Spokane Chiefs
Rink: Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena
Capacity: 10,366
Built: 1995
League: WHL
City: Spokane, Washington
Home Of: Spokane Chiefs
Games Attended: 1
Only Game: October 26, 2024 vs Tri-City
Unique Arena: #94
WHL Arena: #20
Spokane Arena is a large, beautiful building that sits just north of downtown Spokane, in a neighborhood with lots of bars and restaurants around, it which makes it a great arena for pre or post-game festivities. The rink is built into the side of a hill and the main parking lot and entrance is on the top side, but this fantastic front facade faces the lower side. There is a fairly large well-stocked team store on ground level with its own entrance, and a staircase that leads you up to the main concourse. Be warned, if you park in the rink’s lot several hours early, they will give you a ticket for not paying the $10 fee despite there not being any guards on duty.
Spokane Arena is very similar to the rinks found in London and Everett, but a bit closer to Everett in that is has just a single concourse for both bowls. However, with a crowd of over 6,000 for our game there we had no troubles at all navigating the very wide concourse, which offers a wide variety of food and beverage options.
The upper bowl in Spokane is laid out in a U shape. The top of the U has the space for the bowl to be completed 360 degrees, but so far in nearly 30 years there hasn’t been a need to fill it in. As you can see, there is no centre-hung scoreboard in Spokane. The main scoreboard and videoboard are hung on the wall at the top of the U. Since we sat in the bottom of the U at eye level with it, I didn’t see a problem, but if you’re sitting on the sides or under it in the lower bowl, I feel it would get pretty annoying. There is plenty of room for a traditional scoreboard, but they stick with the single end board.
The scoreboard would be my biggest critique of Spokane Arena. Otherwise, it’s a great arena with fantastic sightlines and nice steep seating in both bowls (not just the upper bowl like some rinks). The fans are loud and passionate. They don’t always fill the rink, but they do on occasion, and I feel the atmosphere would be nuts for that. Even with 6,000 people at our game the atmosphere was pretty solid. The Chiefs’ goal song is the Tarantella Napolitana with the fans chanting Chiefs throughout, which I thought was awesome. The concourse is very 90s with green and purple accents everywhere. Not exactly team colours, but it’s very 90s and of the time when the rink opened.
As mentioned in many other arenas reviews, the concourse features the city’s sports hall of fame, which might be one of the most well-done ones I’ve ever seen and is worth checking out. Overall, Spokane was a very enjoyable experience and while I can’t imagine finding myself in eastern Washington state again anytime soon, I would love to go to another game if the opportunity arises.
