Smoothie King Center (locally referred to as SKC) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New Orleans, Louisiana.

When the New Orleans Hornets arrived in 2002, they persuaded the state government to demand that the Brass foot the cost of converting the arena between basketball and hockey configurations.

The Hornets played their first game at the Smoothie King Center versus the Utah Jazz on October 30, 2002.

Following Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, medical operations that had previously been housed in the Superdome were moved to the Arena.

Medical personnel had been working in an area of the Superdome with poor lighting, leaking ceilings and soggy carpet.

The Arena's design was tested in 1996 by CPP, a wind engineering consulting firm, so it fared far better than the Superdome during the storm and was in better condition to house sensitive medical operations.

On March 8, 2006, the Hornets played their first home game at the arena since Hurricane Katrina and the start of the 2005–06 season.

[11] On February 5, 2014, it was announced that a 10-year agreement was reached to rename New Orleans Arena the Smoothie King Center prior to the 2014 NBA All-Star Game.

The arena was set to host the 2020 Women's Final Four, before it was eventually canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.