Basketball and sports as a whole are a huge deal in Portland. If you’ve ever attended a Portland Trail Blazers game, you know it’s just one of the pinnacle experiences when it comes to entertainment, as the crowd turns to an inferno and fills up the arena every time they play host to any other NBA team.
Even when the Portland Trail Blazers haven’t been box office, this arena is always full of hopeful fans for every single one of the Blazers games. That’s why today, we’re going to let you know just everything there is about this venue, including a brief summary of the home team and all the events that led to its building.
Who is the owner of the Moda Center?
This beautiful arena cost $262 million to build, with most of that money coming from bonds issued by mutual funds and insurance companies. However, due to multiple financial issues and acrimonious controversy, technology mogul Paul Allen eventually bought the arena back from creditors in 2007.
Besides hosting Portland Trail Blazers games, this arena has also been the home of multiple sports endeavors, such as the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League, Portland Forest Dragons of the AFL, Portland Pythons of the WISL, Portland Fire of the WNBA, Portland LumberJax of the NLL, Portland Thunder/Steel of the AFL, and the OSAA Mens’ State Basketball Tournament.
When it comes to seating, this arena has 14,000 permanent seats across two bowls, most of them located at the lower bowl. It can host up to 19,393 people for basketball games, 18,280 for ice hockey or lacrosse, and 20,500 for concerts.
Also, the Rose Quarter has more than 2,500 parking spaces for its guests. It also has other amenities, guest services, and configurations to hold other events such as Monster Trucks shows and even circuses; so it’s not just about basketball and sports. Additionally, this arena features top-notch amenities such as restaurants, a wet bar, multiple television monitors, and a sound system.
It’s also worth noting that the Moda Center can turn into a “Theater of Clouds” for smaller events with limited seating, with a capacity to accommodate 6,500 people. This arena has a privileged location, standing at North Center Court Street, which is located in the Rose Quarter campus.
The Rose Quarter district is just nearby the Pearl District, and it consists of a 30-acre area that also holds the Old Memorial Coliseum just next door, as well as the Steel and Broadway bridges, the Oregon Convention Center, and the Eastbank Esplanade. Basketball, concerts, and sports attract thousands of people yar-round to this place.
Contrary to what some people think, Moda Center isn’t the property of the Trail Blazers. Instead, it’s owned by sports management company Vulcan Inc., one of the many companies owned by the estate of Paul Allen, so it’s not exactly the same thing. Vulcan Inc also manages CenturyLink Field, WaMu Theater, and handles business operations for the Seattle Seahawks as well as the Portland Trail Blazers.
Is the Arena Moda Center the same as the convention center?
Even though the Moda Center is mostly known for being the home of the Portland Trail Blazers and for basketball, it has also hosted other events throughout history. Ice shows, ice hockey games, dramatic productions and every concert held at this arena can attest to that.
This venue was known as the Rose Garden from 1995 to 2013. Also, this sports venue is located right next to the Convention Center, which is why some people can get confused. The Rose Garden, also known as the Rose Garden arena, had strong links to Oregon as it looked to reflect the town’s reputation for its beautiful roses.
When did the Rose Garden change to Moda Center?
As we mentioned before, Vulcan Inc. owns the Moda Center. Back in 2007, the company announced its desire to find a corporate partner to rename this arena, but it wasn’t until 2013 that the cash arrived. They reached an agreement with Moda Health, an Oregon-based company that provides health insurance services, to rename the Rose Garden to Moda Center for the next 10 years at least, subsequently, Moda Center was born. Even so, it’s not unusual to hear people asking for the Rose Garden when there are concerts in the area.
What does Moda stand for in Portland?
As we previously mentioned, the arena is named after Moda Health. So, it’s not like it has a true meaning for basketball or sports. It’s just a part of their motto: “Moda is derived from the Latin term ‘modus,’ which means ‘the way,'” William Johnson of Moda Health told Sports Illustrated. “The way to do more, the way to do better, the way to better health.
Portland Trail Blazers: A Marquee Name In The National Basketball Association
The Portland Trail Blazers are one of the most histories franchises in the NBA. They’ve been around the league since 1970 and are one of the few teams that have never moved or changed its name, becoming the pride of Oregon. As you may know by now, this team plays at the Moda Center since 1995 after spending the first 25 years of their history at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Portland Trail Blazers have won the Western Conference title three times (1977, 1990, 1992) but they’ve only won 1 NBA Championship (1977).
They’ve had plenty of heated rivalries like the Portland-Seattle, Portland-Lakers, Portland-San Antonio, and Portland-Thunder in most recent times. With legends of the likes of Clyde Drexler and Bill Walton, this team has seen better days throughout their history. They’re currently led by Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum but they haven’t been able to turn the page and lead them back to the NBA Finals, which is why some people speculate that they could break up their backcourt and trade one or both of them to start a long-overdue rebuild.
Lillard has links to California and Utah from his days in high school in college, so the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors, and Utah Jazz have always sounded like potential future destinations for him. However, Lillard has constantly told the media that he’s looking forward to staying at Oregon, and maybe, one day, they can host an NBA Finals game again. Hopefully, he’ll stand by his word and doesn’t force his way out of the team.
Why does Portland say Rip City?
This is perhaps one of the most iconic names when it comes to sports. Portland Trail Blazers fans often talk about how the team is Rip City but not many people know the origin of this story, as that’s not Oregon’s nickname at all. If you search and look back in time, you’d be shocked by why they chose to be called that way among a wide variety of potential nicknames.
Turns out that, back in 1971, Trail Blazers’ play-by-play announcer Bill Schonely came out with this idea when Jim Barnett knocked down a shot from midcourt to tie a game against the Lakers after being down 20 points. Schonely yelled “RIP CITY, ALRIGHT!” as the crowd went crazy and later admitted that he had no idea what that meant. Ever since that day, every Trail Blazers fan has proudly referred to the team as Rip City. There are other stories as crazy as this in sports history, but maybe none as crazy as this one.
So, if you want to make a bit of a sports trip and attend a Blazers game and have a couple of bucks to spare on the tickets, don’t hesitate to visit this court, as it’s one of the most beautiful and passionate NBA arenas and you won’t want to sit for two hours. Also, its multiple guest services offer a top-notch experience.
