Stadium
Kia Center
Downtown sports and concert arena where a decade-long funding battle nearly cost the city its NBA team.
0:00≈ 2 min
Location
0:00≈ 2 min
About this audio guide
This guide to Kia Center in Orlando opens in 2001, when the Orlando Magic's owner told city hall to build a new arena or risk losing the team, while the Magic lost roughly eight million dollars a year in their aging 1989 building nearby. It follows how the funding plan collapsed after the September 11 attacks gutted the tourist taxes it depended on, leaving the team's future in the city uncertain for years. The stalled talks dragged on for most of that decade before a package finally took shape.
This audio guide was created using AI.