Nationwide Arena Seating chart

Nationwide Arena
Nationwide Arena declared as "the No. 2 stadium experience in professional sports." By ESPN the Magazine is located in Columbus, Ohio.

It is located in the Arena District that houses a variety of bars, clubs and a movie theater. The Arena Grand Theatre is adjacent to the Nationwide Arena.

It housed on the area of 800,000 square feet that also includes practice rink, office and retail space. The main arena has the total square feet area of 685,000 while the attached practice facility, the Dispatch Ice Haus has the total area of 110,000 square feet.

The seating capacity of this multi purpose arena is 18,500 occupants for hockey matches, 19,500 spectators for the basketball and up to 20,000 patrons when it is used as a concert venue.

The venue has 16 Founders Suites, 36 Executive Suites, 26 loge boxes, 29 Club Terrace Tables and 6 Party Suites. There are 6 levels of the arena featuring the Event Level, Main Concourse, Club Level, Suite Level, Upper Concourse and the Press Level.

The structure of the arena was erected in 1.5 million labor hours expended with 9,400 tons of steel and 1.3 million bricks were laid only on the exterior of the building.

There are 44 miles of pipe installed and 300 miles of wire were spread while making the venue. 40,000 cubic yards of concrete was used and 12,000 gallons of paint was consumed to brighten up the most beautiful arena of its time.

The exterior was decorated with 60,000 square feet of glass and for the interior a 200,000 watts of power for audio systemwas installed. The arena is lightened up with 6,596 light fixtures.

The construction cost of the arena was $175 million. The arena is owned by Nationwide Financial Services and operated by Columbus Blue Jackets with day to day operations managed by Spectacor Management Group (SMG). The architect firm behind this structure is 360 Architecture.

The arena opened its door to the public with the first event of "Soul to Soul" Tour featuring Tim McGraw and Faith Hill on September 9 and 10, 2000.

Nationwide Arena is the home of the National Hockey League's Columbus Blue Jackets, the Arena Football League's Columbus Destroyers, the United States Hockey League's Ohio Junior Blue Jackets and a wide variety of world-class entertainment events.

The unique features of the arena that separates it from other arenas includes two 80-foot towers anchoring the western interior of the seating bowl that house party suites, a 70-foot glass-enclosed atrium, a 135-foot light tower at the southeast corner, open lobbies and concourses that allow fans a great view of the ice as soon as they walk through the door, the elegant design featuring terrazzo floors and brick pillars and marble details.

The notable events that have been occurred in this arena are the final World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) King of the Ring tournament in 2002, the last WWE Bad Blood in 2004. UFC 68, 2007 NHL Entry Draft.

2004 and 2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, a sold out tour Turn It on Again: The Tour of Genesis, Britney Spears tour Dream within a Dream Tour and hockey match of Blue Jackets defeating their divisional rival Detroit Red Wings by a 3-2 score.