CLEVELAND CAVALIERS TICKETS

Quicken Loans Arena (aka "The Q") is a multipurpose arena in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Until August 2005, it was known as Gund Arena, named for Gordon Gund, a former owner of the Cavaliers, after he paid for the naming rights. It is home to the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA. It was also home of the now-defunct Cleveland Lumberjacks of the IHL, the Cleveland Barons of the AHL, and the Cleveland Rockers of the WNBA. On May 16 2006 it was announced that the Utah Grizzlies of the AHL would be moving to Cleveland to play in the Quicken Loans Arena. The arena replaced the Coliseum at Richfield, which was becoming outdated and was inconveniently Cleveland Cavaliers Tickets located well south of Cleveland, near Akron. Part of the Gateway Project to revitalize downtown Cleveland, the arena and neighboring Jacobs Field were paid for with a sin tax on alcohol and tobacco. In the summer of 2005, Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert renovated the newly named Quicken Loans Arena, with new seats, state of the art scoreboards, video systems, sound systems, arena graphics, signage, security, locker rooms, and suite upgrades all in place for the start of the Cavaliers 2005-2006 season. The arena seats a maximum 20,562 for basketball, including 2,000 in the club seats. It has 92 luxury suites. It has served as the site of the Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament since 2000. It Cleveland Cavaliers Tickets was the site of WWF SummerSlam 1996, WWF No Mercy 1999, WWF Invasion 2001, Survivor Series 2004, and the 1997 NBA All-Star Game. In the late 1800s, Cleveland's Central Market area -- where Quicken Loans Arena stands today -- was the center of the city, a residential neighborhood and busy bazaar just a few blocks from the growing commercial district of Public Square. A gathering spot rich with history, it was a place your great-great grandparents might have gone to roam the market and talk about the day's events. Sadly, the life of the Central Market was cut short in the 1940s when it was destroyed by fire. Little was done to renovate the area in the Cleveland Cavaliers Tickets years that followed. By 1990, all that remained in what was once a hub of activity was a long line of primarily empty commercial buildings and surface parking lots. For more than a decade there had been talk of a downtown stadium project. In 1984, for example, there was even a county ballot issue campaign to construct a 72,000-seat retractable domed stadium for baseball and football. Voters weren't ready, and they turned it down. That could have been the end of it forever. Many believed that would be the case. To others, however, a lost ballot issue was not a lost cause. They believed in the Gateway concept long before the name Gateway ever surfaced. Principal among these people of civic vision in the late 1980s were former Ohio Governor Richard Celeste, then Mayor and now Senator George Voinovich, former Cleveland City Council President George Forbes and Cuyahoga County Commissioner Tim Hagan. They kept the dream alive. They knew Gateway would be an essential building block for the economy of all of Northeast Ohio. Today, at the corner of Huron and Ontario roads, in the heart of downtown Cleveland, is "Gateway," a 28-acre sports and entertainment complex made up of Quicken Loans Arena, its next-door neighbor Jacobs Field--home of the Cleveland Indians and Gateway Plaza. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, behind the play of All-Stars Brad Daugherty, Mark Price, and Larry Nance, Cleveland recorded 57 wins in two separate seasons, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals in 1992. Other notable players in the team's history include Nate Thurmond, Bingo Smith, Campy Russell, John Johnson, and Austin Carr. Along with the Portland Trail Blazers and Buffalo Braves, the Cavaliers were one of three expansion teams to join the NBA in 1970. Under head coach Bill Fitch, Cleveland finished the season with a 15-67 win-loss record, the league's worst. Cleveland drafted guard Austin Carr in 1971 but remained at the bottom of the Central Division. The Cavaliers steadily improved during the 1970s with a series of trades that brought Jim Brewer, Campy Russell, and Dick Synder Cleveland Cavaliers Tickets to the team.