Boston Celtics
“If we need to own the building, we’ll do that, but I think the other thing is when you do that you’ve got to make sure you’re not losing focus of what matters.”
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The Celtics have called TD Garden home since 1995, when it was opened as the FleetCenter.
It is the seventh-oldest arena in the NBA, following Madison Square Garden, Target Center, Delta Center, Footprint Center, United Center, and Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. The then-FleetCenter opened a couple weeks before what is now known as Portland’s Moda Center.
Madison Square Garden is the only arena left in the NBA that was built before 1990. There have been five NBA arenas built within the last decade: Intuit Dome, Chase Center, Fiserv Forum, Little Caesars Arena, and Golden One Center.
During an appearance WEEI’s Greg Hill Show on Tuesday, Celtics owner Bill Chisholm was asked if the Celtics need a new arena to stay competitive with other franchises financially.
“No, but I do think we need to have an arena that is consistent with the quality and the excellence of the Celtics. We need to create the best fan and player experience we can,” Chisholm said.
In terms of age, TD Garden is in the middle of the three venues that Boston’s major professional teams call home. Fenway Park opened in 1912. Gillette Stadium opened in 2002.
TD Garden, which opened in 1995, is the newest professional sports arena in the city. The Patriots play in Foxborough.
The Celtics do not own TD Garden. They have a lease agreement with Delaware North that allows them to play there.
“Do we need to own the building to do that?” Chisholm said, regarding his goals around the TD Garden experience. “No. But, we certainly need to have the ability to influence that agenda.
“If we need to own the building, we’ll do that, but I think the other thing is when you do that you’ve got to make sure you’re not losing focus of what matters. You’re in the business of running a world class basketball team that is putting up banners. That’s the true north. That’s what we need to work towards.”
Chisholm said a new building is not a necessity at the moment, but he did not rule out the possibility of exploring options in the future.
“I think we’ve got a really good partner right now on that front and we’ve got a really good location,” Chisholm said. “So making sure that we’re all aligned on that objective which is creating the best fan and player experience possible and make sure we don’t lose focus on what really matters, which is putting up banners.”
Back in April, Chisholm told The Boston Globe that TD Garden is a great place to play and that his preference would be to stay put there.
“My starting point is if we can make it work, we’d love to stay where we are,” Chisholm said. “And making it work means improving the fan experience and the player experience. If we can do those things and remain where we are now, that’s great.”
“And if that doesn’t work there, we’ll think about other places. But my goal here is to see if we ideally make it work where we are, and I think there’s a commitment with us, with the Bruins and Delaware North, with all of that. That’s where we want to end up and we’re working on it as we speak.”
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