AmericanAirlines Arena

The venue where the Miami Heat play their home games is the AmericanAirlines Arena, which is located at 601 Biscayne Blvd in Miami, Florida. The stadium, which as a maximum capacity of 19,600 during NBA basketball games, cost between $175 and $215 million to build. The AmericanAirlines Arena opened on December 31, 1999, with the first event ever held their being a concert by pop music star Gloria Estefan. The Heat played their first game at the arena on January 2, 2000 after playing their first several seasons at Miami Arena, an indoor venue also formerly used by the NHL's Florida Panthers and the University of Miami's men's basketball team. The "Triple-A" as it is sometimes known in the local media was also the home court for the WNBA's Miami Sol team from 2000 until it ceased operations following the 2002 campaign.

The First NBA Game at AmericanAirlines Arena

As mentioned above, the first game ever played by the Miami Heat at the AmericanAirlines Arena took place on January 2, 2000. Their opponents in that contest were their in-state rivals, the Orlando Magic. Orlando led for much of the game, and with just three minutes left to play, the Heat trailed 93-83. However, the rallied and center Alonzo Mourning tied the game at 96-all by hitting a jump shot with less than 10 seconds to play. The game went to overtime, and in the end, Miami pulled away, winning the contest by the final score of 11-103. Leading the way for the Heat was Voshon Lenard, who scored 24 points. Mourning added 21. Afterwards, former Miami coach and current team president Pat Riley has this to say about the new arena in an interview with the Associated Press: "It's a dream come true. It's a first-class facility for the fans, the players and the city to feel proud of. One day we'd really, really, really like to celebrate the ultimate win here."