Allstate Arena


Allstate Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Rosemont, Illinois, United States, northwest of Chicago, located at the corner of Mannheim Road and Lunt Avenue, just north of Mannheim Road's interchange with the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway about north of O'Hare International Airport. The facility opened in 1980 as the Rosemont Horizon and seats up to 22,000 for concerts, 17,500 for basketball, 16,692 for ice hockey and 16,143 for arena football.
The arena is home to the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League and has served as the home arena for a number of other professional and collegiate teams, most notably the DePaul Blue Demons from 1980 through 2017.

History

The Village of Rosemont issued $19 million in bonds to finance the cost of the arena with exclusive contracts with Araserv, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and MFG International.
On August 13, 1979, the uncompleted roof of the Rosemont Horizon collapsed, killing five construction workers and injuring 16 others. The collapse was featured in the "Engineering Disasters" episode of Modern Marvels, first broadcast by The History Channel on April 20, 2006.
One distinctive feature of the Allstate Arena is its timber roof, designed to muffle the sounds of any passing aircraft descending into and taking off from nearby O'Hare International Airport.
The facility, originally named Rosemont Horizon, was intended to be the home of the Chicago Horizons of the Major Indoor Soccer League and was home of the 1980–1981 season but the franchise folded in 1982. It was also intended to be the home of the WHA's Chicago Cougars, but the team folded in 1975, three years before the arena broke ground. The first concert held at the Horizon was Fleetwood Mac on May 15, 1980, as they cut a red ribbon on the stage during the opening of the show.
The Rosemont Horizon was featured in many music videos, including the 1985 music video "Big City Nights" by Scorpions.
Insurance company Allstate signed a 10-year contract worth more than $10 million on June 9, 1999, to acquire naming rights to the arena and renovate it.
On December 29, 2002, Creed gave a concert at the arena with lead singer Scott Stapp obnoxiously high and drunk. After barely performing and mumbling incoherently through the first songs, he fell asleep onstage for a few minutes and the show ended early. This performance led four concertgoers to sue the band for over $2 million, and contributed to Creed's breakup.
On December 14, 2003, the floor at the Allstate Arena was named "Ray and Marge Meyer Court" in honor of Basketball Hall of Famer Ray Meyer and his wife. Meyer coached DePaul's men's team for 42 seasons and is the school's all-time winningest coach.

Events

Sports

Allstate Arena has been the home of the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League since they were inaugurated in 1994.
Allstate Arena was the home of DePaul University men's basketball team until the end of the 2016–17 season. The Blue Demons previously played on campus at Alumni Hall. That gym has since been replaced with McGrath-Phillips Arena, home to the women's basketball program through that team's 2016–17 season. The building hosted the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament three times: the 1987 and 1993 Midwest Regional first and second-round games, and the 2005 Chicago Regional Finals.
The Arena Football League also has a long history with Allstate Arena. The Horizon hosted an arena football test game in 1987 and the Chicago Bruisers were an original Arena Football League team when the league began in 1987. The Bruisers played from 1987 to 1989, and hosted ArenaBowl II in Rosemont, losing to the Detroit Drive, 24–13. In 2001, Arena Football returned to the arena with the Chicago Rush. The Rush increased its home attendance each year from 2001 to 2008, and from 2004 to 2008 averaged between 14,000 and 16,000 fans per game. The Rush's highest home attendance is 16,391 on June 23, 2007, against the Kansas City Brigade. After the AFL restructured in 2009, the Rush returned to the Arena Football League.
On October 25, 2008, the Allstate Arena hosted UFC 90, the first Ultimate Fighting Championship event in the state of Illinois.
The Professional Bull Riders brought their Built Ford Tough Series tour for events in 2006 and 2008. As of 2018, the tour has held the Chicago Invitational event here every year since 2010. PBR plans to continue this event in Chicago in 2019.
The arena is where the monster truck racing track style known as "Chicago-style" was created.
The Chicago Sky of the WNBA announced on August 17, 2009, that the team reached a multi-year lease with the arena.
In 1989, Loyola Ramblers men's basketball became tenants of the arena, moving from the International Amphitheatre. The team played its home games at the Rosemont Horizon during their 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, and 1993–94 seasons before moving to a renovated Alumni Gym on their campus.
During the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Allstate Arena was the site of the Champs for Charity Hockey Game where current and former Chicago Blackhawks hosted fellow NHL players in front of 10,000+ fans.
DePaul left the arena after the 2016–17 season for the new Wintrust Arena in Chicago, leaving the arena without a permanent college basketball tenant, although Northwestern University moved its men's home basketball games to the arena temporarily for the 2017–18 season before returning to its on-campus home at Welsh–Ryan Arena in Evanston, after a full-academic-year renovation of that facility.
The Professional Women's Hockey League will play two neutral site games at the arena: the first on December 21, 2025 between the Ottawa Charge and Minnesota Frost and the second on March 25, 2026 between the New York Sirens and Seattle Torrent, the first PWHL games in the Chicago area.

Championships and playoffs

  • AFL ArenaBowl II
  • AHL Calder Cup
  • *Qualifier : 2002
  • *Western Conference Quarterfinals: 2002, 2003 West Division Semifinals 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010 Western Conference Quarterfinals: 2012, 2014, 2015
  • *Western Conference Semifinals: 2002, 2003 West Division Finals: 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010 Western Conference Semifinals: 2014
  • *Western Conference Finals: 2002, 2005, 2007, 2008
  • *Calder Cup Finals: 2002, 2005, 2008, 2019, 2022
  • IHL Turner Cup
  • *1/8 Finals: 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98
  • *Quarterfinals: 1995–96 Western Conference Quarterfinals: 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01
  • *Semifinals : 1999–2000, 2000–01
  • *Turner Cup Finals: 1999–2000, 2000–01
  • WNBA Playoffs
  • *WNBA Eastern Conference Semifinals: 2013, 2014, 2015 WNBA Playoffs Second Round: 2016
  • *WNBA Eastern Conference Finals: 2013, 2014 WNBA Semifinals: 2016

    Professional wrestling

The Allstate Arena is the standard venue for WWE events in Chicago. For decades, WWE's most prominent figures have appeared at this venue. These include Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Ric Flair, The Rock, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, John Cena, Triple H, Roman Reigns, and Chicago native CM Punk. Since 1986, WWE has held numerous pay-per-view, non-televised, NXT, Raw, and SmackDown shows in the arena. Allstate Arena is also one of two venues to host WrestleMania three times: namely the second segment of WrestleMania 2 in 1986, WrestleMania 13 in 1997, and WrestleMania 22 in 2006—the last WrestleMania to date to be held in an arena setting.
The venue has also hosted The Wrestling Classic in 1985, three editions of Survivor Series, No Mercy 2007, Night of Champions 2010, two editions of Judgment Day, two editions of Extreme Rules, two editions of Backlash, two editions of Money in the Bank, three editions of Payback, the two editions of NXT TakeOver: Chicago, NXT TakeOver: WarGames and Hell in a Cell 2022.
As of 2024, there have only been three instances where WWE has hosted an event in Chicago outside the Allstate Arena; that being SummerSlam 1994, a WWE Road To WrestleMania Live Event, and a 2018 Holiday Tour Live Event, all held at the United Center.
When the arena was known as Rosemont Horizon, the venue hosted American Wrestling Association events in the Chicago area during the 1980s, replacing the International Amphitheatre. It was also the standard venue for World Championship Wrestling events in the Chicago area during the mid-1990s, replacing the UIC Pavilion. WCW held Spring Stampede at the arena in April 1994, as well as an episode of WCW Monday Nitro in October 1995. However, it would later switch to using the United Center for its shows in the region.

Concerts

The arena has been the site of many concerts, including by The Rolling Stones, The Who, Fleetwood Mac, Oasis, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Prince, Ghost, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, The Cure, Mariah Carey, Cher, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, Elton John, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, BTS, Ateez, Blackpink, Taylor Swift, Billy Strings, Ariana Grande, Scorpions, AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Tina Turner, Metallica, Andrea Bocelli, Green Day, Grateful Dead, Phish, Motley Crüe, My Chemical Romance, Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Ricky Martin, Lorde, Justin Timberlake, Foo Fighters, R.E.M., Justin Bieber, Queen, Rauw Alejandro, IU, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Kylie Minogue, I-dle, Ive, Enhypen, NCT Dream, Tomorrow X Together, Suga, Babymonster and J-Hope.
Ozzy Osbourne\Randy Rhoads
The arena was the site of a January 1982 concert from Ozzy Osbourne, where a famous photo taken by photographer Paul Natkin shows Osbourne lofting guitarist Randy Rhoads in the air. The photo later became the cover to the 1987 live album “Tribute” released five years after Rhoads’ tragic death in a plane crash, on March, 19th 1982.
Survivor performed at the arena on January 19, 1985 to a sold-out crowd during their “Vital Signs” Tour.
Styx recorded their reunion live album Return To Paradise at the arena on September 21, 1996.
Gabriel Iglesias' Netflix special, I'm Sorry for What I Said When I Was Hungry, was filmed at the arena in 2016.