Upon the completion of the Ice Palace, both the Lightning and the Storm moved in. Petersburg, Florida, joining the Tampa Bay Storm, in 1994. Prior to the opening of the Ice Palace, the Lightning moved to the Florida Suncoast Dome, which was nicknamed the "Thunderdome," in St. Originally named the Ice Palace, the 670,000-square-foot Amalie Arena opened in 1996 with the Royal Hanneford Circus. The arena was built as a new home for the Lightning after the club outgrew the older, smaller Expo Hall at the Florida State Fairgrounds. In addition to being the Lightnings home rink, the Amalie Arena has hosted a myriad of other spectacular sporting events, including NCAA Tournament games, PBR. Since 1996, the Lightning have been playing at Amalie Arena, which sits in a prime location in downtown Tampa and offers one of the better fan experiences in the NHL. One reason to be excited about the Tampa Bay Lightning season is that our team looks strong. The first hockey game was the Lightning hosting the New York Rangers, which the Lightning won by a score of 5–2. Unique meeting and banquet space available for groups of two to 25,000. It is the home of the Tampa Bay Lightning NHL Hockey Team, Tampa Bay Storm AFL Football Team, and is host to well over 150 spectacular entertainment events annually. The building opened in 1996 and was originally known as the Ice Palace. It is mainly used as the home for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League. Its first event was a performance by the Royal Hanneford Circus. A state of the art multi-purpose, sports/entertainment venue located in downtown Tampa between The Florida Aquarium and the Tampa Convention Center. Amalie Arena (officially stylized as AMALIE Arena) is a multipurpose arena in Tampa, Florida, that has been used for ice hockey, basketball, arena football, concerts, and other events. to secure funding to construct an arena on Tampa Sports Authority land near Tampa Stadium. The venue, located in Downtown Tampa's Channelside District was a secondary location chosen after the failure of Tampa Coliseum Inc. It is home to the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League and the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League. Arena Football: 18,500 Amalie Arena is an arena in Tampa, Florida, that has been used for ice hockey, basketball, and arena football games, as well as concerts.