Mortgage Matchup Center

• 1. Introduction

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  Mortgage Matchup Center has cycled through a succession of names in its lifetime. It opened in Phoenix, Arizona, on the 6th of June 1992, at a cost of $89 million. The building sits on an eleven-acre site in downtown Phoenix, one block from Chase Field. Former Suns owner Jerry Colangelo drove the project from the start. His vision was a modern replacement for Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The seating capacity shifts with each event: 17,071 for basketball, 17,716 for in-the-round concerts, and 4,379 for theater. Those numbers hint at the range of uses Colangelo had in mind. What he could not fully anticipate was an NHL franchise arriving four years after the doors opened. That team would force the building into a configuration it was never designed to handle.

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• 2. Colangelo's Vision

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  Construction began on the 1st of August 1990, with Jerry Colangelo pushing for a modern arena worthy of a growing city. Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum had run its course as an adequate home for the Suns. About 27 months after breaking ground, the arena held its inaugural basketball game on the 7th of November 1992. The Suns beat the Los Angeles Clippers 111-105. Charles Barkley's debut as a Sun also came that night, his first regular season appearance for the franchise. That season ended with the arena hosting three games of the 1993 NBA Finals against the Chicago Bulls. The Suns lost the series, yet a parade through downtown Phoenix still drew more than 300,000 fans. It wound through the city's streets and finished at the new arena itself. Frank Sinatra performed one of his last concerts there on the 10th of December 1993, barely a year after the doors first opened.

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• 3. Ice on a Basketball Floor

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  When the original Winnipeg Jets announced their intention to move to Phoenix for the 1996-97 NHL season, the arena faced a fundamental problem. It was not designed to hold a standard NHL rink. To fit the ice surface onto the floor, workers cut the lower level in half and installed retractable seating. On one end of the rink, three full sections of seating extended out directly over the boards. Anyone in those sections had to rely on the video boards to follow play at that end of the ice. One of the two nets was in that obscured zone. After the Coyotes' first season, the team curtained off those areas entirely, dropping the listed capacity to 16,210. The arena added a second video board to serve the most affected areas. Several plans to improve sight lines were proposed; none were built. The Coyotes sold many obstructed-view tickets at a reduced price throughout their time there. An unfavorable lease compounded the financial pressure on the team. Their first regular season home game in Arizona, on the 10th of October 1996, ended in a 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks. They finished that debut season 38-37-7 and qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs. The run ended with a Game 7 loss to the Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference Quarterfinals. The team's last home game within Phoenix city limits came on the 15th of December 2003: a 5-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild. Midway through that same 2003-04 NHL season, the Coyotes departed for Glendale Arena.

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• 4. Renovating the Palace

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  Jerry Colangelo's inspiration for the first major renovation came from a visit to Staples Center in Los Angeles. He envisioned a comparable entertainment district forming around the Phoenix building. The result was a $67 million project completed in March 2003. Workers constructed a 16,000 square-foot, air-conditioned, glass-enclosed atrium on the northwest side of the building. It was designed to keep patrons comfortable during the wait before events. A second renovation was approved by the Phoenix City Council on the 23rd of January 2019. The Phoenix Suns committed to paying up to $80 million for that work, including any cost overruns. The COVID-19 pandemic paused the 2019-20 NBA season and, as a side effect, allowed construction to advance ahead of schedule. Up to 80 percent of all planned work was complete in time for the preseason home opener. That game, on the 16th of December 2020, was a 112-107 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Phoenix Mercury had originally planned to play their 2020 home games at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Instead, all of that WNBA season's games were moved to the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. The full renovation was complete by late 2021. The opening of Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale had made the upgrades economically necessary for the Suns to stay competitive as a destination.

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• 5. Finals and Records

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  The original seating capacity for basketball inside the arena stood at 19,023. After the 2002-03 season, that figure dropped to 18,422, then again to 18,055 before the 2014-15 season. Three games of the 2021 NBA Finals were played inside the building, with the Suns hosting the Milwaukee Bucks. The Phoenix Mercury, who share the arena, hosted WNBA Finals games in 1998, 2007, 2009, 2014, 2021, and 2025. The NBA All-Star Game came to the arena in 1995 and 2009; it is scheduled to return in 2027. The WNBA All-Star Game was held there in 2000 and 2024. On the collegiate level, the NCAA Division I men's basketball regional finals were staged at the arena four times: in 1999, 2004, 2008, and 2012. The women's basketball Final Four is scheduled there for the first time in 2026. The Arizona Rattlers, who played arena football in the building, won ArenaBowl XI on the 25th of August 1997, defeating the Iowa Barnstormers 55-33.

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• 6. Six Names

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  The naming rights deal tied to the arena was struck in January 1990, before construction was even complete. America West Airlines, based in Tempe, Arizona, gave its name to the building for its first fourteen years. The year before the venue's name changed, America West purchased rival carrier US Airways. Although America West was the surviving airline, it adopted the US Airways name, and the arena followed suit. That arrangement made the arena the second US Airways-branded venue. The first was the now-demolished US Airways Arena, formerly Capital Centre, in Landover, Maryland. Talking Stick Resort in nearby Scottsdale announced its naming deal on the 2nd of December 2014, at a ceremony outside the Casino Arizona Pavilion. The name Talking Stick Resort Arena took effect in September 2015, in time for the start of the 2015-16 Phoenix Suns season. On the 6th of November 2020, Talking Stick Resort confirmed the deal had expired. The venue was called PHX Arena briefly, then Phoenix Suns Arena, while a new partner was sought. On the 16th of July 2021, Footprint, a materials science company based in Gilbert, Arizona, secured the naming rights. The Footprint Center name went into effect by Game 5 of the 2021 NBA Finals. On the 18th of February 2025, the arena announced it was seeking a new naming rights partner. Workers were observed removing Footprint Center signage even as the announcement spread. The building reverted to PHX Arena. On the 2nd of October 2025, United Wholesale Mortgage took over the rights, and the arena became the Mortgage Matchup Center. That company is owned by Mat Ishbia, who also owns the Phoenix Suns and the Phoenix Mercury.

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• 7. Stage and Ring

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  Bon Jovi performed at the arena on the 11th of March 1993, as part of their Keep the Faith Tour. The show came just months after the building opened for basketball. Over the following decades, the arena booked a near-constant rotation of touring acts. Van Halen played there on the 1st of April 1995, during their Balance Tour. Fleetwood Mac stopped in Phoenix on the 28th of November 2018, for their An Evening with Fleetwood Mac tour. For lead singer Stevie Nicks, it was a hometown performance. Depeche Mode performed at the arena three times across separate tours. Their show on the 23rd of August 2009, on the Tour of the Universe, drew 7,635 people. It was recorded for the band's live project, Recording the Universe. Beyoncé played the venue multiple times between 2004 and 2013. Her first solo appearance there came on the 24th of August 2007, during The Beyoncé Experience tour. Her final show at the arena, on the 7th of December 2013, was a sold-out performance during The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour. After that run, all her Arizona concerts moved to State Farm Stadium in Glendale. The arena served as the site for Opening Night activities for Super Bowl LVII on the 6th of February 2023. In boxing, Michael Carbajal fought there for the WBO world Junior Flyweight title against Josue Camacho in 1994. Julio César Chávez ended his boxing career with a final fight at the arena. Jaime Munguía defeated John Ryder by knockout in nine rounds on the 27th of January 2024. Professional wrestling events have filled the calendar regularly, from SummerSlam 2003 through Royal Rumble 2013 and Money in the Bank 2012. Melanie Martinez is scheduled to return for her Hades: The Sacrifice Tour on the 12th of August 2026.

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