PPG Paints Arena

The Penguins' downtown arena and Pittsburgh's main concert stage

PPG Paints Arena is the indoor arena on Fifth Avenue at the edge of downtown Pittsburgh, and it has been the home of the Pittsburgh Penguins since it opened in 2010. It seats 18,187 for hockey and about 19,000 for basketball, and concert capacity ranges from roughly 14,500 to 19,800 depending on the stage. It opened as Consol Energy Center and took its current name in October 2016.

Beyond the Penguins, it is the city's main room for arena tours and has hosted NCAA men's basketball tournament rounds, the 2012 NHL Draft and the Frozen Four in 2013 and 2021.

• Penguins hockey: October into April, with playoff dates possible after that. Weekend games and visits from the Philadelphia Flyers draw the strongest demand.
• Concerts and events: year-round, often packed into the summer months when hockey is off.

PPG Paints Arena seating chart: the two-tier layout

The arena uses a simple two-tier bowl, which keeps the upper level closer to the ice than in arenas with three stacked tiers:

• 100 level: the lower bowl, listed by seating guides as sections 101 through 122, ringing the ice or floor.
• Suites, loge boxes and clubs: a premium ring between the two tiers, including the F.N.B. Club.
• 200 level: the upper bowl, listed as sections 201 through 234. Because the upper tier wraps a larger ring, it has more sections than the lower tier.

Those ranges come from independent seating guides and match the section numbers the arena's own A to Z guide names, such as 106, 119, 206 and 234. The arena publishes event-specific seating charts on its site, and the floor layout changes with every concert, so check the map for your event.

Best seats for Penguins games and concerts

Hockey

The best seats are on the long sides of the 100 level, between the blue lines, roughly 10 to 20 rows up. From there you are above the glass and can see plays develop at both ends. Front rows are a great experience for speed and contact, but the glass and the players' benches make it hard to follow play along your own side.

The 200 level is the arena's value tier. Its center-line sections give a complete view of the rink, and the first rows of the upper tier often beat the last rows of a lower-level corner for watching the game as a whole. Seats directly behind the nets in the upper corners are the least useful for hockey, since depth is hard to judge from that angle.

The Penguins shoot twice at one end of the rink. The team does not publish which end in its guides, so if attack-end seats matter to you, ask before buying.

Concerts

For an end-stage show, the floor and the lower-level sections on the long sides angled toward the stage are the strongest seats. Sections beside the stage may have partial or side views, and seats behind the stage are often not sold at all. For center-stage or in-the-round shows, the lower-level sides become the best seats in the house.

Getting there: light rail, buses and parking

• Light rail: Steel Plaza station, at Ross Street and Sixth Avenue, is the closest T station. Wood Street and First Avenue stations also work. The arena notes that T service within the Golden Triangle is free, which makes park-and-walk from downtown garages or a downtown hotel easy.
• Buses: Pittsburgh Regional Transit routes along Fifth and Forbes avenues (61A, 61B, 61C, 61D, 71A, 71C, 71D) and routes 81 and 83 stop near the arena.
• Parking: the arena's own lots are cashless, and the arena garage is available for non-hockey events. Rates vary by event, and the arena strongly encourages prepaying through ParkWhiz. Check the current parking page before you go.
• Rideshare and taxis: the designated rideshare zone is at Wylie Avenue and Fullerton Street; taxis wait outside the F.N.B. Gate.

Downtown garages a few blocks west are often easier to leave after the game than the lots beside the arena, and the walk is short and mostly flat.

PPG Paints Arena bag policy and entry (as of October 2026)

PPG Paints Arena enforces a near-total bag ban. As of October 2026, the arena's A to Z guide allows only small wallets or wristlets (listed at 4 by 6 by 1 inches), medical bags and diaper bags. The Penguins' ticket FAQ lists a slightly larger wristlet limit of 4 by 6 by 1.5 inches, so the two published sources differ; plan for the smaller size.

• Not allowed: backpacks, large bags, coolers and sealed packages, including gifts for performers or players.
• Medical and diaper bags: must pass X-ray screening; items that fail go back to the car.
• Tickets: mobile tickets on a phone; print-at-home PDFs have not been accepted since July 2018.
• Payment: the arena is cashless, with free reverse ATMs that convert cash to prepaid cards in the Highmark Lobby, the F.N.B. Club and near sections 106, 119, 206 and 234.
• Re-entry and smoking: no re-entry, and no smoking anywhere in the building.
• Outside food: not permitted.

Doors generally open one hour before the event. The entrances are the EQT Gate (Fifth Avenue at Washington Place), the Highmark Gate (lower entrance) and the F.N.B. Gate (upper entrance), the latter two on the opposite street from the Fifth Avenue entrance. Check the venue's current policy at the PPG Paints Arena A to Z guide before you go. Every GoodSeats order is backed by a 100% guarantee, including guaranteed entry.

History: from the Igloo to Consol Energy Center to PPG Paints

The arena opened on August 18, 2010, replacing the Civic Arena, the domed building known as the Igloo where the Penguins had played since 1967. It cost about 321 million dollars and is owned by the Sports & Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. Its original hockey capacity of 18,087 was a nod to Sidney Crosby's number 87; capacity has since been adjusted to 18,387 in 2011 and 18,187 in 2023.

It was the first LEED Gold certified arena in the NHL, a green-building rating for energy and water efficiency. The building was renamed PPG Paints Arena on October 4, 2016, months after the Penguins won the first of back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017.

Sources

• Wikipedia – PPG Paints Arena
• PPG Paints Arena – A to Z Guide
• PPG Paints Arena – Directions and Parking
• PPG Paints Arena – Public Transportation
• Pittsburgh Penguins – Ticket FAQ
• Wikipedia – Pittsburgh Penguins
• A View From My Seat – PPG Paints Arena sections