The venue was a joint venture between Sears Holdings, Ryan Companies, and the Village of Hoffman Estates.[4] The project began in 1998; however, plans were not finalized until 2005.[5] Construction began in July 2005.[6] The venue opened as Sears Centre on October 26, 2006, with performances by Duran Duran[7] and Bob Dylan.[8]
In 2011, the Village of Hoffman Estates took over ownership of the arena after Ryan Companies walked away from the arena due to the arena's lack of success.[9] However, since the village took over the arena and hired Global Spectrum to manage it,[10] the arena has shown improvement.[11]
The naming rights to the arena were not affected by Sears Holdings declaring bankruptcy in 2018,[12] with the company paying $1.5 million to secure naming rights for an additional 18 months. On June 23, 2020, the Village of Hoffman Estates approved an $11.5 million deal to rename the venue to NOW Arena,[13] with the naming rights belonging to the NOW Health Group, a family-owned natural products manufacturer based in Bloomingdale, Illinois.[14] The name change would officially take effect on September 1, 2020.[15]
Notable events
In 2008 and from 2010 until the present, the Illinois Recreational Cheerleading Association (IRCA) hold their annual state championship at the facility.
The fourth annual TNA Bound for Glory professional wrestling pay-per-view event on October 12, 2008, which was TNA's first ever event in the Chicago area.[16]
The arena was also the venue which featured TNA's first ever Impact Wrestling outside of Orlando, Florida, on March 14, 2013.
On May 19 and 20, 2011, it played host to the Chicago audition stages in the first season of the Fox singer search program The X Factor.
In 2009 and 2011, it played host to Strikeforce events.
September 12–14, 2014: Played host to the Davis Cup, hosting matches between the United States and Slovakia.
The 2017 and 2018 Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, hosted by Northwestern University's wrestling program, have been hosted at the Sears Centre.
September 1, 2018: All In, the largest ever independent professional wrestling event, presented by Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks,[17] featuring wrestlers from various independent wrestling promotions and from New Japan Pro-Wrestling, including Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada. This event was considered the springboard for the creation of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) several months later. In commemoration of All In a permanent plaque was installed near the front entrance of the arena.[18]
August 31, 2019: hosted AEW's inaugural All Out pay-per-view event, at which AEW crowned its first world champion.
^"Building Specifications"(PDF). Sears Centre Arena Promoter Guide. Hoffman Estates, Illinois: 16. June 2019. Archived from the original(PDF) on December 20, 2020. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
