Kemper Arena 1800 Genessee Kansas City, Missouri 64102

All info applies to when the facility was still Kemper
Capacity: 18,046 (soccer and hockey-full arena); 18,646 (basketball); 19,546 (concerts)
Suites: 24; 2 for TV/Radio Broadcasts; 4 for Handicapped
Restaurant/Lounge: Replay’s
Floor Space: 18,046 square feet; 30,000 square feet with seats retracted
Former Tenants: Brigade, Comets (MISL), Outlaws (UHL), Blades (IHL), Red Wings (CHL), Blues (CHL), Scouts (NHL), Kings (NBA), Attack (NPSL), Explorers (WTT), Amercan Royal Rodeo & Livestock Show, Big 8/Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament, Knights (ABA)
KC was awarded an NHL franchise in 1972. The team was to begin play in 1974, but there wasn’t a facility to house an NHL team.
Taxpayers in Johnson County, Kansas voted against building a new arena. The area that had been proposed was 111th Street between Antioch and Switzer.
So, with citizens across the state line against paying for a new arena, R. Crosby Kemper stepped in with millions of dollars to build a new arena in Kansas City, Missouri. He designated the stockyards for a new state of the art arena. The arena would be named after him because of his generosity.
Kemper Arena has come a long ways. After only standing for 5 years, it suffered damage during a major thunderstorm. On June 4, 1979, the same night the arena’s designer was in town accepting an
award for the design, the roof collapsed. Fortunately, the arena was empty. Two days prior to the catastrophe, 13,500 people were attending a Tractor Pull.
Kemper has been home to the Scouts, Blues, Red Wings, Blades, and Outlaws. The Blades had the longest tenure of any of the teams, having played there for 11 years.
The city sold the building and it has been transformed into a multilevel 8,500 seat sports complex. The facility is named the Hy-Vee Arena.