Verizon Center - Dc Events  •  Washington  •  Ticket Broker

An entertainment and sports arena located in Washington, D.C., USA, the Verizon Center is named after Verizon Communications, its telecommunications sponsor. The center has been associated with telecommunications companies for long and therefore it is also known as the “Phone Booth.” The center is home to the Washington Mystics of the WNBA, Washington Capitals of the NHL, Georgetown University men's basketball team and Washington Wizards of the NBA. On 2nd December, of the year 1997 the arena was inaugurated as the MCI Center. It retained its name until 5th March of the year 2006. The name later changed to Verizon Center after Verizon bought out MCI. Washington Sports and Entertainment owns the arena. It has a capacity of 20,173 seats for basketball and 18,277 seats for hockey.

However, the construction of the arena created some fuss among the people. Some were of the view that the building's construction would corrupt the historic L'Enfant layout of the Washington city streets. Washington's Chinatown also faced certain problems. An increase in rent after the arena was constructed forced many small Chinese businesses to close down. Other than that the center is considered a commercial success. It is a famous site for sports and concerts. The arena also helped “Gallery Place/Chinatown” turn into one of the main venues for commercial progress in Washington.

Various entertaining sports event and concerts have taken place at the arena. Some notable ones are The 1998 Stanley Cup Finals, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) Starrcade, NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, NBA All-Star Game and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Cyber Sunday. A few popular artistes have also set the stage on fire with their unforgettable performances. Some of them are Janet Jackson, Beyonce, Britney Spears, Shakira, Spice Girls, Madonna, Coldplay, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony among others. Upcoming events at the Verizon Center include a Celine Dion performance on 8th September, of the year 2008. Janet Jackson will perform in October 2008. Later in November Sarah Brightman will showcase her Symphony concert followed by Tina Turner's performance on November 23, of the year 2008. The NCAA's Men's Frozen Four hockey championship will take place in the year 2009.