Ten years ago, the Killers took the stage at a brand-new $375 million arena just off the Strip, with Wayne Newton as the opening act and a prerecorded introduction from Jimmy Kimmel. That night, April 6, 2016, marked the birth of T-Mobile Arena — a venue that would go on to host nearly 1,000 events, sell 12.6 million tickets, and generate over $2 billion in ticket revenue, according to MGM Resorts.
In its first year alone, the 20,000-seat arena welcomed UFC 200, concerts by Guns N’ Roses and Garth Brooks, and a boxing match where Canelo Alvarez knocked out Amir Khan in front of 16,540 fans. But the biggest impact came in 2017, when the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights began play at what fans now call “The Fortress.”
“It’s been an amazing 10 years of being open, longer than that when you get down to the pre-planning stages of it,” said Dan Quinn, senior vice president of entertainment and arena venue operations for MGM Resorts International. “Anytime you have the dreams and visions of a project like this, to get to see it go from an image on a piece of paper to building it, to then actually having hosted all the events we’ve had for the 10 years, I mean, it’s just been an incredible run.”
Setting the stage
Quinn noted that many of the acts that played T-Mobile Arena early on — including the Killers, Garth Brooks, and Billy Joel — have since performed at Allegiant Stadium, underscoring how the arena paved the way for larger venues. “I think we’ve shown that the building is capable of handling any event,” Quinn said.
Golden era
The Golden Knights played their first regular-season home game at T-Mobile Arena on Oct. 10, 2017, just nine days after the Route 91 Harvest festival shooting. The emotional tribute that night became a rallying point for the community. The team went on to reach the Stanley Cup Final in its inaugural season, losing to the Washington Capitals in five games. On June 13, 2023, the Knights captured their first Stanley Cup by beating the Florida Panthers on home ice.
“Getting to raise the cup was an incredible experience,” Quinn said.
John Penhollow, Golden Knights president of business operations, joined the organization last summer and has seen firsthand how the arena became the team’s home. “It’s amazing to see how it’s become the home for the Golden Knights,” Penhollow said. “It didn’t take long in that first year for the fans to feel the arena out, find their spots. It didn’t take long for the hockey team to sort of feel out how they’re going to play inside that arena. … You can call it home ice advantage, whatever you want to call it, but we do feel like when we’re home, we always have a chance.”
He added, “Every game’s exciting, win or lose. Even the games we’ve lost, they’ve been exciting for our fans and certainly the community. I would say that the first nine years, we couldn’t have asked for much more, especially when you consider it was built without the Golden Knights really there to sit at the table.”
Combat sports hub
The UFC has called T-Mobile Arena home since 2017, and recently extended its deal. “It’s incredible that we’ve already been at T-Mobile Arena for ten years,” UFC president Dana White said in a statement. “We just signed an extension with them so we will continue to bring the biggest and best events to Las Vegas for years to come.” The UFC has held 35 events at the arena, including UFC 326 on March 7, where Charles Oliveira defeated Max Holloway by decision.
Boxing has also been a major draw, with 21 events and 306,805 tickets sold. In a one-month span in 2017, the arena hosted the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight and the first Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin bout, combining for $100 million in ticket sales. “In a lot of buildings, that’s a great year. Crazy enough for us, that was just a month,” Quinn said.
Basketball history
Despite not having an NBA tenant, T-Mobile Arena has hosted 111 basketball events, including college games, Pac-12 championships, USA Basketball, Aces games, and NBA exhibitions. “I think maybe basketball gets a little bit overshadowed in the building — with VGK calling it home, we’re presumed to be a hockey building,” Quinn said. “We’re lucky and spoiled that we’ve had a pretty decent portfolio of basketball, even though we don’t have the luxury of calling an NBA team home currently.”
NBA future?
The NBA is officially exploring expansion to Las Vegas. Golden Knights owner Bill Foley, who holds a partial stake in T-Mobile Arena, has expressed interest in pursuing an NBA expansion team and has discussed a $300 million renovation of the arena. Quinn said the building was designed with both NHL and NBA in mind and is ready to host an NBA team. “The big thing would be if we were lucky enough to host an NBA team, we’ve got some pretty interesting, pretty cool plans of things we could do to enhance the building,” Quinn said.
Penhollow noted that any upgrades an NBA team might want would likely mirror what the Knights would request: better LED screens, improved sound systems, enhanced food and beverage options, and more premium seating. “It’s natural to think that … one of the big four major teams coming in, it’s going to afford all the parties you just mentioned, whether it’s Dan’s team, our team, the chance to have another team in the building to collaborate with, to talk about what the game experience could look like,” Penhollow said. He added, “Really, the only difference is going to be we have the ice, they have the court. But the rest of the building, we’re going to hopefully try to program together.”
