About
BRIDGESTONE ARENA HISTORY
Bridgestone Arena opened in December 1996 and has hosted more than 13 million guests. It is Nashville’s number one venue for large-scale musical productions, as well as one of the nation’s most highly-acclaimed entertainment and sports venues. Seating capacity is approximately 20,000 for concerts, 19,395 for basketball and 17,113 for Nashville Predators games.
Formerly known as the Nashville Arena, the Gaylord Entertainment Center and the Sommet Center, the building became Bridgestone Arena in 2010 after Bridgestone Americas Inc., which is headquartered in Nashville, entered into a multi-year naming-rights and marketing partnership with the Predators and Powers Management. Bridgestone Americas, Inc. (BSAM) is the U.S. subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation, the world’s largest tire and rubber company.
Bridgestone Arena also hosts a variety of non-traditional functions for Davidson County, the city of Nashville and local residents. Bridgestone Arena tower is home to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, an XM Radio studio and the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau, which hosts more than 500,000 tourists annually. Bridgestone Arena features The Patrón Platinum Club, a 260-seat fine-dining experience located on the building’s suite level, which is open before and after games and concerts, and hosts a number of banquets and receptions.
The arena also houses more than 6,000 square feet of meeting room space and a 13,500-square-foot rehearsal hall that is available for rent and used more than 200 days a year by national touring acts.
AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS:
Pollstar Arena of the Year Nominations: 1997, 1998, 2000, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011International Entertainment Buyers Association’s Venue of the Year: 2008 and 2010Academy Of Country Music Venue of the Year: 2009 and 2011Facilities Magazine Prime Site: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
