NCAA BASKETBALL
Year: Conferences: Teams:
Seasons Conferences Arenas All Tournaments NCAA Tournament Admin
FLA Live Arena
1 Panther Parkway
Sunrise, FL 33323
Opened: October 3, 1998
The FLA Live Arena, originally known as the National Car Rental Center, and then later the Office Depot Center, the BankAtlantic Center and the BB&T Center, now called the Amerant Bank Arena, is the largest indoor arena in Florida and is located next to Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise, Florida. It is the home venue for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League. It was completed in 1998, at a cost of $185 million, almost entirely publicly financed, and features 70 suites and 2,623 club seats.

In 1992, Wayne Huizenga obtained a new NHL franchise that would eventually become the Florida Panthers. Until the team had an arena of their own, they initially played at the now-demolished Miami Arena, sharing the venue with the NBA's Miami Heat. Sunrise City Manager Pat Salerno made public a $167-million financing and construction plan for a civic center near the Sawgrass Expressway in December 1995, and Broward County approved construction in February 1996. In June 1996, the site was chosen by the Panthers, and in July, Alex Muxo gathered more than a dozen architects, engineers and contractors for the first major design brainstorming session.

Known as the Broward County Civic Center during construction, the naming rights were won in July 1998 by National Car Rental - a company purchased by Huizenga in January 1997 - leading to the venue being named the National Car Rental Center. As NRC's new parent company, ANC Rental, went bankrupt in 2002, the Panthers sought a new sponsor for the arena. It became the Office Depot Center in the summer of 2002. Just over three years later, the arena's name changed again; it became the BankAtlantic Center on September 6, 2005 (BankAtlantic was headquartered in nearby Fort Lauderdale). After BB&T acquired BankAtlantic in July 2012, the arena was rebranded as the BB&T Center.

In February 2019, it was announced that BB&T would be merging with SunTrust Banks to form Truist Financial Corporation. The merged company decided to not renew the naming rights agreement after it expired in 2021. The arena was temporary named FLA Live Arena until a new rights partner was found. On September 19, 2023, it was announced that Amerant Bank, a South Florida-based bank, would be the new rights partner, renaming the arena to Amerant Bank Arena.
Last 10 Games
Date Opponents Result
Dec 17, 2022Missouri @ UCF 68 - 66
Dec 17, 2022St. Johns @ Florida State 93 - 79
Dec 18, 2021Florida @ South Florida 66 - 55