The area has previously been called The Ice Palace (19996-2011) and Tampa Bay Times Forum (2012-2014).[2]
History
The arena, in Downtown Tampa's Channelside District was a secondary location chosen after the failure of Tampa Coliseum Inc. to secure funding to construct an arena on Tampa Sports Authority land near Tampa Stadium. It opened in 1996 as the Ice Palace. Its first event was a performance by the Royal Hanneford Circus. The first hockey game was the Lightning hosting the New York Rangers, which the Lightning won by a score of 5–2.
The arena was built as a new home for the Lightning after the club outgrew the older, smaller Expo Hall at the Florida State Fairgrounds. Prior to the opening of the Ice Palace, the Lightning moved to the Florida Suncoast Dome, which was nicknamed the "Thunderdome," in St. Petersburg, Florida, joining the Tampa Bay Storm, in 1994. Upon the completion of the Ice Palace, both the Lightning and the Storm, moved in. The Thunderdome, now named Tropicana Field, is currently home to Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays.
Control of the venue has changed hands three times since the building's opening in 1996. The lease agreement ties the arena to the ownership of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Naming rights to the Ice Palace were sold to the St. Petersburg Times, a daily newspaper sold throughout the Tampa Bay Area. In January 2012, the arena name changed to Tampa Bay Times Forum once the newspaper renamed itself the Tampa Bay Times.
On September 3, 2014, Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik announced that the arena would be renamed Amalie Arena after they came to an agreement with Amalie Oil Company, an oil company based in Tampa.[3] Other entertainment events occasionally held in the Arena include concerts, NBA games, USF Basketball and NCAA Tournament games, tennis, professional wrestling, boxing, figure skating, and rodeos (as well as stand-alone bull riding events; the Arena has hosted an event by the PBR's premier tour, the Bud Light Cup (renamed Built Ford Tough Series in 2003), annually since 1998.)
The Arena hosted the 2008 NCAA Women's Division I Final Four Basketball Tournament on April 6–8. Tennessee beat Stanford, 64-48. In 2009, the Arena hosted the Southeastern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.
In 2009, Britney Spears performed at the Arena for her "The Circus Starring Britney Spears" tour. The show is also notable for a wardrobe malfunction and the remark, "Okay, my pussy is hanging out of this fucking --", after she performed "I'm a Slave 4 U" and didn't realize that her mic was still on. The incident later received notable attention and has received thousands of views on YouTube.
WWE Raw and WWE SmackDown has been held at the arena numerous times. WWE held their three-hour event inside of the Arena where Raw hosted their 800th episode celebration on November 3, 2008. WWE returned to the Arena once again for the December 21st edition of Raw where former New York Yankees and current Tampa Bay Rays player Johnny Damon served as the Guest Host at the time he was a free agent. For the first time in three years, SmackDown returned to Amalie Arena for the June 8, 2010 edition.
Tampa also hosted WWE Extreme Rules on May 1, 2011; it was the arena's first WWE PPV since Survivor Series 2000 in 11 years as it was originally scheduled to take place at the Amway Center in Orlando.
