The Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza
is an 8,300-seat multi-purpose arena located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania managed by SMG.
The Arena is home to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins ice hockey team (American Hockey League) and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers (arenafootball2). Built in 1998, the Arena was originally named First Union Arena
until in the summer of 2003 when First Union Bank merged into Wachovia.
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MOHEGAN SUN ARENA AT CASEY PLAZA (FORMERLY WACHOVIA ARENA) TICKETS
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Recognition and events
The Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza has been recognized by many entertainment magazines as one of the best in the country for arenas under 10,000 in capacity, especially for its attendance and ease of show setup and teardown. The Penguins hold the
American Hockey League record for most sellouts in a season, selling out all 40 home games in 2002-03 and 2003-04, and ran a streak of 144 consecutive sellouts in the building from 2000-2004. The team is consistently among the AHL's leaders in attendance.
Other than
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins hockey games and
Pioneers football games, other events that occur at the arena include
NBA exhibition games,
NCAA Division I basketball,
circus performances, an annual
Christmas-time
Trans-Siberian Orchestra performance, professional
ice skating shows,
WWE RAW,
SmackDown!,
house shows,
concerts,
Harlem Globetrotters and the annual graduation ceremonies for nearby
King's College,
University of Scranton, Luzerne County Community College, and
Marywood University.
For instance, two such concerts performed there include a
November 2003 spectacular of ten
American Idol finalists and, once, a
Cher farewell concert. Elton John has performed in front of a sellout crowd at the Arena twice. President
George W. Bush spoke at the Arena on
October 22,
2004 during his campaign for re-election to the
presidency of the United States.