The arena's construction broke ground in 2002, and the Coyotes moved into the arena a year later in late 2003. The team had spent its first several seasons since relocating from Winnipeg in 1996 in the America West Arena (now the US Airways Center) in downtown Phoenix. The AWA was not an old arena (it had made its debut as the new home of the NBA's Phoenix Suns only four years earlier, in 1992) but it was primarily designed for NBA basketball. It was quickly retrofitted for hockey. However, the arena floor was just barely large enough to fit a regulation hockey rink, and several seats had badly obstructed views. As a result, before the team's second season in Phoenix, it had to be cut down from over 18,000 seats to just over 16,000--the second-smallest capacity in the NHL at the time, until the Colorado Avalanche moved into the Pepsi Center in 1999 and the Toronto Maple Leafs moved to Air Canada Centre later in the season; after that point, America West Arena was the smallest NHL venue. A small section of seats on the lower level actually hung over the boards, obstructing the views from 3,000 seats. In addition, an unfavorable lease caused financial problems from which the Coyotes have still not recovered.
When the Coyotes were sold to a partnership led by Steve Ellman, that group committed to building a new arena in suburban Glendale. Originally promised to open in 2001, "Glendale Arena" opened midway through the 2003-04 season, on December 26th, 2003, with the Arizona Sting of the National Lacrosse League defeating the Vancouver Ravens, 16-12. The first NHL game was held the next evening, as the Coyotes dropped a 3-1 decision to the Nashville Predators on December 27, 2003.
