[12] The arena is home to a statue of basketball great Michael Jordan, posed mid-air in his iconic "flying" jump, erected in 1994.

[17] The United Center's acoustics were designed to amplify noise to replicate "The Roar" – the din that made Chicago Stadium famous, especially during hockey games.

[22][self-published source] While the Blackhawks and Bulls had long planned another arena, an inflated real estate market and the early 1990s recession delayed the project until financing was secured from an international syndicate, with funding by banks from Japan, Australia and France.

[19] Per the team owners' request, the City of Chicago closed a section of Monroe Street west of the stadium, as the venue's footprint extends into where the road's sidewalk had previously been located.

He argued that the venue's design had intentionally closed the arena off from its surroundings, which at the time included the (since-demolished) Henry Horner Homes public housing.

[19] In 2008, the United Center saw the debut of the Harris Club, private premium seating area that filled space previous occupied by several club-level suites.

The Harris Club was an open lounge premium seating area with a capacity of 236 ticketholders fitted with amenities such including a Nintendo Wii, a pool table, three bars, a buffet, and multiple televisions.

[26] In time for the 2009–10 season of its sports tenants, the United Center's 300 level saw its concourse renovated with the addition of 144 flat screen televisions, new food and beverage stations above select seating sections and two new bars that open up to panoramic views of the arena.

Another notable addition were illuminated signs on each side of the arena's 300 level seating bowl reading "Welcome to the Madhouse".

The lines on the court have been changed from red and white to all black to emphasize the bold colors of the Bulls brand.

The two-story venue was built out as a non-wagering space complete with FanDuel branding with screens featuring other live sports events.

[35] The Reinsdorf and Wirtz families who own the United Center and much of the surrounding land have considered development schemes for the area.

The Blackhawks clinched two Stanley Cups on the ice of their opponent in the sixth game of the series (Philadelphia's Wachovia Center in 2010 and Boston's TD Garden in 2013).

The Blackhawks won the 2015 Finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning at home in the sixth game, the first time since 1938 the Hawks clinched the Cup in Chicago.

[39] Both the 2017–18 and 2018–19 seasons saw the United Center hosting the University of Wisconsin Badgers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish rivalry game.

The Illinois State High School Hockey Championships are hosted at the United Center yearly for the Blackhawk Cup.

On March 3, 2018, WWE returned to the United Center for the first time in over 20 years with a Raw brand "Road to WrestleMania" house show.

[44] The event marked Chicago native CM Punk's AEW debut and return to professional wrestling after a retirement of 7 years from the sport.

[45] AEW also held another event at the United Center in partnership with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) on June 26, 2022, titled AEW×NJPW: Forbidden Door.

[54] On the weekend of March 5–6, 2011, the Professional Bull Riders made their Built Ford Tough Series debut at the United Center.

The event at the United Center presented a unique scenario as instead of dirt, white crushed stone was used to cover the arena floor.

The first was Billy Joel, who stated the "...acoustics could use some work.." Harry Styles, Olivia Rodrigo, P!nk, New Kids on the Block, Guns N' Roses, Prince, Beyoncé, Adele, The Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, Taylor Swift, Madonna, U2, Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, Van Halen, Iron Maiden, Aerosmith, KISS, Bon Jovi, Barbra Streisand, Billie Eilish, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Janet Jackson, Blackpink, Celine Dion, Coldplay, BTS, Stray Kids, The Who, Pearl Jam, Green Day, blink-182, Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga, Muse, The Killers, Rod Wave, Megan thee Stallion, Dua Lipa and Sabrina Carpenter have all had sold-out shows for their concerts in this arena, as well as Dave Matthews Band, who released its 1998 show at the venue, entitled Live in Chicago 12.19.98 at the United Center.

The most well-known of these is the statue of Michael Jordan, also known as "The Spirit", on the east side of the arena in an atrium (opened in 2017) outside Gate Four.

The back of the statue features the names of all Blackhawks players up to that point, along with a marble plaque commemorating Chicago Stadium.

In October 2020, the statue was vandalized in protest of the team's use of Native American iconography as a logo and was temporarily removed for repairs.

Blackhawks legends Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita received bronze statues in their honor outside of the United Center during the 2011–12 NHL season.

Despite this change, the arena continued to use United's previous tulip logo for the 2010–11 season and in the 2011 NHL and NBA playoffs.