[11] The arena was originally laid out in a rather unusual manner, with the club seats and luxury boxes aligned solely along one side of the playing surface, and the general admission seating along the other three sides (the arrangement was later emulated in Ford Field, Addition Financial Arena, Soldier Field, Levi's Stadium, and other venues).

This layout was a vast contrast to many of its contemporaries, which have their revenue-generating luxury boxes and club seats located in the 'belly' of the arena, thus causing the upper deck to be 2–4 stories higher.

The side facing the Georgia World Congress Center originally spelled out "CNN" (whose headquarters adjoins the arena), but that section has since been altered to accommodate a Taco Mac restaurant.

Eindhoven, Netherlands-based technology company Philips purchased the initial naming rights to the arena in February 1999 for $185 million over 20 years.

Title banners During the late 1980s and early 1990s, many cities started building new state-of-the-art sporting venues for their NBA and/or NHL franchises, or in hopes of attaining one.

Many of these arenas had modern amenities for their high-end customers, such as luxury boxes, club seats, and large, posh club-level concourses; some even had practice facilities on-site.

The Hawks split their games between the Georgia Dome and Alexander Memorial Coliseum for the next two seasons while Philips Arena was under construction.

The venue had been named the site of the 2005 Southeastern Conference Women's Basketball Tournament; however, when the NHL announced in early 2004 that the 55th NHL All-Star Game, scheduled for February 2005 would be held in Atlanta, arena officials withdrew the Southeastern Conference women's basketball tournament – which was then moved 140 miles to the northeast along Interstate 85 to the BI-LO Center in Greenville, South Carolina.

Philips Arena also hosted the 2011 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony, the night before WrestleMania XXVII which was held at the Georgia Dome.

[19] The arena hosted the February 19, 2020 episode of AEW Dynamite featuring All Elite Wrestling's first-ever Steel cage match.

The conference typically takes place over the first weekend in the new year and features big names in the Christian world such as Louie Gigilio, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Kristian Stanfill, John Piper, rap artist Lecrae and many more.

The semifinals saw South Korean teams T1 and DRX progress to the finals, held at the Chase Center in San Francisco.

[58] The Hawks are also in discussions with the city about building a mixed-use entertainment district similar to L.A. Live around Philips Arena, to better connect it to other nearby attractions such as Centennial Olympic Park and Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

With the renovation, the Hawks signed a lease extension lasting through June 30, 2046, with an early termination penalty of $200 million plus the remaining balance of the arena's bonds.

The arena renovations brought new premium seating areas, connected 360-degree concourses, a new center-hung videoboard three times larger than its predecessor as well as additional videoboards in the corners of the upper decks, new dining options including a bar and grill operated by country group Zac Brown Band and other unique features including an in-arena barber shop operated by Atlanta rapper Killer Mike and Topgolf suites.

[62][63][64][65][66] Due to the renovations conflicting with the WNBA schedule, the Dream announced that they would move their 2017 and 2018 home schedules to McCamish Pavilion on the campus of Georgia Tech, mirroring the Hawks' move to the same venue (then known as Alexander Memorial Coliseum) between the time the Omni was razed and State Farm Arena was built.

[70] On June 21, 2024, the Dream returned to State Farm Arena for the first time since 2019 when it hosted the Indiana Fever and its highly touted rookie Caitlin Clark.