Latest news with #XLCenter
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Arena rebrand part of Downtown Hartford's revitalization
HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — The XL Center is now becoming the PeoplesBank Arena. The building is getting major renovations and attracting more concerts more games and events. It could all lead to some big changes for downtown Hartford, revitalizing the neighborhood. XL Center to be renamed PeoplesBank Arena 'I'm just coming to visit Hartford for some nice video shoots for our TikTok and Instagram,' said Vlad Mosnytskyy, an influencer from New York City. With a new arena name comes new bunker suites, a premium club, new lower-bowl seating, a kitchen, concourse upgrades, new locker rooms for the athletes and green rooms for the artists.'This is going to be the heart and center of what we are trying to do, with the revitalization of Hartford,' Gov. Ned Lamont (D) said. 'I think you will see it in terms of a lot more activity here, much more frequently.' Add that onto the housing boom surrounding the Hartford Yard Goats at DUNKIN Park, there is new construction, new tourists, and new opportunities. 'If you rewind 10 years ago, what was there now, it's a whole different ball game,' Hartford Yard Goats President Tim Restall. Sticking with a baseball metaphors, the Yard Goats welcome the changes at PeoplesBank Arena.'There are a couple of runs that just scored today and someone is taking the lead,' Restall said. 'It's good to see what's happening with the downtown and all the renovations going on at the arena.' On Main, Albany, and High Street, and they're still building as part of the downtown expansion. Around the corner is the new police department, and they say they're going to continue to develop and continue to improve, making the downtown spread out and reach into the local neighborhoods.' 'Thirty five years of looking at this, I hope I'm here for the next 35 years,' Chuck Davis of Hartford said. 'I doubt it, but it looks beautiful, just like the stadium is beautiful, and you can see the work that they're doing on the Civic Center too hopefully I can get back to how it was.' For a couple of gentlemen who grew up in Hartford in the 1960s, they say Hartford is moving in the right direction. 'I think it's looking up, I like what they're doing in front of the ballpark the apartments, I like a lot of these things and these changes are going on with our administration, it's nice,' Dwight Teal of Hartford said. Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulumplam is picking up where his predecessor Luke Bronin left off by continuing to bridge from the city into the neighborhoods. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Washington Post
4 days ago
- Business
- Washington Post
Hartford home of UConn Huskies basketball renamed PeoplesBank Arena
HARTFORD, Conn. — The Hartford venue that's the part-time home of the storied UConn men's and women's basketball teams has a new name: PeoplesBank Arena. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont joined officials from the arena's management company and PeoplesBank to announce a new naming rights deal Monday on the floor of what had been called the XL Center since 2007. Terms of the multi-year agreement were not released.
Associated Press
4 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Hartford home of UConn Huskies basketball renamed PeoplesBank Arena
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The Hartford venue that's the part-time home of the storied UConn men's and women's basketball teams has a new name: PeoplesBank Arena. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont joined officials from the arena's management company and PeoplesBank to announce a new naming rights deal Monday on the floor of what had been called the XL Center since 2007. Terms of the multi-year agreement were not released. 'We chose to invest in this arena because we believe in Hartford,' said Thomas Senecal, CEO and chairman of PeoplesBank, based in Holyoke, Massachusetts. 'We believe in the revitalization happening here, the momentum building downtown, the renewed energy in the business district, the arts, the restaurants, the culture. And of course, the sports.' The UConn men's and women's basketball teams generally play half their home games in Hartford and the other half at Gampel Pavilion on the school's Storrs campus. The men's team has won six national championships, including in 2023 and 2024, and the women's team has won a dozen, including this year's title. The UConn men's hockey team also plays some games in Hartford, where the arena is home to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League. The arena, originally known as the Hartford Civic Center, turned 50 years old this year and hosts music concerts and other events throughout the year. It's currently closed for a $145 million renovation to add new seating, loge boxes, private box space and an upgraded main concourse, among other projects. It's scheduled to reopen in the fall. The Civic Center also was home to the NHL's Hartford Whalers, who left town in 1997 and became the Carolina Hurricanes. Three years after it opened, the arena was destroyed when its roof collapsed in 1978 due to design faults, only hours after a UConn men's basketball game.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
After nearly two decades, a new name for CT sports and entertainment arena will be unveiled today
Downtown Hartford's aging sports and entertainment venue — now the focus of a $145 million renovation — also will be getting a new name, as expected. An announcement on a naming rights agreement for what is now known as the XL Center is scheduled for today at 2 p.m., according to a statement from the office of Gov. Ned Lamont., who will be attending the event. The arena opened in 1975 as was known for decades as the Hartford Civic Center. The building was renamed in 2007 after the insurer XL Group which purchased the naming rights contract. The XL Group's naming rights contract expired nearly a year ago. XL, purchased by insurance giant AXA in 2018, decided to shift gears in its marketing, moving away from venue naming rights, officials with Denver-based Oak View Group have said. OVG, which runs the day-to-day operations of the venue, has said negotiations over a naming rights contract can be complex. The deal might include premium seating — bunker suites or loge seating, for example — in addition to the name on the exterior of the building. The XL Group naming rights contract ranged from $450,000 to $500,000 a year. The value dipped during COVID and when University of Connecticut's basketball program left the Big East. The basketball program has since returned to the conference. OVG is contributing $20 million to the renovations and hopes the improvements will help it to triple the number of concerts booked annually, perhaps as many as 30. Concerts are major money-makers for modern arenas. The project is downsized from $250 million in 2018 after there was no appetite for that price tag. The scope now focuses on premium, higher-priced seating in the lower half of the venue; a relocated, fully outfitted concert stage and crucial IT upgrades. Concessions also will be revamped. Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
It's a little bit of country and a little bit of rock ‘n' roll this week in CT arts
Classics come in all forms. Orchestras are playing Rimsky-Korsakov and Prokofiev this week, but also the score of a Harry Potter movie and a new concerto for the classic Chinese stringed instrument the pipa. There's classic rock such as Grand Funk Railroad from 50 years ago but also the 20th anniversary of Of Montreal's 'Sunlandic Twins' album. Jeezy's back. There's an Indian Bollywood-based dance spectacle. And in a classic category all its own, there's a monster trucks event at the XL Center. Wu Man, the internationally renowned player of the pipa, a traditional Chinese stringed instrument, joins the New Haven Symphony Orchestra to solo on Du Yun's pipa concerto 'Ears of the Book.' The orchestra also plays Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Scheherazade' and Unsuk Chin's 'subito con forza.' March 23 at 3 p.m. $15. Israeli stand-up comedian Modi brings his 'Pause for Laughter' tour to The Bushnell's Belding Theater on March 23 at 7 p.m. $39.50-$69.50; $99 'Platinum,' $144.50 'VIP.' Eclectic Latina vocalist Lila Downs does her own original works, classics and contemporary songs by others. She's also known for her storytelling skills and between-songs banter. Downs performs at Fairfield University's Quick Center for the Arts on March 23 at 7 p.m. $35, $25 Quick Center members. The exciting female indie pop band Horsegirl formed in Chicago around five years ago then shifted its activities to New York City when some of the members went to college. Horsegirl plays on March 26 at 8 p.m. at Space Ballroom in Hamden with Free Range and Pulsr. Legendary Canadian indie pop act Of Montreal is marking the 20th anniversary of its seventh album 'Sunlandic Twins' with a tour that hits Norfolk's District Music Hall on March 26 at 8 p.m. $38.52-$64.26. Noam Pikelny, the bluegrass banjo player of Mighty Poplar and Punch Brothers fame, is touring with his musical friends guitarist Jake Eddy, bassist Dan Klingsberg, fiddler Julian Pinelli and mandolinist Teo Quale. March 27 at 7:30 p.m. $15-$50. Marc Cohn's big hit was 'Walking in Memphis,' but he originally hails from New Haven. March 27 at 8 p.m. $66-$70. Guitarist/singer/songwriter Ryan Montbleau, from Peabody, Massachusetts, tours incessantly. He brings his diverse folk/pop/jazz/Americana style to Infinity Music Hall Norfolk on March 28 at 7 p.m. $46.39-$56.70. Country music legend Reba McEntire, who also has an acting career, has written bestselling books and runs a fashion brand and a restaurant, is at Mohegan Sun Arena on March 28 at 8 p.m. $103.25-$465.50. The 1970s hitmakers ('Locomotion,' 'American Band') are back on tour with founding members Don Brewer and Mel Schacher. March 28 at 8 p.m. at Foxwoods' Great Cedar Showroom. $61.65-$82.20. A bunch of cool youngish pop-punk bands are at The Webster on March 28 at 8 p.m.: New Jersey's Green Knuckle Material and New Haven's The Problem With Kids Today plus Wavy McGrady. $19.15; $609.15 VIP booth, $1,209.15 VIP suite. The trap hip-hop legend Jeezy put out an album last year, 'I Might Forgive… But I Don't Forget' and will give a memorable performance on March 28 at 8 p.m. at the Oakdale in Wallingford. $49-$179. The late Meat Loaf, who lived in Connecticut for a while in the 1990s, is given an elaborate tribute at Foxwoods' Premier Theater by former members of his touring band and his music director Paul Crook, with Caleb Johnson handling the vocals on those classic Jim Steinman songs. March 29 at 8 p.m. The Hartford Symphony Orchestra accompanies a screening of the penultimate Harry Potter film, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1,' for two nearly sold-out shows on March 29 at 1 and 7 p.m. $47-$128. Mammoth tricked-up trucks run roughshod through mountains of dirt in the XL Center on March 29 at 1 and 7 p.m. and March 30 at 1 p.m. $36.10-$52.05. The Italian vocal trio of Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto and Gianluca Ginoble has been around for over 15 years. March 29 at 7 p.m. $71.10-$587.05 The Sea Tea Improv sketch comedy troupe makes up an Agatha Christie-type whodunnit at their own Sea Comedy Theater on March 29 at 7 p.m. $10. Rhythm India is a dance spectacle with elaborate lighting and video projections, presenting a live variation of Bollywood movie musicals. March 29 at 7 p.m. $40.50-$82.10. Country star Brantey Gilbert has tattoos and he is showing them off on his 'Tattoos Tour' March 29 at Bridgeport's Total Mortgage Arena. Special guests are Travis Denning and Austin Snell, who may or may not have tattoos, too. $36.50-$52.05; $235.35 and $321.45 VIP packages. The Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra celebrates the new spring season with works by James Kimmo Williams, Missy Mazzoli, Sergei Prokofiev (his third piano concerto, performed by Adam Adov) and Robert Schumann. March 29 at 7:30 p.m. $40-$60. Comedian and 'Giggly Squad' podcaster Hannah Berner brings her stand-up act to College Street Music Hall on March 29 at 7:30 p.m. $59.62. Contemporary country star Carly Pearce, known for her duets with Lee Brice and Ashley McBryde as well as a slew of solo hits, is at Foxwoods' Great Cedar Showroom on March 29 at 8 p.m. with opening act Tigirlily Gold. $49.35-$71.95.
