The Sun National Bank Center (formerly known as the Sovereign Bank Arena, and also referred to as the Mercer County Arena) is a $53 million, 8,500 seat arena in Trenton, New Jersey, home to the Trenton Titans of the ECHL and other special events. In 2011 it will be home to the Trenton Steel of the Southern Indoor Football League. Naming rights to the arena were bought by Sovereign Bank for a ten year, $2.7 million term in support of its newly acquired Trenton Savings Bank and other New jersey branches. On November 13, 2009, Sun National Bank signed a naming rights deal for seven years for $2.1 million.[4]
The arena opened on October 6, 1999 with a World Wrestling Entertainment event. Since then the arena has hosted over 1200 events with over 4,000,000 guests attending and has sold out shows by Bruce Springsteen, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Shania Twain, Keith Urban, Cher, Elton John, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Britney Spears and Justin Bieber.[5]
The arena held the first and second rounds of the 2006 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2000 and 2001 Northeast Conference men's basketball tournaments were held there as was the 2003 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament. The 2009 edition of the MAAC men's basketball tournament was scheduled to be played at the arena until administrators at the facility asked MAAC tournament officials to consider an alternate location for the games.[6]The finals of the Trenton Regional in the 2009 NCAA women's tournament, were held there as well.
The arena seats 7,605 for hockey and other ice events, 8,600 for basketball and up to 10,500 for concerts, family shows, and other events which makes it the largest arena in Southern New Jersey. The arena is located next to, and served by, the Hamilton Avenue station on NJ Transit's River Line and New Jersey Route 129.
The arena is managed by Global Spectrum, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based arm of sports and entertainment conglomerate Comcast-Spectacor.
The arena hosted the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Pay-Per-View Hard Justice 2008 on August 10, 2008.
The Sun National Bank Center also hosts the FIRST Robotics Competition and FIRST Tech Challenge New Jersey Regional.
-From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia