16 Facts About Saddledome

1.

Scotiabank Saddledome is a multi-use indoor arena in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

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2.

Saddledome is owned by the City of Calgary, who leases it to the Saddledome Foundation, a non-profit organization, to oversee its operation.

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3.

The winning name in the contest, Olympic Saddledome, was drawn from a hat filled with several similar saddle-themed names.

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4.

Designers won several architectural and engineering awards for their work on the Saddledome, and were honoured by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada at its millennium celebration of architecture in 2000.

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5.

The Saddledome was featured on the cover of Time magazine on September 27,1987, for an article discussing the city of Calgary and the upcoming 1988 Olympics.

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6.

When it opened on October 15,1983, the Olympic Saddledome served to boost the morale of a city that was experiencing a significant downturn as a result of the international oil market collapse, high interest rates, and the federal government's National Energy Program.

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7.

The Saddledome reached its highest capacity in the early '90s at 20,230.

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8.

Saddledome was one of many buildings impacted by the 2013 Alberta floods.

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9.

The Saddledome is the home of the Calgary Roughnecks of the National Lacrosse League and hosted the 2005 NLL All-Star Game.

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10.

Opening of the Saddledome allowed Calgary to host major musical acts that were bypassing the city in the early 1980s, because the city's existing facilities were not large enough to accommodate the industry's top performers.

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11.

On October 3,2016, the Saddledome hosted a National Basketball Association preseason game between the Toronto Raptors and Denver Nuggets.

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12.

On July 21,2012, the Saddledome hosted an Ultimate Fighting Championship event, which was UFC 149.

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13.

Six years later, on July 28,2018, the Saddledome hosted another UFC event, which was UFC on Fox: Alvarez vs Poirier 2.

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14.

The Saddledome Foundation retains the responsibility of distributing funds to amateur sport.

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15.

Saddledome is one of the oldest arenas in the NHL and the oldest among the seven Canadian franchises, fuelling speculation that it is due to be replaced.

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16.

The proposal was shot down in 2017 by Calgary's city council, who voted to support a "plan B" of a new arena on a site adjacent to the existing Saddledome, which is currently used as a parking lot for the Stampede grounds.

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