A popular Albany, NY arena went through another name change at the beginning of this year.

Well, I have been to Albany for concerts and wrestling events over the years for as long back as I can remember. As a matter of fact, 30 years ago last month I attended what many wrestling fans feel was the greatest WWE Royal Rumble event of all time.  It was back on Jan. 19, 1992, when Ric Flair won the World Championship Title at what was then called the Knickerbocker Arena.

Arena History

The arena opened as the Knickerbocker Arena on Jan. 30, 1990, with a performance from Frank Sinatra. The naming rights to the arena were sold to Pepsi in 1997 and it became known as the Pepsi Arena from 1997 to 2006. The naming rights were once again sold in 2006 to the largest newspaper in the Albany area, the Times Union, and the arena became known as the Times Union Center for the past 15 years. Reportedly, it was announced on Nov. 15, 2021, that MVP Health Services had acquired the naming rights as the Times Union declined to renew its contract. Who knew?

MVP Arena

The popular arena in Albany became known as MVP Arena on Jan 1, 2022. I have been clearly out of the loop as I had no idea. I had been talking about shows coming to the arena up until very recently and still calling it the Times Union Center. A listener recently wrote me to let me know of my blunder. Doh! It's going to take me a while to get used to the new name I believe, personally.

So many Memories

Whether it was the countless wrestling events like the Royal Rumble 92, or concerts like the numerous times seeing bands such as Metallica, Aerosmith, Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne, Def Leppard, Poison or AC/DC (second-row center May 7, 2001, for the Stiff Upper Lip Tour), that arena holds some special memories as both Knickerbocker Arena and Pepsi Arena. We'll have to make more memories under the name MVP Arena.

Some upcoming shows of note at the MVP Arena in Albany include:

Journey with special guest: Toto March 8

Korn with special guests: Chevelle and Code Orange March 20

Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco March 28

WWE Friday Night Smackdown April 22

Comedian Katt Williams May 6

Slipknot with Cypress Hill May 24

Roger Waters July 20

Check out the official MVP Arena website here for more show info.

Here are All of the Capital Region Rock Concerts, and Beyond, Scheduled for 2022!

Updated regularly so keep checking back!

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