It was built from 1997 to 1999 as part of the Daniel L. Ritchie Center, the sports complex at the University of Denver.

[1] The arena is named after cable television pioneer Bob Magness, who donated $10 million towards construction costs.

It features padded individual seating, two members-only club seating areas, a four-sided video scoreboard, and a concourse with glassed-in views of the adjoining Hamilton Gymnasium and El Pomar Natatorium.

The largest hockey crowd in arena history was a game between Denver and Colorado College on March 9, 2024, with an attendance of 7,033.

[2] The largest non-hockey event in the arena was a 2008 presidential campaign rally for Barack Obama, where about 10,000 people attended.