Santander Arena information

Santander Arena
	The inside of the arena, taken from the Visitor bench
	Santander Arena Location within Pennsylvania Santander Arena Location within the United States
Former names	Sovereign Center (2001–2013)
Location	700 Penn Street; Reading, Pennsylvania 19602
Coordinates	40°20′05″N 75°55′23″W / 40.334771°N 75.923013°W
Public transit	BARTA bus: All routes at BARTA Transportation Center
Operator	ASM Global
Capacity	6,000–9,000 (concerts); 8,000 (basketball); 6,500 (ice hockey); 1,752 (performing arts center)
Surface	Multi-surface
Construction
Broke ground	June 1999
Opened	September 6, 2001
Construction cost	$42.5 million; ($73.1 million in 2023 dollars)
Architect	STV Architects Inc.; PBK Architects Inc.
Project manager	Turner Construction
General contractor	Schlegel Builders Inc.
Tenants
	Reading Royals (ECHL) (2001–present); Reading Express (AIFL/AIFA/IFL) (2006–2012); Reading Railers (PBL) (2008); New York Majesty (LFL) (2009–2010); Reading Rockets (PLL) (2012); Pennsylvania Roar (MISL) (2013–2014); ASI Panthers (AIF) (2015);

The Santander Arena (formerly known as the Sovereign Center) is a 7,160-seat multi-purpose arena, in Reading, Pennsylvania. It was built in 2001. The arena sits on the former site of the Astor Theater; one of several grand movie and theater palaces built in Reading in the early 20th century. Closed in 1975, the theater sat vacant for over two decades. In 1998, the Astor was demolished to make room for the Santander Arena. Early in construction, steps were taken to retain mementos of the Astor, including its ornate Art Deco chandelier and gates. These are on display and in use inside the arena corridors, allowing insight into the ambience of the former movie house.

The Santander Arena is owned by the Berks County Convention Center Authority and managed by ASM Global. In 2000, the Rajah Shrine Theater was purchased, and after a thorough restoration and updating of the facilities was renamed the Sovereign Performing Arts Center. The Reading Eagle Theater is part of the complex.

On October 13, 2013, the building's name was changed from Sovereign Center to Santander Arena.^[6]

The arena is home to the Reading Royals ice hockey team in the ECHL as well as the Alvernia University Golden Wolves ice hockey team of the NCAA DIII. It was formerly home to the Reading Railers basketball team, the New York Majesty Lingerie Football League team, the Reading Rockets box lacrosse team, and the Reading Express indoor football team.

The arena has hosted Jehovah's Witnesses District Conventions from 2005 to 2013 and the renamed Regional Conventions of Jehovah's Witnesses from 2015 to 2019, then again in 2023.

^ Cite error: The named reference SBJ was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^ Mitchell, Eric (May 31, 1999). "Powerful TM4000, at Home on the Catwalk, Raises the Light Standard". Sports Business Journal. Retrieved September 23, 2011.
^ "What's on Deck?". Sports Business Journal. July 30, 2001. Retrieved September 23, 2011.
^ Spatz, Don (September 7, 2001). "Officials, Community Christen New Facility". Reading Eagle. Retrieved September 23, 2011.
^ "Sovereign Center and Sovereign Performing Arts Center to be rebranded to Santander". July 25, 2013. Retrieved October 3, 2013.

[SBJ-1] Cite error: The named reference SBJ was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[inflation-US-2] 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.

[3] Mitchell, Eric (May 31, 1999). "Powerful TM4000, at Home on the Catwalk, Raises the Light Standard". Sports Business Journal. Retrieved September 23, 2011.

[4] "What's on Deck?". Sports Business Journal. July 30, 2001. Retrieved September 23, 2011.

[5] Spatz, Don (September 7, 2001). "Officials, Community Christen New Facility". Reading Eagle. Retrieved September 23, 2011.

[6] "Sovereign Center and Sovereign Performing Arts Center to be rebranded to Santander". July 25, 2013. Retrieved October 3, 2013.

Santander Arena information

and 23 Related for: Santander Arena information

Santander Arena

Santander Bank

Reading Royals

2023 Kelly Cup playoffs

2300 Arena

Rauw Alejandro World Tour

Cerrando Ciclos

List of professional sports teams in Pennsylvania

PPG Paints Arena

2022 Kelly Cup playoffs

List of indoor arenas in the United States

ECHL

Amir Mansour

Eimantas Stanionis

Travis Kauffman

Palacio de Deportes de Santander

Steve Cunningham

Chris Colbert

PPL Center

Jamel Herring

Saturno World Tour

Maverik Center

Erickson Lubin

Construction

The inside of the arena, taken from the Visitor bench
Santander Arena Location within Pennsylvania Show map of Pennsylvania Santander Arena Location within the United States Show map of the United States
Former names	Sovereign Center (2001–2013)
Location	700 Penn Street Reading, Pennsylvania 19602
Coordinates	40°20′05″N 75°55′23″W / 40.334771°N 75.923013°W / 40.334771; -75.923013
Public transit	BARTA bus: All routes at BARTA Transportation Center
Operator	ASM Global
Capacity	6,000–9,000 (concerts) 8,000 (basketball) 6,500 (ice hockey) 1,752 (performing arts center)
Surface	Multi-surface
Broke ground	June 1999
Opened	September 6, 2001^[5]
Construction cost	$42.5 million^[1] ($73.1 million in 2023 dollars^[2])
Architect	STV Architects Inc. PBK Architects Inc.
Project manager	Turner Construction^[3]
General contractor	Schlegel Builders Inc.^[4]
Tenants
Reading Royals (ECHL) (2001–present) Reading Express (AIFL/AIFA/IFL) (2006–2012) Reading Railers (PBL) (2008) New York Majesty (LFL) (2009–2010) Reading Rockets (PLL) (2012) Pennsylvania Roar (MISL) (2013–2014) ASI Panthers (AIF) (2015)