📍 Orlando, Florida
🏀 Home of the Orlando Magic

Orlando is an entertainment hotbed, home to countless amusement parks – including the Happiest Place on Earth – specialty museums and several pro sports teams. Among the latter, the Orlando Magic is the only Big 4 team in the city and the only franchise sponsored by the area’s largest employer: Disney World, which itself has hosted a variety of sporting events. Founded in 1989, the Magic have played adjacent to downtown at the shimmering Kia Center for the last 15 years, where they’ve continued to dazzle and enchant fans here in the City Beautiful.

Holding almost 19,000 for basketball, Kia Center opened in 2010 to replace the aging Amway Arena, a decidedly lackluster coliseum that was located just a few blocks north. A far more modern venue that’s both versatile and amenity-rich, the Magic’s present home sits across Interstate 4 from downtown Orlando, separated but not disconnected from the heart of the city.

Keeping in line with the festive wonder that Orlando is famous for, Magic games are something of a spectacle themselves. The fun begins well in advance of the doors even opening, with an outdoor block party keeping fans busy for hours with food and games before they finally head inside. From the moment the arena fills with smoke prior to the game, to the Magic Beatz drum line that performs at halftime, to the final whistle and the confetti that rains down after a hometown win as players dance around on the court to the team’s theme song, the Kia Center is the site of the biggest party in downtown on a nightly basis.

Like any good party should, the Kia Center features a plethora of good food for fans to enjoy. Outposts of local and national chains like PDQ, Checkers and Papa John’s sit alongside craft breweries, a Mexican cantina, cheesesteak carts, a bourbon bar and even a stand that serves banana pudding. A central hangout space called the “OZone” is also perched above the action on the promenade level, home to a full service bar and a standing room area where fans can mingle. Nearby, there’s a little arcade with lots of retro games for kids to enjoy and Stuff’s Magic Castle playground for an even younger crowd.

Down on the main concourse is a museum-like fan experience dedicated to the history of the Orlando Magic franchise. This Hall of Fame area boasts interactive exhibits and memorabilia from the last several decades of Orlando basketball, highlighting the origin story of the team as well as star players like Shaquille O’Neal, Dwight Howard and Vince Carter, among others.

The Magic’s postseason success is also front and center, including their seven Division titles and the two Conference titles that would send them to the NBA Finals in 1995 and 2009. Despite their lack of a championship, the Magic remain one of the more competitive small-market teams.

As its primary tenant continues to search for postseason glory, the Kia Center will also continue to host world-class events – like the 2012 NBA All-Star Game – and one day, will hopefully see Orlando lift high its first championship trophy here inside this glass and steel Magic kingdom.