Quicken Loans Arena

Quicken Loans Arena (commonly The Q), is a multi-purpose arena, in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Until August 2005, it was known as Gund Arena, named for Gordon Gund, a former owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team, after he paid for the naming rights.

The building is the home of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League (AHL), the Cleveland Gladiators of the Arena Football League (AFL), the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Basketball Tournaments, and the Cleveland Crush of the Lingerie Football League (LFL).

History
The arena is built on the site of the former Central Market, a fruit and vegetable market that dated back to 1856. It replaced the Coliseum at Richfield, which was located between Cleveland and Akron. Part of the Gateway Project to revitalize downtown Cleveland, the arena and sibling Progressive Field were paid for with a sin tax on alcohol and tobacco.

Design and operations
The Q seats 20,562 for basketball, including 2,000 in the club seats, and 92 luxury suites. It is owned by the Gateway Economic Development Corporation, which leases it to the Cavaliers.

In 2005, Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert (owner of Quicken Loans) renovated the arena, installing new seats, state of the art scoreboards, video systems, sound systems, arena graphics, signage, security, locker rooms, and suite upgrades, all of which were in place for the start of the Cavaliers 2005–2006 season, except for the seats, which were replaced a few sections at a time.

In October 2009, the Cleveland Cavaliers announced that award-winning chef Michael Symon would contribute menu items to be prepared by foodservice firm Aramark at the Q. Two existing restaurants were renamed after Symon's bar-bistros Bar Symon and The B-Spot, and some of his signature dishes were made available as suite catering offerings.

Team sports
In addition to its professional sports tenants, The Q has been home to the Mid-American Conference (MAC) men's basketball tournament since 2000 and the MAC women's basketball tournament since 2001. "MAC Madness", as it is known, has become a strong draw for the arena. The men's semifinal and championship games routinely draw 10,000-15,000 attendees.

On May 16, 2006, the then-inactive Utah Grizzlies franchise of the American Hockey League announced that it would move to the Quicken Loans Arena. On January 25, 2007, the team name was announced as the Lake Erie Monsters. It began play in the 2007–2008 season.

On October 16, 2007, the Las Vegas Gladiators of the Arena Football League announced that they would move to Quicken Loans Arena.

On December 6, 2010, the Lingerie Football League announced that Quicken Loans Arena would be the home of the Cleveland Crush for the 2011–12 season.

The arena was the home of the now-defunct Cleveland Lumberjacks of the IHL, the Cleveland Barons of the AHL, and the Cleveland Rockers of the WNBA.

Notable events
The arena was opened with a concert by Billy Joel on October 17, 1994. The Cavaliers played the first regular season game in the arena a few weeks later, a loss to the Houston Rockets, on November 8, 1994.

Major national events held at the facility include the 1997 NBA All-Star Game, the 2000 United States Figure Skating Championships, the 2007 NCAA Women's Final Four and the 2009 United States Figure Skating Championships. It also hosted games 3 and 4 of the 2007 NBA Finals.

WWF Summerslam (1996) took place at the Gund Arena, headlined by Shawn Michaels Vs. Vader for the WWE Championship and The Undertaker & Mankind in the first ever Boiler Room Brawl

The Dixie Chicks were scheduled to perform during their Top of the World Tour on June 1, 2003, with Joan Osborne as their opening act, but the show was cancelled, due to illness of lead vocalist Natalie Maines.

The arena played host to the politically motivated Vote for Change Tour on October 2, 2004, featuring performances by Bright Eyes, R.E.M. and Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (with special guest John Fogerty).

On October 29, 2008, LeBron James gathered almost 20,000 people at the arena for a viewing of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's 30-minute American Stories, American Solutions television advertisement. It was shown on a large screen above the stage, where Jay-Z later held a free concert.

The arena hosted games in the second and third rounds of the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament on March 18 and March 20, 2011. Included in the field were the Ohio State Buckeyes, which have historically had a large following in NE Ohio.

It was also the site of Canadian rock band Rush's concert DVD shoot for their 2010–2011 Time Machine Tour, due to Cleveland being the first U.S. city to give the band radio airplay in the early 70s.