Accesso ShoWare Center explained

47.3883°N -122.24°W

The accesso ShoWare Center is a multi-purpose arena in Kent, Washington, United States.

About the venue

The construction of the arena began September 2005,^[1] with the venue opening in January 2009.^[2] The principal tenants are the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League and the Tacoma Stars of the Major Arena Soccer League.

Naming rights to the arena were initially sold to Amiga, Inc. and the arena was to be called the "Amiga Center".^[3] However, Amiga failed to make a promised down payment, and lost the naming rights as of August 2007.^[4] In November 2008, the Kent City Council announced that the city had sold the naming rights to the Fresno-based VisionOne, Inc., an e-business software developer which in turn named the arena after ShoWare, its flagship box office operations program.^[5] In 2014, tech company Accesso purchased VisionOne, Inc.; with the venue changing its name to the accesso ShoWare Center in the fall of 2017.^[6]

The design architect is LMN Architects of Seattle, in association with PBK Architects of Vancouver, British Columbia.^[7] The arena is managed and operated by Philadelphia-based SMG.

Among other events, it has hosted the 2012 edition of the Hilton HHonors Skate America.^[8]

In 2021, the ShoWare Center began a $5 million renovation to the arena, including a $800,000 scoreboard, which was completed early in the 2021-22 season. More additions to this renovation include a new cover for the ice while not in use, concession stand rebrands, the improving of the outdoor marquee, replacement of folding chairs, kitchens and other concession equipment, new stage and blackout curtains, and ice making equipment. Smaller improvements include new carpets in administrative offices, a stronger transformer to be used during concerts, motors for the curtains, the refinishing and repairing of the basketball court, repairing of fences and gates, and 40 new televisions for the suites. ^[9]

Facts about the venue

Miscellaneous

• The approximate square footage of the arena is 150000square feet
• The new scoreboard built in 2021 includes two ribbon boards, the top board measuring 21'4" x 3'3", the bottom measuring 18'10" x 2'6". The four main replay screens measure 18'10" x 10'8".^[10]
• The venue opened on January 3, 2009 with a hockey game by (Seattle Thunderbirds vs. Everett Silvertips)
• The arena has a capacity of 5,887 seats. Retractable seating to provide additional space for concerts, basketball, shows and other events, expanding the capacity to 7,141.
• The venue typically hosts 110 to 117 events annually, including about 40 Thunderbird games.
• Country duo Florida Georgia Line drew an audience 7,129 people on December 14, 2013.^[11]
• The 2 millionth guest celebration was held on November 11, 2014.^[12]

Sports

• Brenden Silvester of the Seattle Thunderbirds scored the first goal in the history of the arena, in the 2nd period on January 3, 2009 against the Everett Silvertips in a 4-3 Seattle win.
• Greg Scott of the Seattle Thunderbirds scored the first hat trick in the arena on February 6, 2009
• The 2015-2016 hockey season reached an all time attendance record with an average of 4,792 people per game.^[13]
• Hockey single game attendance record of 6,223 set on May 12, 2017 during the WHL finals against the Regina Pats.^[14]
• Hosted first professional basketball games during the 2018 JBA season.
• In Professional Wrestling, the arena has hosted three house shows for the TNA Wrestling promotion (2009, 2011, 2012) and one taped event for Ring of Honor wrestling's weekly television program (2019).
• The arena hosted a National Hockey League preseason game between the Seattle Kraken and Calgary Flames on October 2, 2021.^[15]

Selected events

List of selected events held at the accesso ShoWare Center
Date	Artist	Event	Opening act(s)	Attendance	Revenue
November 19, 2016	Amy Grant Michael W. Smith	Christmas with Amy Grant & Michael W. Smith	Jordan Smith	5,986 / 5,986	$329,078[16]
December 7, 2016	Hunter Hayes Josh Turner	Hometown Holiday	Tyler Farr Maddie & Tae Seth Ennis	3,481 / 3,498	$150,520
April 12, 2017	Banda MS	Gira Es Tuyo Mi Amor	Pancho Barraza Beatriz Solís	6,521 / 6,521	$390,210[17]
June 18, 2017	El Fantasma	Rancheando En La Ciudad Tour	Voz de Mando Kanales	1,890 / 6,439	$121,350[18]
July 13, 2017	Logic	Everybody's Tour	Joey Badass Big Lenbo	4,612 / 4,937	$204,643[19]
October 15, 2017	Los Inquietos del Norte	Gira Locos y Entumecidos	Chuy Lizárraga Jesús Ojeda El Filly	2,796 / 6,614	$142,955[20]
October 29, 2017	Skillet	Unleashed Tour	Britt Nicole Colton Dixon Tauren Wells	1,891 / 4,432	$55,162
March 3, 2018	G-Eazy	The Beautiful & Damned Tour	Trippie Redd Phora Anthony Russo	6,656 / 6,820	$264,543[21]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Events Center Ceremony Wins National Award. . Kent Reporter . Sound Publishing, Inc.. November 28, 2008. March 10, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20160406054124/http://www.kentreporter.com/news/35157119.html . April 6, 2016.
2. Web site: Big Plans for ShoWare Center Grand Opening. Steve. Hunter. Kent Reporter . Sound Publishing, Inc.. January 2, 2009. March 10, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20160408231514/http://www.kentreporter.com/news/36667219.html . April 8, 2016.
3. Web site: Matthew . Gaschk . T-Birds' proposed arena gets a name . April 17, 2007. January 5, 2009. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. . https://web.archive.org/web/20121021190348/http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/T-Birds-proposed-arena-gets-a-name-1234581.php . October 21, 2012.
4. Web site: Jim . Brunner . . . Amiga fails to deliver cash, loses naming rights to Kent arena . July 31, 2007 . January 5, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20071018003036/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003813881_kentarena31m.html . October 18, 2007.
5. Web site: Steve . Hunter . Kent Reporter . Sound Publishing, Inc.. New name for the Kent Events Center . November 19, 2008 . January 5, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20110522080329/http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/ken/news/34770879.html . May 22, 2011.
6. Web site: Kent's ShoWare Center to get longer name . Hunter . Steve . June 15, 2017 . Kent Reporter . Sound Publishing, Inc. . February 25, 2019. https://archive.today/20190225211731/http://www.kentreporter.com/news/kents-showare-center-to-get-longer-name/. February 25, 2019.
7. Web site: ShoWare Center Press Kit . . December 2008 . LMN Architects . March 10, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20130515032750/http://lmnarchitects.com/assets/work/showare_center/pdfs/2009%20Showare%20Center%20Press%20Kit.pdf . May 15, 2013.
8. Web site: Kent, Wash., chosen to host 2012 Skate America . . May 4, 2012 . . . February 25, 2019. https://archive.today/20190225221055/https://www.denverpost.com/2012/05/04/kent-wash-chosen-to-host-2012-skate-america/ . February 25, 2019.
9. Web site: Hunter . Steve . 2021-08-31 . Kent’s ShoWare Center to get $3 million in upgrades, repairs . 2023-12-05 . Kent Reporter . en-US.
10. Web site: City of Kent . Accesso ShoWare Scoreboard Replacement RFP – Addendum #1 . 2023-12-04.
11. Web site: ShoWare Center 5th Anniversary Celebration. Official Website of the Seattle Thunderbirds. Canadian Hockey League. August 24, 2015. https://archive.today/20190225222101/http://www.seattlethunderbirds.com/article/showare-center-5th-anniversary-celebration . February 25, 2019. January 16, 2014.
12. Web site: Welcome to our Two Millionth Guest!. November 2014. Official Website of the ShoWare Center. August 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924101436/http://www.showarecenter.com/events/details/000001086/welcome_to_our_two_millionth_guest!x?id=40802189570 . September 24, 2015.
13. Web site: Seattle Thunderbirds Yearly Attendance Graph. hockeyDB.com. August 15, 2015. August 2015.
14. Web site: T-Birds Fly Past Pats For 3-2 Championship Series Lead . . May 13, 2017 . ISN . February 25, 2019. https://archive.today/20190226005839/http://www.independentsportsnews.com/2017/05/13/t-birds-fly-past-pats-3-2-championship-series-lead/ . February 26, 2019.
15. News: On the Road to Season Start Kraken announce preseason 'home' . NHL . July 9, 2021.
16. Current Boxscore. Billboard. Eldridge Industries. Nashville, Tennessee. December 24, 2016. 128. December 18, 2016. 0006-2510. https://web.archive.org/web/20171115163912/http://www.billboard.com/biz/current-boxscore. live. November 15, 2017.
17. Current Boxscore. Billboard. Eldridge Industries. Nashville, Tennessee. May 27, 2017. 129. 12. May 20, 2017. 0006-2510. https://web.archive.org/web/20171115163912/http://www.billboard.com/biz/current-boxscore. November 15, 2017. live.
18. Current Boxscore. Billboard. Eldridge Industries. Nashville, Tennessee. September 23, 2017. 129. 21. September 13, 2017. 0006-2510. https://web.archive.org/web/20171115163912/http://www.billboard.com/biz/current-boxscore. November 15, 2017. live.
19. November 25, 2017. Billboard Boxscore. Billboard. Eldridge Industries. 129. Nashville, Tennessee. 0006-2510. November 17, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171115163912/http://www.billboard.com/biz/current-boxscore. November 15, 2017. live.
20. December 23, 2017. Billboard Boxscore. Billboard. Eldridge Industries. 129. 29. Nashville, Tennessee. 0006-2510. December 20, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20180509203456/https://www.billboard.com/biz/current-boxscore. May 9, 2018. live.
21. May 19, 2018. Billboard Boxscore. Billboard. Eldridge Industries. 130. 13. Nashville, Tennessee. 0006-2510. November 17, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20180509203456/https://www.billboard.com/biz/current-boxscore. May 9, 2018. live.