Most of UW – Milwaukee's use of their new namesake will come
from the men's basketball team, which has called the location home in the past,
but never regarded it as a permanent host. Between 2003 and 2012, the team
alternated home games between the then-U.S. Cellular Arena and the on-campus
Klotsche Center. Last season, Milwaukee played all of their home games at the
downtown location.
The deal revealed on Thursday assures the Panthers a place
to call home well into the future. The team will host every opponent to visit
Milwaukee at the UW – Milwaukee Panther Arena through the 2024 season, at
least, with the option to extend the contract to 2029. If the university takes
advantage of the option, it will make the stadium the program's longest
continual home court since its inception in 1896.
Who Calls The UW Milwaukee Panther Arena Home?
Three other tenants maintained contracts with the Wisconsin
Center District through the name change. The Milwaukee Wave indoor soccer team
will continue to play their home games at the venue during the 2014-15 season,
and the Brew City Bruisers roller derby league will again host their events
there. Just a year into their tenancy, the Green Bay Chill women's football
team will also continue to play of the UW – Milwaukee Panther Arena.
Thursday's name change is the fifth revision of the title of
the building, originally the city's premier venue. Opened as the Milwaukee
Arena in 1950, the Milwaukee Hawks were the first to play regular games at the
stadium. By 2000, when U.S. Cellular bought naming rights, the building had
been called the MECCA and the Wisconsin Center Arena, hosting at various times
the Bucks, the Admirals, Marquette's basketball teams, and a pair of arena
football teams, the Milwaukee Bonecrushers and the Milwaukee Iron.
