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Sbc CenterThe SBC Center is an indoor arena located in San Antonio, Texas. It was completed in 2002 at a cost of $186 million, financed by a local sales tax. The arena is home to the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA and the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL in the winter-spring, the San Antonio Silver Stars of the WNBA in the summer, and the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo in February. It seats 18,500 for basketball and 13,000 for ice hockey. The stadium includes 50 luxury suites. Naming rights were paid for by SBC Communications. SBC Center Origins Previously, the Spurs played at the Alamodome, a facility constructed primarily as a football stadium, but with a configuration that allowed for half the floor space to be used for basketball. Though the Alamodome was still relatively new, having opened in 1993, it had become clear over the years that the Spurs were using the arena for much of the year, meaning that it could not be used for conventions and football games. Moreover, the Spurs and many Spurs fans became unhappy with the facility because the cavernous nature of being primarily a football stadium differentiated it from most other NBA facilities, including the Spurs' previous experience in the more compact HemisFair Arena. Additionally, since the Alamodome opened, there had been a plethora of new arena construction including facilities such as Conseco Fieldhouse which in addition to offering an intimate atmosphere offered teams several new revenue generating opportunities including suites located on the lower levels as well as large club seating areas. The Spurs campaigned for several years for a new facility and eventually partnered with the Bexar County government to work on a project which was essentially a joint project between the Spurs and the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo which was a large, multi-day event held at Freeman Coliseum. The proposed arena would be located near the existing Freeman Coliseum site and would be funded through a mix of tax increases on hotel and car rental taxes. Bexar County voters passed the referendum in November 1999. Coincidentally, the vote was held on the same day the Spurs received their NBA Championship rings for their title victory a season earlier. Construction Begins After the stadium referendum was passed, planning quickly began for construction on the new facility. Naming rights were obtained in July 2000 when agreement was reached with San Antonio-based SBC Communications to name the new arena the SBC Center. The agreement was reported to be for a total of $41 million over 20 years. Ground was officially broken on the facility in August 2000. The arena's design was similar to many of the other newer arenas in the NBA, in no small part to the choice of Kansas City-based Ellerbe Beckett as the primary architects. Ellerbe Becket was responsible for the Conseco Fieldhouse design as well as the Washington Wizards' MCI Center. New Facility, New Title The Spurs began playing at the SBC Center during the 2002-2003 NBA season, a season which saw the team win their second NBA Championship, defeating the New Jersey Nets in six games.
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