Skip to main content

SAP Center

What do you know about SAP Center, San Jose?

The Sap Center was previously known as the San Jose Arena and later the HP Pavilion. Its location is at 525 Santa Clara Street in San Jose, California. SAP Center began its operation on 7th September 1993 with a seating capacity of approximately 85,000 distributed into; Concerts 19,200, Basketball 18550, Wrestling 18300, Ice Hockey 17600, and Tennis 11400. The SAP Center is under the management of San Jose Sports& Entertainment Enterprises and the administration of San Jose City.

The arena was designed by the Prodis Associates and Sink Combs Dethlefs architecture. The arena has been serving as the headquarters of the Golden State Warriors in San Jose. The arena was later renamed by SAP, a German Software Company, in June 2013, after the approval by the Board of the San Jose City.

Events hosted at SAP Center.

The SAP Center recorded the highest number of ticket sales (633,435) in 2006 for hosting non-sporting events than any other venue hosting similar events in the West of the United States. Besides, it took the fourth position after the Madison Square Garden (New York City, USA), the Manchester Arena (Manchester UK and the Scotiabank Arena (Toronto, Canada), respectively. Tickets are accessible at the Tickets OnSale.com or the SAP Center official website at a discounted price.

The area has hosted several sporting activities, including the following.

  • In 1996 -The United States Figure Skating Championships.
  • In 1997 -The 47th National Hockey League All-Star Game.
  • In 2011 -The USA Gymnastics Visa Championships & The UFC 139
  • In 2014- Intel Extreme Masters Season 9 as well as Intel Extreme Masters Season 10.
  • In 2016 – The Kellogg’s Tour for Gymnastics League

The SAP Center held the 3rd, 4th, and 6th games of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2016, in which the Sharks made their first appearance since the franchise deal.

2012 and 2016- Hosted the USA Gymnastics Olympic Trials. Besides, the arena hosted the USA West Regional semifinals and 2002, 2007, and 2017 finals for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Matches. Besides, Mixed Martial Arts were also held in this arena.

SAP Center also hosted the Pay Per Views WWE and the 1998 Royal Rumble.

The 2017 Payback also took place at the SAP Center, in which Braun Strowman won against the Roman Reigns at the finals.
The 2018 Tables, Ladders & Chairs TLC games were also held at SAP Center.

History.

Plans to develop a national arena, the San Jose, were conceived around 1986 by native citizens. The group founded the (FAN) Fund Arena Now and made agreements with the city officials for approvals and later sourced potential partners and sponsors from NBA and NHL. In the late 1980s, the FAN invited Tom McEnery, the San Jose mayor, to help fund the arena’s construction using the local taxes. The public was to vote “yes” or “no,” so voting was held on 7th June 1988, and the “Yes” won the contest narrowly. When the construction began in 1991, the NHL authorized an expansion franchise so that the San Jose arena could accommodate more people than the initial plan. Later, it was discovered that the San Jose arena was not suitable to host NHL or NBA champions based on the original plan. Subsequently, the Sharks sought permission to upgrade the arena to meet the NHL standards, such as adding more luxury suites, increasing seating capacity, and including a press box.

The naming rights were transferred to Compaq and subsequently renamed the “Compaq Center” in 2001. One year later, HP purchased the Compaq so that the area was subsequently renamed as the renamed “HP Pavilion,” just like the computer model operating in the arena.
In April 2007, a notice was issued stating planned improvements and upgrading several buildings at HP Pavilion. A new center-hung LED display system made by Daktronics and resembling that found at the TD Garden was established. In mid-2013, the naming rights of the HP pavilion were sold to a German software company named SAP, which was co-founded by Hasso Plattner, the Sharks managing associate. The right naming deal was worth US$16.75 million, which was to be distributed equally for the five years. The San Jose City Council authorized the deal, and this saw the arena receive its current name, SAP Center at San Jose.


Back to local attractions