pruitt	High School Musical: The Concert	12,416 / 12,811	$638,822	This concert was recorded for a CD/DVD package of the same name. The live version of "Start of Something New" was recorded for the album Radio Disney Jams Vol. 9.
February 20, 2007	Christina Aguilera	Pussycat Dolls Danity Kane	Back to Basics Tour	Unknown		[71][72]
March 7, 2007	Red Hot Chili Peppers	—	Stadium Arcadium World Tour	Unknown
July 14, 2007	Beyoncé	—	The Beyoncé Experience	Unknown
October 4, 2007	RBD	—	Tour Celestial	Unknown
November 11, 2007	Miley Cyrus Hannah Montana	Jonas Brothers	Best of Both Worlds Tour	Unknown
January 22, 2008	Foo Fighters	Against Me! Jimmy Eat World	Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace Tour	Unknown
October 21, 2008	Janet Jackson	LL Cool J DJ Playboy	Rock Witchu Tour	7,090 / 7,470	$548,039
October 27, 2008	Tina Turner	—	Tina!: 50th Anniversary Tour	11,950 / 11,950	$1,238,762
November 20, 2008	Metallica	Down The Sword	World Magnetic Tour	17,962 / 17,962	$1,168,463	Set attendance record for a concert held at the arena.[73]
March 30, 2009	Britney Spears	—	The Circus Starring Britney Spears	16,604 / 16,604	$1,749,704
April 16, 2009	Nickelback	Seether Saving Abel	Dark Horse Tour	—	—
July 4, 2009	Beyoncé	Pussycat Dolls RichGirl	I Am... World Tour	13,130 / 13,130	$1,158,361
August 8, 2009	Green Day	Franz Ferdinand	21st Century Breakdown World Tour	—	—
September 24, 2009	P!nk	—	Funhouse Tour	8,563 / 8,563	$393,197
May 25, 2010	Taylor Swift	Gloriana Kellie Pickler	Fearless Tour	23,493 / 23,493	$1,290,926
May 26, 2010
July 25, 2010	Lady Gaga	Semi Precious Weapons	The Monster Ball Tour	—	—
July 26, 2010
October 8, 2010	Shakira	—	The Sun Comes Out World Tour	—	—
October 19, 2010	Gorillaz	N.E.R.D.	Escape to Plastic Beach Tour	—	—
November 6, 2010	Justin Bieber	—	My World Tour	13,352 / 13,352	$467,082
March 3, 2011	Linkin Park	Paper Tongues	A Thousand Suns World Tour	—	—
May 17, 2011	Bon Jovi	—	Bon Jovi Live	15,787 / 15,787	$1,351,764
July 9, 2011	Rihanna	J. Cole K.T	Loud Tour	—	—
July 13, 2011	Britney Spears	—	Femme Fatale Tour	—	—
July 29, 2011	Katy Perry	Robyn DJ Skeet Skeet	California Dreams Tour	12,235 / 12,235	$511,777
December 5, 2011	Kanye West Jay-Z	—	Watch the Throne Tour	—	—
May 17, 2012	Drake	J. Cole Waka Flocka Flame Meek Mill 2 Chainz French Montana Chief Keef Lual Allstar	Club Paradise Tour	—	—	Drake would bring out Rick Ross to perform "Ima Boss" and "Stay Schemin'" with Meek Mill.
May 25, 2012	Rammstein	Joe Letz	Made in Germany 1995–2011	—	—
June 2, 2012	Nickelback	Seether My Darkest Days Bush	Here and Now Tour	—	—
July 30, 2012	Aerosmith	—	Global Warming Tour	—	—
August 26, 2012	Jennifer Lopez Enrique Iglesias	Frankie J	Dance Again World Tour	10,510 / 10,510	$865,460
October 20, 2012	Red Hot Chili Peppers	—	I'm with You World Tour	—	—
October 24, 2012	Madonna	Martin Solveig	The MDNA Tour	24,797 / 24,797	$4,390,355	This show was sold out in less than an hour.[74]
October 25, 2012
October 30, 2012	Justin Bieber	Carly Rae Jepsen	Believe Tour	13,084 / 13,084	$1,021,718
January 31, 2013	Lady Gaga	Madeon Lady Starlight	The Born This Way Ball Tour	—	—
February 21, 2013	P!nk	The Hives	The Truth About Love Tour	13,247 / 13,646	$1,067,357	[75]
March 12, 2013	Muse	Dead Sara	The 2nd Law World Tour	10,314 / 10,314	$632,620
May 16, 2013	Taylor Swift	Ed Sheeran Brett Eldredge	The Red Tour	12,467 / 12,467	$961,422
July 15, 2013	Beyoncé	Luke James	The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour	11,935 / 11,935	$1,320,925	*"Bow Down" was performed for the first time. During the beginning of the performance, images of Beyonce's dancers as children with the words "Bow Down" flashed across the screen appeared as sound bites of gossip reports were heard in the background. Beyoncé addressed many rumors surrounding her throughout her career including faking her pregnancy with daughter Blue Ivy Carter, before appearing on stage and beginning the song along with a choreography.[76][77]
July 21, 2013	One Direction	5 Seconds of Summer	Take Me Home Tour	—	—
August 15, 2013	Bruno Mars	Ellie Goulding	Moonshine Jungle Tour	13,425 / 13,425	$964,969
November 2, 2013	Selena Gomez	Emblem3 Christina Grimmie	Stars Dance Tour	—	—
November 13, 2013	Drake	—	Would You Like a Tour?	—	—	Drake performed "November 18th".[78]
November 14, 2013	Rihanna	ASAP Rocky	Diamonds World Tour	12,610 / 12,610	$1,013,001	This concert was originally scheduled to take place on April 15, but was postponed due to sickness.[79]
February 19, 2014	Demi Lovato	Fifth Harmony Little Mix	The Neon Lights Tour	—	—
March 16, 2014	Miley Cyrus	Icona Pop Sky Ferreira	Bangerz Tour	Unknown		[80]
March 24, 2014	Cher	Pat Benatar Neil Giraldo	Dressed to Kill Tour	11,641 / 11,641	$1,271,089	[81]
March 25, 2014	Tool	—	—	—
July 16, 2014	Lady Gaga	Lady Starlight Crayon Pop	ArtRave: The Artpop Ball	11,410 / 11,410	$967,441	[82]
October 10, 2014	Katy Perry	Becky G Ferras	Prismatic World Tour	24,268 / 24,268	$2,692,788
October 11, 2014
June 26, 2015 (2 shows)	Garth Brooks with Trisha Yearwood	—	World Tour	—	—	[83]
June 27, 2015 (2 shows)
July 3, 2015 (2 shows)
July 4, 2015 (2 shows)
September 18, 2015	Ariana Grande	Prince Royce Who Is Fancy	The Honeymoon Tour	9,939 / 10,124	$557,714	Grande performed a mash-up of One Last Time and Justin Bieber's "What Do You Mean?".
December 1, 2015	Muse	Phantogram	Drones World Tour	7,482 / 11,224	$551,820
January 14, 2016	Tool	Primus 3Teeth	2016 North America Tour	—
April 9, 2016	Justin Bieber	Post Malone Moxie Raia	Purpose World Tour	12,868 / 12,868	$1,407,652
April 25, 2016	Carrie Underwood	Easton Corbin The Swon Brothers	Storyteller Tour: Stories in the Round	9,684 / 10,624	$677,934	This concert was supposed to take place on April 19, but was rescheduled due to severe weather.[84]
May 15, 2016	Rihanna	Travis Scott	Anti World Tour	10,427 / 11,105	$1,136,742	This concert was originally scheduled to take place on March 5, but was postponed due to "production delays".[85]
June 15, 2016	Selena Gomez	DNCE Bea Miller	Revival Tour	—	—
September 3, 2016	Drake Future	Roy Wood$ dvsn	Summer Sixteen Tour	24,507 / 24,507	$3,352,284	Drake performed "Draped Up" & "Get Throwed" with Bun B and also performed "A Milli" & "Steady Mobbin" with Lil Wayne at the 2nd show. He performed "November 18th" at both shows.
September 4, 2016
September 9, 2016	Demi Lovato Nick Jonas	Mike Posner	Future Now Tour	—	—	Jonas performed "A Little Bit Longer" in place of "Chainsaw".
November 8, 2016	Adele	—	Adele Live 2016	25,577 / 25,577	$3,032,246
November 9, 2016
January 7, 2017	Red Hot Chili Peppers	Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue Jack Irons	The Getaway World Tour	12,615 / 12,615	$1,133,116
March 5, 2017	Green Day	Against Me!	Revolution Radio Tour	11,111 / 11,381	$609,263	[86]
April 1, 2017	Panic! At The Disco	Misterwives and Saint Motel	Death of a Bachelor Tour	12,040 / 12,040	$629,559
April 8, 2017	Ariana Grande	Victoria Monét Little Mix	Dangerous Woman Tour	10,324 / 11,548	$901,670
July 19, 2017	G-Dragon	—	Act III: M.O.T.T.E World Tour	5,708 / 7,796	$789,233
August 5, 2017	Queen + Adam Lambert	—	Queen + Adam Lambert Tour 2017–2018	9,260 / 9,260	$1,034,567	[87]
September 9, 2017	Janet Jackson	—	State of the World Tour	10,789 / 11,872	$879,536	Proceeds from the concert were donated to relief efforts supporting evacuees of Hurricane Harvey.[88][89][90]
October 24, 2017	Bruno Mars	Jorja Smith	24K Magic World Tour	13,529 / 13,529	$1,805,759
November 10, 2017	Guns N' Roses	—	Not in This Lifetime... Tour	10,523 / 10,523	$1,652,912	Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top was the special guest.[91][92]
January 7, 2018	Katy Perry	Carly Rae Jepsen	Witness: The Tour	9,655 / 10,432	$1,139,385
February 10, 2018	Lana Del Rey	Kali Uchis	LA to the Moon Tour	9,202 / 11,143	$868,366
March 23, 2018	Bon Jovi	Hold On Hollywood	This House Is Not for Sale Tour	13,629 / 14,372	$1,299,066
June 7, 2018	Harry Styles	Kacey Musgraves	Harry Styles: Live On Tour	14,238	$1,163,261
June 9, 2018	Shania Twain	Bastian Baker	Shania Now Tour	10,118 / 10,118	$966,244
August 3, 2018	Panic! At The Disco	A R I Z O N A Hayley Kiyoko	Pray for the Wicked Tour	12,496 / 12,496	$791,109
August 22, 2018	Shakira	Salva	El Dorado World Tour	11,085 / 11,467	$1,486,730
November 6, 2018	Twenty One Pilots	Awolnation Max Frost	The Bandito Tour	11,503 / 11,503	$825,217
December 8, 2018	Elton John	—	Farewell Yellow Brick Road	25,794/25,794	$3,958,024
December 9, 2018
January 22, 2019	Justin Timberlake	Francesco Yates	Man of the Woods Tour	10,358/10,358	$1,322,979
January 28, 2019	Disturbed	Three Days Grace	Evolution World Tour	—	—
February 5, 2019	Fleetwood Mac	—	An Evening with Fleetwood Mac	—	—
February 22, 2019	Muse	Walk The Moon	Simulation Theory World Tour	TBA	TBA
March 19, 2019	Pink	Julia Michaels KidCutUp	Beautiful Trauma World Tour	—	—
March 26, 2019	Michael Bublé	—	An Evening with Michael Bublé	11,285/11,285	$1,479,292
April 27, 2019	Hillsong United	—	The People Tour MMXIX	—	—
May 15, 2019	New Kids on the Block	Salt-N-Pepa Naughty by Nature Front Line Assembly Debbie Gibson	Mixtape Tour	—	—
May 19, 2019	Ariana Grande	Normani Social House	Sweetener World Tour	12,483/12,483	$1,602,420
June 18, 2019	Hugh Jackman	—	The Man. The Music. The Show.	10,648 / 10,648	$1,041,486	[93]
June 21, 2019	Twenty One Pilots	Bear Hands	The Bandito Tour	11,503 / 11,503	$825,217
June 25, 2019	Jennifer Lopez	—	It's My Party	12,586 / 12,586	$1,666,656
July 18, 2019	Khalid	Clairo	Free Spirit World Tour	—	—
July 24, 2019	Queen + Adam Lambert	—	The Rhapsody Tour	12,653 / 12,653	$1,655,322
July 25, 2019	Shawn Mendes	Alessia Cara	Shawn Mendes: The Tour	—	—
August 10, 2019	Cody Johnson	Jerry Jeff Walker Cory Morrow Jesse Raub Jr.	—	—	—
August 18, 2019	Pepe Aguilar	Unknown			—
August 31, 2019	Backstreet Boys	Baylee Littrell	DNA World Tour	12,305 / 12,588	$1,311,015
September 21, 2019	Carrie Underwood	Maddie & Tae Runaway June	Cry Pretty Tour 360	12,069 / 12,069	$805,197
October 10, 2019	Billie Eilish	Duckwrth	When We All Fall Asleep World Tour	11,506	$1,227,586
December 15, 2019	Cher	Nile Rodgers CHIC	Here We Go Again Tour	11,640	$1,518,495
February 1, 2020	Celine Dion	N/A	Courage World Tour	11,569	$2,127,052
September 13, 2021	Harry Styles	Jenny Lewis	Love On Tour	TBA	TBA

Other sports

In 2007, 2011, 2013, and 2015, it played host to a UFC event.[94]

Event	Date	Attendance
UFC 69	Saturday, April 7, 2007	15,269
UFC 136	Saturday, October 8, 2011	16,164
UFC 166	Saturday, October 19, 2013	17,238
UFC 192	Saturday, October 3, 2015	14,622

On August 21, 2010, it played host to Strikeforce: Houston.[95]

On February 19, 2016, it played host to Bellator MMA event Bellator 149: Shamrock vs. Gracie III. The event featured a double main event featuring heavyweights Kimbo Slice vs. Dada 5000, and light heavyweights Ken Shamrock vs. Royce Gracie. Bellator 149 had a live attendance record of 14,209 and a near $1.4 million gate at the Toyota Center, thus making Bellator 149 the largest attended show in Bellator MMA history.

WWE hosted their annual pay-per-view event Elimination Chamber on February 17, 2019, in Toyota Center.[96] and Survivor Series on November 19, 2017.

Other events

The arena hosted the 9th Annual Latin Grammy Awards on November 13, 2008.

Passion Conferences has been held in the Toyota Center since 2014. The conference draws around 20,000 people with multiple other gatherings held in Atlanta.

On September 30, 2016, the arena hosted the Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions.[97]

Gabriel Iglesias' Netflix special "One Show Fits All" was filmed in the Toyota Center in 2019.

Attendance records

In its first year, the total attendance for events at the arena exceeded 1.5 million. The current attendance for a concert held at the arena was set on November 20, 2008, when Metallica played to a sold-out crowd of 17,962 during the Death Magnetic tour. The record for a basketball game is 18,583, set on March 26, 2010, when the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Rockets 109–101.[98]

Awards and recognitions

The arena was the winner of the Allen Award for Civic Enhancement by Central Houston, the "Rookie of the Year" award by the Harlem Globetrotters, and a finalist for Pollstar Magazine's "Best New Concert Venue" award.[57]

See also

• List of sports venues with the name Toyota

References

1. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved January 1, 2020.
2. Toyota Center architect: Populous
3. Emporis.com – Toyota Center
4. "Houston Toyota Center". Bovay Engineers, Inc. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
5. Rockets Launch a New Era At Toyota Center
6. Williams, John (May 2, 1995). "Backers Take another Run at Stadium". Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved March 13, 2009.
7. Williams, John (May 3, 1995). "Senate Passes Sports Subsidy". Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved March 13, 2009.
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External links

• Toyota Center Homepage

Events and tenants
Preceded by Compaq Center	Home of the Houston Rockets 2003 – present	Succeeded by current
Preceded by Compaq Center	Home of the Houston Aeros 2003–2013	Succeeded by Wells Fargo Arena (as Iowa Wild)
Preceded by Compaq Center	Home of the Houston Comets 2003–2007	Succeeded by Reliant Arena
Preceded by Pepsi Center Amway Center	Host of the NBA All-Star Game 2006 2013	Succeeded by Thomas & Mack Center New Orleans Arena