Arena Info

The RBC Center is home to the 2006 Stanley Cup  Champions Carolina Hurricanes and NC State University Men’s Basketball.

The RBC Center remains dedicated to furthering the area’s growing popularity by providing the best possible sports and entertainment experience in the Southeast.  On an annual basis, the RBC Center welcomes over 1.5 million guests and plays host to more than 150 events.  The RBC Center has continually offered Raleigh, the Triangle, and the Southeast an abundance of sports, major concert tours, and events year after year.  A 2004 study by the accounting firm Ernst & Young estimated the arena’s economic impact to be about $170 million a year.

The $158 million RBC Center encompasses approximately 700,000 square feet.  Four different seating levels provide 18,176 seats for hockey, 19,722 for basketball, 19,500 for center-stage concerts, and 18,800 for endstage 360 performances.

The RBC Center’s amenities include over 8,000 designated parking spaces, 18 permanent concession stands, over 50 portable concession stands, 37 public restrooms, as well as escalators and elevators throughout the building.

Equipped with three concourses, 66 luxury suites, 2,000 Club Seats, and a spacious 9,100 square foot restaurant on the Club Level, the RBC Center is well-equipped to handle events of all types.  Full catering service, operated entirely on-site by VAB Catering, is also available for private functions to serve up to 1,000 guests.

Quick Facts:

Groundbreaking:           July 22, 1997

Opening Night:    October 29, 1999

Opening Event:    Carolina Hurricanes vs. New Jersey Devils

Size:  700,000 sq feet

Capacity:  Up to 20,000

Owner:  Centennial Authority

Operator:  Gale Force Sports & Entertainment (A division of the Carolina Hurricanes)

Construction on the $158 million RBC Center began with a groundbreaking ceremony on July 22, 1997.  The RBC Center doors opened for business in October 1999, representing the culmination of the collaborative efforts of a unique partnership known as the Centennial Authority.  In part due to a grant from the State of North Carolina, the Centennial Authority owns the RBC Center building and the surrounding 80 acres, while the facility itself is operated by the Carolina Hurricanes/Gale Force Sports & Entertainment.

With construction by Hensel Phelps Construction, overseen by McDevitt Street Bovis, Inc. and architects Odell, the RBC Center yields a height of 108½ feet, a width of 495 feet, and a length of 635 feet.