STATE FARM ARENA CELEBRATES FIVE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY TODAY

Award-Winning Downtown Atlanta Venue Debuts Video Highlighting Accomplishments Since Opening Doors

ATLANTA – State Farm Arena released a special video on its social media channels today highlighting the accomplishments and awards bestowed upon the venue since opening its doors to the public on Oct. 20, 2018. Prior to opening, the Hawks and State Farm® announced a partnership for 20 years to benefit the Atlanta metropolitan area aimed at building stronger communities through mentorship, volunteerism and the principle of being a good neighbor. Since State Farm Arena opened its doors five years ago, the Hawks have played more than 200 games, including the team’s run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021.
 

With an official capacity of 17,044, the downtown Atlanta venue has hosted hundreds of events including Bad Bunny, Bruce Springsteen, BLACKPINK, Drake, the Eagles, Elton John, Justin Bieber Harry Styles, Kevin Hart, Lil Baby and Mary J. Blige and welcomed more than five million fans.
 

In addition to hosting more than 500 shows and basketball games over five years, State Farm Arena has also hosted impactful community and civic events, including becoming the first professional sports and entertainment venue to serve as a voting precinct for the 2020 General Election and its signature Million Meal Pack, which has packed more than three million meals to fight food insecurity throughout Metro Atlanta.

“We are so proud of all we have accomplished since opening State Farm Arena five years ago today,” said Brett Stefansson, General Manager of State Farm Arena. “We continue to look for innovative ways to enhance the overall experience and provide a great night out for all the Hawks fans and concertgoers alike.”
 

The venue has continued to garner recognition locally, nationally and internationally over the past five years including Rehab/Renovation Deal of the Year (2018) per Atlanta Business Chronicle, NBA’s Best In-Arena Food and Beverage and the NBA’s Best Overall Game Experience (2018-19), Best Premium Club Spaces, Benefits and Activations per the Association of Luxury Suite Directors (2019) and Venue Excellence Award per the International Association of Venue Managers (2019). In addition, the venue has also been recognized by industry-leading publication “Pollstar” as the “Best New Concert Venue” (2020), and received a top five ranking in “Worldwide Ticket Sales” and ranked seventh in “Top Arenas: Ranked by Gross” (2020). Earlier this year, the Fan Experience Award from TheStadiumBusiness Awards.
 

During the 2023-24 regular season, the Hawks shattered a franchise record and sold out 38 out of 41 home games at the award-winning venue and has welcomed more than one-and-a-half million Hawks fans since opening its doors in 2018.
 

In 2022, State Farm Arena earned TRUE Platinum Certified for zero waste per the U.S. Green Buildings Council. In 2023, the venue announced they diverted more than 2,500,000 lbs. of waste during the 2022 calendar year. Since May 2021, the venue has consistently diverted a minimum of 90 percent of all waste from landfills. Earlier this year, the venue also announced that they became the first to retain this prestigious certification.
 

In 2020, while Hawks games and concerts were postponed or cancelled due to the global pandemic, the Hawks and State Farm Arena. State Farm Arena was the first professional sports and entertainment venue to team up with its local municipality to create availability as a polling precinct to adequately adhere to CDC-recommended social distancing guidelines and provide the opportunity for tens of thousands of residents to cast their ballot in a state-of-the-art, centrally located facility. Fulton County and the Hawks transformed State Farm Arena into Georgia’s largest-ever voting precinct for early voting for the General Election.
 

“Our naming rights partnership with State Farm has given us an opportunity to impact the city of Atlanta as a community asset and by providing a world-class venue for all Atlantans to enjoy,” said Hawks and State Farm Arena CEO Steve Koonin. “As we continue to look to our future with new developments downtown including Centennial Yards, we will continue prioritizing a great night out for Hawks fans and concertgoers alike.”
 

Through the duration of the partnership, the Hawks and State Farm have also led efforts in multiple community-focused initiatives to better serve Metro Atlanta. The two organizations have teamed up to open nine different Good Neighbor Clubs as well as hosted numerous events in the community impacting various local organizations. Most notably, the venue has been home to three different iterations of the Million Meal Pack (2019, 2022 and 2023), the team’s largest single-day community service effort, in which both organizations rally together more than 5,000 volunteers to pack one million meals in an ongoing effort to combat food insecurity across Metro Atlanta.  
 

For an upcoming list of events at State Farm Arena, visit StateFarmArena.com/events.
 

Those interested in working for the Hawks and State Farm Arena should visit StateFarmArena.com/careers.