TD Banknorth Garden, formerly called FleetCenter, is a sports arena in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It is the home arena for the Boston Bruins, an NHL team, and the Boston Celtics, an NBA team. Like most sports arenas, it also hosts other events, such as concerts, shows, conventions, graduations, wrestling matches, seminars, ice shows, and circuses.

History

When constructed to replace the aging Boston Garden as the home of the Boston Bruins hockey team and the Boston Celtics basketball team, the arena was called FleetCenter. The arena opened on September 30, 1995. As suggested by its original name, the arena was largely privately sponsored, mainly by Fleet Bank of Boston. When construction started, it was intended to be called the Shawmut Center, after the original private sponsor, Shawmut Bank. During the course of its construction, Shawmut Bank was bought by Fleet Bank, and the partially completed building was renamed.

The name of the arena was expected to change as a result of the April 1, 2004 merger of FleetBoston Financial Group with Bank of America. On January 5, 2005, Bank of America and FleetCenter's owner, Delaware North Companies, announced an agreement under which the bank made a payment to be released from the remaining six years on the naming rights agreement. The agreement left Delaware North free to sell the naming rights to another sponsor. On March 3, 2005, Maine-based TD Banknorth , the U.S. subsidiary of Toronto-Dominion Bank, announced its purchase of the naming rights. The company named the facility "TD Banknorth Garden" in honor of the original Boston Garden. The name will officially become the TD Banknorth Garden on July 1, 2005. Until then, it goes under the name "YourGarden".

In 2005, while still searching for a long-term corporate sponsor, the FleetCenter conducted auctions on eBay for the one-day naming rights for each day in the last two weeks of February, with the proceeds donated to charity. It also made private arrangements with a few companies for one-day naming rights, and offered one day's rights in an employee raffle. One notable occasion occured when Kerry Konrad, a New York City lawyer, won naming rights for March 1st and proposed the name the DerekJeter Center, after the New York Yankees shortstop, as a tease on fellow Harvard alum. Being in the heart of Red Sox Nation, this did not sit well will with the executives, and an agreement was reached to call it the New Boston Garden, Home of the The Jimmy Fund Champions'. One-day names that were in effect are listed here.

TD Banknorth Garden, under the name FleetCenter, hosted the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

Facilities

TD Banknorth Garden is built on top of Boston's North Station, a major transportation hub. The Commuter Rail waiting area becomes crowded during events due to this design. Connections to the Orange Line and Green Line are a block away.