T-Mobile Arena makes a Titanic first impression

By John Katsilometes

Sunday, March 27, 2016 | 2 a.m.

You never forget your first impression, and mine after my maiden voyage into T-Mobile Arena was of the Titanic.

Not that one. This vessel will sail just fine. But of the movie by the same name, specifically the famed scene where Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicolas Cascone take to the ship’s hull and lean forward, with DiCaprio shouting, “I’m king of the world!”

Two platforms at T-Mobile remind me of that scene. They serve as the tent posts of Hyde Lounge, high above the arena’s floor and its 20,000 seats. You can walk to the pointed tip of each deck, spread your arms and call out your fiefdom (if you’re not disturbing anyone). Already, some folks who have toured the arena have done this.

Hyde Lounge is connected by a lengthy club space that rings about a quarter of the arena on its second level. It is the third such arena lounge developed by Hyde parent company SBE, joining clubs at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami. The lounge at T-Mobile will offer a full menu and bottle service during events and is just one of the amenities that AEG and MGM Resorts International officials say enable T-Mobile to rival any arena in the country.

As the final few seats are installed in advance of the April 6 opening (a night of music by the Killers and Wayne Newton), we look at a few other highlights from T-Mobile Arena.

• The mesh wall covering the arena façade facing the Strip is 200 feet across by 45 feet high and will be used as a giant LED screen. The four towers at the front of the facility, in Toshiba Square just off the entrance, will hold four oversized screens apiece, 12 overall, to beam events to folks walking to that square from the Park.

• The Park will have three stages, where live performers will entertain people entering the building, giving entertainers additional work.

• The seating is steeper than expected, but even the seats in the very back row are relatively close to the action. It’s a deep “rake,” to use a facility term, and reminds many people of the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo., another AEG arena that seats about 19,000 and is known for its depth and close seating. If and when T-Mobile hosts an NHL team, it should be a particularly loud venue, given the tight ring around the action.

• There are eight “event-level” suites on the floor of the arena, each outfitted with two flat-screen monitors, a bar, barstools, couches and seating for 16, who will also receive tickets for seats in the arena. The glass windows allow guests to see out without being seen, though the view is of folks walking into the venue and not quite the arena floor.

• A total of 44 luxury suites surround the lower level of seats. They each seat 12 to 16 ticket-holders and feature full bars and open seating to the arena.

• The rectangular LED video screen in the center of the arena measures 26 feet wide and 20 feet high.

• Four locker rooms were built to the specifications of professional leagues: two for the NBA and two for the NHL.

• The exterior portion of the arena with the LED wall was designed to reflect the architecture on the Strip. The copper façade facing west was intended to blend with the high-desert landscape of Red Rock Canyon.

• A common phrase for fan coordination: “Meet me at the Bliss Dance statue.” Another: “We’re just under the Titanic deck at Hyde.”