The 2009 NBA All Star game will be played at the US Airways Center on Sunday February 15th and light rail will play a major part in the festivities! I had an opportunity yesterday to get some great information about the fun-filled week that will take place around this amazing event in our downtown. In this video, Rick Welts, President of the Phoenix Suns, gives us some great insight on the happenings that will take place surrounding the 2009 NBA All Star Game. Rick talks about the approximately 500,000 square feet of space at the convention center that will be used for housing a 3000 seat “mini-arena” where All Star’s will practice and celebrities will play. He also mentions they expect over 100,000 people to visit the convention center over the course of the four days of interactive activities. “Hopefully all of them taking light rail to get here“ said Rick.
Friday night will begin the three nights of exciting action at US Airways Center including the following events: Friday Feb 13th: Youth Jam – 1st and second year players Saturday Feb 14th: Slam Dunk Contest, Shooting contest etc. All followed by the NBA All Star Game on Sunday the 15th.
Another really exciting part about this event is the fact that it is all located in downtown Phoenix. The beautiful new Convention Center is just North of US Airways Center and between the two will be a huge “media center” on the entire block between 1st and 2nd streets from Jefferson to Washington. In fact, as I write this, the old JC Penny building is being demolished so that this can be completed by February! For this event, there will be over 2000 media credentials given out to representatives of 200 different countries. Talk about a chance for Phoenix to shine! This will also be a great chance for people to utilize our new light rail system to get to and from their destinations.
The parking downtown will be at a premium, smart people will use light rail to get to and from their activities. I am sure the park and ride lots will be used extensively as will any parking lot along the entire route. Our light rail map can help guide you to your destination and help you see which park and ride lot or light rail stop is closest to where you want to be. Travelers from all over the world will be able to utilize the new light rail system to get to hundreds of destinations along the line! In February, you will be able to search RailLife.com for your favorite restaurant, shop or business along the line to make your trip much more convenient.
We will be adding more about this fun even in the future so stay tuned! 🙂
I would never have concidered going downtown during a big event like the NBA alstar game. Now I won’t have to try to park and I may go for it this time! Hopefully you guys will have a cool list of “hot spots” the rail can help me hit.
Jeff,
Without a doubt, we will have a list of fun stuff to do around there. I’ll write some more about it just after the first of the year and will have links on the site by then as well.
Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
NBA all the way