Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Construction began in 1992 on a site previously occupied by the Central Market, a fruit and vegetable market dating back to 1856. Following voter approval of a sin tax in 1990, the arena opened with a Billy Joel concert on October 17, 1994, followed by the Cavaliers' first regular-season game there—a loss to the Houston Rockets—on November 8, 1994. The facility supplanted the Wolstein Center at Cleveland State University as the primary downtown athletic venue and replaced Richfield Coliseum for NBA play. In August 2005, Dan Gilbert purchased a majority of the Cavaliers and renamed the building Quicken Loans Arena, funding renovations that installed new wine-colored seats, state-of-the-art scoreboards, and upgraded security and locker rooms before the 2005–2006 season.

In Their Own Story

The arena's identity evolved significantly through name changes and tenant shifts. In May 2006, Gilbert purchased the inactive Utah Grizzlies franchise, moving them to the venue as the Lake Erie Monsters, who began play in the 2007–08 season before rebranding as the Cleveland Monsters in August 2016. The Las Vegas Gladiators of the Arena Football League also relocated there in October 2007, becoming the Cleveland Gladiators. In March 2017, the Cavaliers partnered with KultureCity to become the first NBA arena certified as "sensory inclusive," offering sensory bags and rooms for guests with autism spectrum disorders. The building underwent a major $185 million renovation finished in September 2019, which reduced basketball seating capacity from 20,562 to 19,432 by removing three upper-level sections.

Reader's Guide

Rocket Arena features three main seating levels with 2,000 club seats and 88 luxury suites. The ground-level concourse accesses the 100 level and 32 lower suites, while an upper concserve serves the 200 level. A club level connects these areas, offering access to 60 upper suites and an auxiliary gym used by the Cavaliers until 2007. For basketball, the arena seats 19,432; for hockey, it holds up to 18,926, though during most Monsters games, a large curtain covers the upper level, reducing capacity to 9,447. The main scoreboard, nicknamed "Humongotron," installed in October 2014 by ANC Sports Enterprises, is the fourth largest in the NBA. A massive 360-foot by 90-foot LED message board on the roof displays only the arena name or its sponsor unless approved otherwise.

Did You Know?

• The arena opened with a Billy Joel concert on October 17, 1994, just weeks before the Cavaliers played their first game there.
• It was the only NBA arena to host two NCAA Division I Women's Final Fours in 2007 and 2024 as of the source date.
• The building became the first in the NBA certified by KultureCity as "sensory inclusive" in March 2017.
• Seating capacity was reduced from 20,562 to 19,432 for basketball during a $185 million renovation completed in September 2019.
• The site previously hosted the Central Market, which dated back to 1856, before being cleared in 1987.