The Spirits of St. Louis were a basketball franchise based in St. Louis that played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1974 to 1976. This was the third and last city of a franchise that had begun as a charter member in 1967 as the Houston Mavericks before a shift to the Carolinas in 1969 to play as the Cougars. They were one of two teams still in existence at the end of the ABA that did not survive the league's merger with the National Basketball Association (NBA). They were a member of the ABA in its last two seasons, 1974–75 and 1975–76, while playing their home games at the St. Louis Arena . Under terms of the ABA–NBA merger, the owners of the Spirits continued to receive a portion of NBA television revenue until 2014, when a revised agreement was reached with the league.
36-497: Market Square Arena ( MSA ) was an indoor arena in Indianapolis . Completed in 1974, at a cost of $ 23 million, it seated 16,530 for basketball and 15,993 for ice hockey . Seating capacity for concerts and other events was adjusted by the use of large curtains which sealed off the upper rows. The arena closed down in 1999 and was demolished two years later. In the late 1960s, the city of Indianapolis studied several market areas of
72-554: A four-story office building covering two city blocks. As constructed, the arena consisted of a unique space frame design spanning Market Street. The playing floor was elevated over Market Street by twin 1400-space parking garages on each side of Market Street. Market Street, which already was physically terminated on the west by the Indiana Statehouse , was visually terminated on the east by the arena. The final design eventually took up one city block spanning Market Street. The arena
108-546: A location, often with the specific intent of comparing an idea to a sporting event. Such examples of these would be terms such as "the arena of war", "the arena of love" or "the political arena". Spirits of St. Louis The Spirits (who took their name from the Atlantic Ocean-crossing plane flown by Charles Lindbergh ) were the third incarnation of a franchise that began as the Houston Mavericks and later
144-627: A long and successful career in the NBA, culminating in enshrinement in the Basketball Hall of Fame . Maurice Lucas spent most of his time in the ABA as a Spirit, then later became an all-star in the NBA with the Portland Trail Blazers . Other well-known players that played for the team included former Boston Celtics sixth man Don Chaney , future Celtics head coach M. L. Carr , and Ron Boone , who held
180-537: A new partnership with the former ABA teams the Nets, Nuggets, Pacers and Spurs.) On October 8, 2013, ESPN presented a documentary about the team, Free Spirits , as part of its 30 for 30 series. Part of the show contained the fact that the Silnas had been suing the NBA for "hundreds of millions of dollars more" they feel the NBA owes them, presumably for NBA League Pass subscriptions and streaming video (the Silnas dropped
216-400: A prescient deal to acquire future television money from the teams that joined the NBA, a 1/7 share from each surviving ABA franchise (or nearly 2% of the entire NBA's TV money), in perpetuity . (The deal allocated 45% for each of the Silnas and 10% for their lawyer Donald Scupak, who brokered the deal. Ozzie died in 2016.) With network TV deals becoming more and more lucrative, the deal has made
252-489: A stunning comeback, finishing with 46 points as Brazil won 120–115. Market Square Arena was the primary concert venue for virtually all national and international musical acts visiting Indiana until its demolition in 2001. While many concerts moved to the Deer Creek Music Center amphitheater during summer months after that venue opened in 1989, Market Square remained the primary concert venue for large acts visiting
288-584: A young Bill Gaither as one of the musical guests, was the most attended event at the arena in its history. Jimmy Swaggart held a crusade in the arena in July 1988. The arena was filled to capacity over the weekend of July 22–24 for each session. Pat Benatar performed during her Precious Time tour on August 19, 1981. Mötley Crüe filmed their music video for " Wild Side " here on July 18, 1987, which contains footage of drummer Tommy Lee 's spinning drum cage. The video for John Mellencamp 's song " Check It Out "
324-476: Is also the sport of indoor American football (one variant of which is explicitly known as arena football), a variant of the outdoor game that is designed for the usual smaller playing surface of most arenas; variants of other traditionally outdoor sports, including box lacrosse as well as futsal and indoor soccer , also exist. The term "arena" is also used loosely to refer to any event or type of event which either literally or metaphorically takes place in such
360-429: Is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators, and may be covered by a roof. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the lowest point, allowing maximum visibility. Arenas are usually designed to accommodate a multitude of spectators. The word derives from Latin harena , a particularly fine-grained sand that covered the floor of ancient arenas such as
396-1036: The 1980 NCAA men's basketball Final Four , which was won by the University of Louisville . and the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now Horizon League) men's basketball conference tournament from 1986 to 1988 and again in 1993. In 1987, Indianapolis hosted the Pan American Games , and all of its basketball games were held at Market Square. The gold-medal game pitted Brazil against the United States. The U.S. team of college players featured two All-Americans in David Robinson and Danny Manning , two Final Four MVPs in Pervis Ellison and Keith Smart , and several other future NBA players. The U.S. team led 68–54 at halftime, but Oscar Schmidt led Brazil to
SECTION 10
#1732883882754432-688: The Carolina Cougars . However, only a few players from the 1973–74 Cougars followed the team to St. Louis, so the Spirits were essentially an expansion team. By that time, St. Louis was six years removed from NBA basketball, having lost the Hawks to Atlanta after the 1967-68 season . The Spirits were a colorful team featuring a number of players, both on and off the court, who were fairly successful in their basketball careers. Among them were Moses Malone , acquired during their second and final season, who went on to
468-619: The Colosseum in Rome , Italy, to absorb blood. The term arena is sometimes used as a synonym for a very large venue such as Pasadena's Rose Bowl , but such a facility is typically called a stadium . The use of one term over the other has mostly to do with the type of event. Football (be it association , rugby , gridiron , Australian rules , or Gaelic ) is typically played in a stadium, while basketball , volleyball , handball , and ice hockey are typically played in an arena, although many of
504-684: The Indianapolis Racers of the WHA from 1974 to 1979. 17-year-old Wayne Gretzky starred for the Racers in his first professional action before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers after a handful of games. As part of a series of 24 NHL games held in non-league markets during the 1992-93 season , the arena hosted its first NHL game on November 3, 1992, a matchup between the Chicago Blackhawks and
540-468: The Washington Capitals . The first event held at the arena was a Glen Campbell concert on September 15, 1974. Elvis Presley performed his final live concert here, in front of 18,000 people, on June 26, 1977, seven weeks before his death on August 16. The Bee Gees performed here on July 26, 1979, as part of their Spirits Having Flown Tour . Billy Graham 's 1980 Indiana Crusade, featuring
576-681: The Pacers with the ABA Finals played in Market Square Arena and Freedom Hall against their archrivals, the Kentucky Colonels . The Colonels defeated the Pacers in that championship series, winning the ABA title in five games (4 wins to 1). The 1975–76 Pacers won their final home ABA game in Market Square Arena with a 109–95 victory against the Colonels. (Kentucky won the next game by one point to win
612-512: The Silnas wealthy, earning them $ 186 million as of 2008, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer , and $ 255 million as of 2012 according to The New York Times . (The NBA nearly succeeded in buying out the Silnas in 1982 by offering $ 5 million over eight years, but negotiations stalled when the siblings demanded $ 8 million over five.) On June 27, 2007, it was extended for another eight years, ensuring another $ 100 million+ windfall for
648-424: The Silnas. In 2014, the Silnas reached agreement with the NBA to greatly reduce the perpetual payments and take a lump sum of $ 500 million. In the last few years before the lump sum agreement, the Silnas were receiving $ 14.57 million a year, despite being owners of a team that hadn't played a game in over 40 years. (The Silnas will, however, still be receiving a now much smaller portion of the television revenue through
684-662: The Underground tour to Market Square Arena with Yo-Yo , Poor Righteous Teachers , D-Nice , and Kid Rock . Troy Dixon, better known as Trouble T. Roy , was killed when he accidentally fell from the exit ramp to the ground two stories below following his performance with Heavy D and the Boyz on July 15, 1990. Hosted an Event In Your House 11: Buried Alive on October 20, 1996 Michael Jackson performed two consecutive sold–out shows at Market Square Arena, during his Bad World Tour on March 18–19, 1988. KISS ' show on November 28, 1992,
720-595: The arena completely. The arena's basketball floor remains preserved and housed nearby within the National Institute for Fitness and Sport in White River State Park . The site of the former arena was a parking lot for over a decade. The parking lot held a memorial to Elvis Presley , who played his final concert at MSA on June 26, 1977. The memorial was designed and built by Alan Clough. In January 2017, Cummins opened its Global Distribution Headquarters on
756-585: The arena was a preseason game against the Milwaukee Bucks ; the total attendance was 16,929. The first regular-season ABA game in the arena was held on October 18, 1974, against the San Antonio Spurs ; the Pacers lost in double overtime, 129–121 in front of 7,473 fans. The first Pacers victory in Market Square Arena came on October 23 with a 122–107 win over the Spirits of St. Louis . The 1974–75 season ended for
SECTION 20
#1732883882754792-491: The city for future development and revitalization. Students from the fourth-year design studio class at Ball State University College of Architecture and Planning met with the City of Indianapolis to review and select 20–26 projects for consideration. Students Joseph Mynhier and Terry Pastorino selected downtown Indianapolis as their market and designed what would become Market Square Arena. The design envisioned by Mynhier and Pastorino
828-407: The city of Indianapolis. Market Square hosted acts from Elvis Presley , Frank Sinatra , Eric Clapton , Kenny Rogers , Deep Purple , Cheap Trick , Grateful Dead , KISS , Metallica , and several Black Expo performances. Other events held at Market Square included circuses , Ice Capades , monster truck shows, indoor motocross racing, and rodeos . Market Square Arena was also the home of
864-592: The defending ABA champion New York Nets in the first round of the playoffs. But the team squandered this good start the following year. Despite inheriting several players (including Malone) from the Utah Stars after that franchise failed in the middle of the season, the Spirits finished well out of playoff contention in 1975–76. Attendance in St. Louis fell through the floor; they were lucky to draw crowds of more than 1,000 people in an 18,000-seat arena, and frequently drew crowds in
900-523: The hundreds. At season's end, negotiations were under way to move the franchise to Salt Lake City, Utah as the Utah Rockies . In the summer of 1976, with the ABA at the point of financial collapse, the six surviving franchises (the Virginia Squires went bankrupt immediately after the final season) began negotiating a merger with the NBA , but the senior circuit decided to accept only four teams from
936-574: The larger arenas hold more spectators than do the stadiums of smaller colleges or high schools. There are exceptions. The home of the Duke University men's and women's basketball teams would qualify as an arena, but the facility is called Cameron Indoor Stadium . Domed stadiums, which, like arenas, are enclosed but have the larger playing surfaces and seating capacities found in stadiums, are generally not referred to as arenas in North America. There
972-404: The league's chief disciplinarian and the number-two man behind commissioner David Stern ) for a number of years. On radio, the team featured Bob Costas as its play-by-play announcer on KMOX . Costas would go on to a highly successful career working for NBC television and radio. After a slow start in their inaugural season, 1974–75, the Spirits reached the playoffs with a late rush, then upset
1008-500: The record for consecutive games played in pro basketball for many years. One of the most colorful players on the team was forward Marvin Barnes , famous for stories about his off-court behavior and lack of understanding of time zones. A couple of off-court personalities from the team became well known as well. One of the coaches in 1975 was former NBA player Rod Thorn , who became the NBA's vice president of basketball operations (in essence,
1044-468: The rival league: the Nets (the last ABA champion), Denver Nuggets , Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs . The NBA placated John Y. Brown , owner of the Kentucky Colonels , by giving him a $ 3.3 million settlement in exchange for shutting his team down. (Brown later used much of that money to buy the Buffalo Braves of the NBA.) The owners of the Spirits, the brothers Ozzie and Daniel Silna , struck
1080-542: The series and advance, ending the Pacers' ABA tenure.) The Pacers continued to play at Market Square Arena after they joined the NBA in 1976; their first game at the arena as an NBA team was a 129–122 overtime loss to the Boston Celtics on October 21. Michael Jordan 's return to the Chicago Bulls after his first retirement took place at Market Square Arena in a loss to the Pacers on March 19, 1995. The arena also hosted
1116-688: The southern half of the site. A 28-story apartment building named 360 Market Square and containing a 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m) Whole Foods Market store opened in March 2018 on the northern half. The Elvis memorial was then placed on the sidewalk adjacent to 360 Market Square. Market Square Arena was best known as the home of the Indiana Pacers of the American Basketball Association and National Basketball Association from 1974 to 1999. The first Pacers basketball game held in
Market Square Arena - Misplaced Pages Continue
1152-434: Was built using a $ 16 million contribution from the city of Indianapolis. Market Square Arena's original center-hung scoreboard was an American Sign & Indicator scoreboard with monochrome matrix screens, similar to those which would be installed at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum and Joe Louis Arena . Its replacement, another American Sign & Indicator model, but with a color matrix screen on each of its four sides,
1188-809: Was filmed during a concert at the arena on December 11, 1987. Andre The Giant won the WWF Heavyweight Championship , ending Hulk Hogan 's first reign. This was televised live on NBC 's The Main Event I on February 5, 1988. On July 28, 1988 Run-DMC performed their Run's House Tour at the arena with EPMD , Public Enemy , and DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince . On June 15, 1989, Eazy-E and N.W.A . performed as part of their "Eazy Duz It/Straight Outta Compton" Tour, The D.O.C. , Kid 'n Play , J. J. Fad , Too Short , and Kwamé . On November 30, 1990, Ice Cube and Too Short bought their Straight from
1224-501: Was installed in time for the 1985 NBA All-Star Game held in the city and remained at the arena for the rest of its life, where it would later be complemented by front-projection video screens on each end of the arena. The Pacers moved to the new Conseco Fieldhouse, now Gainbridge Fieldhouse , for the 1999–2000 NBA season , and Market Square Arena was demolished on July 8, 2001, in a multimillion-dollar implosion performed by Controlled Demolition, Inc. It only took 12 seconds to demolish
1260-444: Was later selected and used as a promotional tool by the City of Indianapolis for construction of the stadium. The city selected four architectural firms to complete the arena design with two representatives from each of the four companies. Terry Pastorino, who had worked for the firm of Kennedy, Brown & Trueblood during the summer of 1970 on the project, later joined the firm working on the arena. The original student design included
1296-587: Was recorded and released as a live album, entitled Alive III . Wayne Gretzky first skated out on the ice to start his pro hockey career here. Michael Jordan made his first comeback from retirement at Market Square Arena on March 19, 1995; the Pacers defeated the Bulls in overtime in what was the most-watched NBA game on television in 20 years. Indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre , musical performances , and/or sporting events . It
#753246