The Wells Fargo Center has unveiled its latest offering for Philadelphia Flyers games, with fans of the NHL ice hockey franchise being invited to unload the stress that can occur when watching their team in action via what is being described as the first-ever ‘rage room’ inside a major professional sports arena.
Earlier this month, the Wells Fargo Center unveiled the Assembly Room as part of its reimagined New City Terrace level. Named for the Assembly Room found inside Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the open-concept club has been designed as an upscale bar and lounge environment.
However, located behind an unassuming library wall inside the Assembly Room is the latest immersive fan experience introduced in the most recent phase of Transformation 2020, the $265m (£211m/€240.3m) revamp of the arena.
The Disassembly Room will stand as a signature attraction in itself and through scheduled sessions that can be reserved in advance, participants wearing protective gear can smash, break, and unleash their rage upon everyday items like televisions and dishes using items such as bats and sledgehammers. Flyers and Wells Fargo Center officials said some of the items that can be disassembled might even bear the logo of an opposing team.
“The concept is definitely one-of-a-kind and non-traditional,” said Valerie Camillo, president of business operations for the Philadelphia Flyers and Wells Fargo Center. “We ran the concept by some of our fans who told us they thought this would be a fresh way to have some harmless fun.”
The inspiration for the entire Assembly Room came about from a unique design process. The Wells Fargo Center united SCI Architects, the firm behind Transformation 2020 with some of the organisation’s most creative young employees. The team was charged with creating a must-see attraction that was also uniquely Philadelphia.
“During the process, we challenged the team to create concepts that were unlike anything seen before in a sports venue,” said Camillo.
The design team pressed for a signature experience to reflect the club’s distinctiveness. A variety of trending experiences from across the country that might fit into the space were considered before the decision was made to refer to the well-known passion of the Philly sports fan. The Disassembly Room is accessible through a secret passage in the club and has a vestibule area where family and friends can watch those taking part.
Fans can access the Assembly Room through a general admission, standing-room-only ticket starting at $25 for Flyers games – the team’s first SRO ticket offering and one of the most affordable price points in the National Hockey League.
The launch of the rage room comes after the franchise this week unveiled a new immersive experience at Wells Fargo Center that allows fans to be “grittified” to look like the team’s famous mascot (pictured).
The Flyers’ home opener, a 4-0 win over the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday, also saw the debut of two new sports lounges. First announced last month, the BetRivers.com Sports Lounge and the Rivers Casino Philadelphia Sports Lounge allow sports fans to watch the Flyers, NBA basketball team the 76ers, and other Wells Fargo Center events along with other live events on nearly 100 screens while betting via the BetRivers Pennsylvania app on their personal mobile devices.
The agreement between the Wells Fargo Center, BetRivers.com, and the soon-to-be Rivers Casino Philadelphia also forges a marketing partnership that includes advertising inside the arena’s bowl and throughout the concourse as well as radio, billboards and digital media placements.
“We are thrilled to launch our partnership with SugarHouse, soon to be Rivers Casino and BetRivers.com, through these sport lounges which will undoubtedly elevate the game day experience at the Wells Fargo Center,” said Camillo. “Both spaces are stunning additions to what has already been the most transformative phase of our renovation project and we know our fans will be delighted with the design and experience.”
Transformation 2020 has also seen the introduction of a new Kinetic 4K centre-hung scoreboard, an all-inclusive event-level VIP club, and complete redesigns of both levels housing the lounges.
Image: Wells Fargo Center
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