Teams across the NHL, NBA and Major League Soccer have completed construction of gleaming, multimillion-dollar training facilities over the past two years. Here is a closer look at those centers and the unique benefits and features each offers to the team that trains there and the surrounding community.
Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago Blackhawks
MB Ice Arena
Opened: November 2017
Cost: $65 million
Naming rights: MB Financial, 12-year deal
Features: 125,000-square-foot facility has two sheets of ice, 22 locker rooms and a shot simulator area.
Benefits: Located a few blocks from the United Center, the facility is used for the Blackhawks’ training as well as local high schools, elite youth teams and recreational leagues, as well as for open skating sessions.
Minnesota Wild
Minnesota Wild
Tria Rink
Opened: January 2018
Cost: Undisclosed
Naming rights: Tria Orthopedic Center, 15-year deal
Features: A 1,200-seat, covered rooftop ice rink with six public locker rooms and a 27,000-square-foot workout and lounge space. The rink is also being used by local teams and the city’s NWHL franchise, the Minnesota Whitecaps.
Benefits: Facility is part of a 545,000-square-foot mixed-use development in a former department store in the middle of Saint Paul’s business district.
Vegas Golden Knights
Vegas Golden Knights
City National Arena
Opened: September 2017
Cost: $30 million
Naming rights: City National Bank
Features: 146,000-square-foot facility has two sheets of ice and training and office space for the team, as well as a retail store.
Benefits: Each sheet of ice has 600 seats, allowing the team to open practices and other events for fans. The facility is also the new home rink for UNLV’s hockey club, which went to Division I last season, and the Golden Knights’ junior team.
Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta Hawks
Emory Healthcare Courts
Opened: October 2017
Cost: $50 million
Naming rights: Emory Healthcare
Features: The 90,000-square-foot facility has two courts and state-of-the-art player training amenities. It also has a sports medicine clinic built with the basketball training center and a separate sports performance lab exclusive to pro athletes.
Benefits: Emory has a 30,000-square-foot clinic in the facility. Doctors from Emory’s current Sports Medicine Center are housed in the building and will treat patients there.
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Boston Celtics
Auerbach Center
Opened: June 2018
Cost: Undisclosed
Features: The 70,000-square-foot facility along the Massachusetts Turnkpike features two parquet floors, a 40-foot exercise pool, and a nap room among player amenities. It has a 40-foot glass wall overlooking the courts along with replicas of the team’s 17 championship banners.
Benefits: Public benefits hospitality, tours for corporate sponsors, Jr. Celtics Basketball camps and Celtics camps will be run out of the facility as well as a host of Celtics community events.
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Los Angeles Lakers
UCLA Health Training Center
Opened: July 2017
Cost: $80 million
Naming rights: UCLA Health, three-year deal
Features: Indoor/outdoor player lounge. The facility’s second floor houses the team’s business and basketball operations.
Benefits: The 124,649-square-foot facility includes a 750-seat arena for the Lakers G League team. Spaces for sponsor functions and multipurpose conference rooms also are available.
milwaukee bucks
Milwaukee Bucks
Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin Sports Science Center
Opened: August 2017
Cost: $31 million
Naming rights: Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin
Features: The 55,000-square-foot facility is adjacent to the team’s new arena. It features panoramic views of the two basketball courts, state-of-the-art training and nutrition areas, and underground parking for players. It also includes office space for basketball operations.
Benefits: The training center is used for community-based athletic camps. A medical center open to the public is attached to the center.
Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia 76ers
Training Complex
Opened: September 2016
Cost: $82 million
Features: The 125,000-square-foot facility in Camden, N.J., features state-of-the art training and nutrition along with sleeping pods for the players.
Benefits: Three-story business operations building next to the practice facility contains 10,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor.
Kaiser Permanente
Sacramento Kings
Practice Facility
Opened: October 2016
Cost: Part of $535 million arena development
Features: The 83,000-square-foot facility is inside the Golden 1 Center, bucking the trend of teams having separate training facilities. Partnership with Connexion Health offers an in-depth health assessment kiosk for players.
Benefits: Partnership with Kaiser Permanente has a sports medicine clinic on the third floor of the facility that is open to the public.
Atlanta United FC
Atlanta United FC
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground
Opened: April 2017
Cost: $60 million
Naming rights: Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Features: 33 acres, including a 30,000-square-foot training facility and six full-size fields in suburban Marietta. Houses the first team and six academy teams.
Benefits: Biggest field features 2,500-seat stand for first team and academy matches, as well as open training sessions and visiting national and international clubs.
LAFC
LAFC
Training Facility
Opened: April 2018
Cost: $30 million
Features: 30,000-square-foot training center with a natural grass field that mirrors the one at Banc of California Stadium.
Benefits: Located on the campus of California State University, Los Angeles, which the team has a partnership with to provide internships for students and allow kinesiology students to perform clinical practicum hours with the team. LAFC also is assisting in the development of a new master’s degree program
in sport operations and athlete representation.
NYCFC
NYCFC
Etihad City Football Academy
Opened: April 2018
Cost: Undisclosed
Features: 17-acre training facility with a 24,000-square-foot complex in Orangeburg, N.Y., that includes a grass field with underground heating for year-round usage.
Benefits: Designed by City Football Group in the same vein as its two other football academies in Manchester and Melbourne.
Real Salt Lake
Real Salt Lake
Zions Bank Training Center
Opened: March 2018
Cost: $78 million
Naming rights: Zions Bank
Features: 47-acre site in Herriman, Utah, with eight total soccer fields, including a 208,000-square-foot training center that houses two full-size fields
Benefits: Site also includes a new 5,000-seat stadium for the affiliated USL club, as well as the RSL Academy High School and housing for 50 student athletes.
Sporting KC
Sporting Kansas City
Pinnacle
Opened: February 2018
Cost: $75 million
Features: 50-acre training center has five full-sized fields and an 81,100-square-foot education/medical center.
Benefits: Facility is also the home of U.S. Soccer’s National Development Center, which will serve as the national home for the education of coaches and referees.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
National Soccer Development Centre
Opened: June 2017
Cost: $32.5 million
Features: 38,000-square-foot training fieldhouse with three grass fields and two artificial turf fields, houses the club’s first team and three of its academy teams.
Benefits: Built in partnership with the University of British Columbia and the Government of British Columbia, and located across the street from University Hill Secondary, where the club’s academy boys players attend school during the day and walk across the street to train in the afternoons.
