As one of the modern facilities in Winnipeg's growing sports, hospitality and entertainment district (SHED), Bell MTS Place is a 15,000-plus-seat multi-purpose sports and entertainment arena.
Bell MTS Place boasts excellent sightlines from every seat, superb acoustics for concerts, and the best ambience and amenities for all kinds of sports such as NBA exhibition games, professional bull riding, Monster Jam, professional wrestling, and professional indoor soccer exhibitions, all which have played to audiences at Bell MTS Place. Winnipeg’s busiest entertainment venue can accommodate up to 17,000 concert-goers and can just as easily be curtained down to create an intimate concert setting for audiences as small as 2,500.
True North Sports + Entertainment strives to offer superior patron experience at Bell MTS Place, constantly investing in renovations and upgrades every year. This year the Bell MTS Place skywalk connecting Portage Place and Cityplace along Hargrave Street, including the Cityplace bridge, received a complete makeover. New flooring, an LED lighting upgrade, and a new colour scheme now aligns the skywalk with the fit and finish of Bell MTS Place and the concourse renovation unveiled in October 2017. The result is a brighter and more durable space designed to withstand the heavy volume of foot traffic. These improvements are part of True North’s multi-year venue improvement plan that in 2016 brought new ergonomic seating, improved sightlines, updated concessions and new digital technology that brings all the action to hundreds of big screens on all levels of Bell MTS Place.
Also new for the 2019-20 season is a full LED lighting replacement in the bowl. The latest technology in sport lighting brings new energy efficiency to the arena as well as improved lighting quality and features that will enhance all events hosted at Bell MTS Place and bring crisper colours and even higher definition to home viewers via HD broadcasts.
Bell MTS Place provides many exciting food and beverage options to choose from such as Freshii, Gourmet Burger, Carvery & Melts, Aviator’s Grill, and much more. Patrons can enjoy a variety of beverage selections at the contemporary bar locations on the main south concourse and upper west and north concourses. Located on the northeast corner of event level of Bell MTS Place, the Exchange Restaurant is a full-service and fully licensed restaurant, perfect for meeting a few friends or a large group.
The Budweiser King Club is a premium seating club lounge located at the north end of the lower bowl and including sections 124 to 127 and 223 to 228. The Budweiser King Club features exclusive "at your seat" bar and restaurant service and restrooms reserved just for those seated in the club section.
Bell MTS Iceplex is a 200,000-square-foot facility that serves as the official practice facility of the Winnipeg Jets and Manitoba Moose. It is also the home of the True North Youth Foundation’s Winnipeg Jets Hockey Academy, which provides hockey programming to kids who otherwise couldn’t afford to play. Consisting of four NHL regulation size rinks and the Ice Lab, a dedicated goalie training centre, Bell MTS Iceplex provides between 11,000 and 13,000 hours of ice time annually to minor hockey associations, adult recreation leagues, tournaments, summer camps, casual rentals, the Jets, Moose, and to the foundation. Bell MTS Iceplex is also a year-round multipurpose facility featuring high performance fitness and training facilities, a full-service pro shop, licensed restaurant and lounge, and conference facilities. Bell MTS Iceplex has been recognized as a Hockey Canada Centre of Excellence.
Iceplex Adult Hockey League
The adult hockey league that operates out of the Bell MTS Iceplex, formerly known as the Winnipeg Jets Hockey League, was rebranded as the Iceplex Adult Hockey League in 2018-19. The league enters its ninth season of operation and is the official adult recreational hockey league of Bell MTS Iceplex, providing a pro experience to amateur adult hockey. The IAHL offers regularly scheduled games, online recorded stats and standings, four available regulation-sized NHL ice sheets, as well as in-game music before each game and during stoppages in play.
Spanning all 12 months of the year, the IAHL also offers a spring/summer season. All IAHL divisions bear the names of Winnipeg's hockey ambassadors including Joe Daley, Mike Keane, and Jimmy Roy.
Focus Fitness is a 6,600-square-foot facility located on the upper level of Bell MTS Iceplex that features the latest in exercise and sports conditioning equipment. Focus Fitness prides itself on training the highest number of professional athletes in the city as well as accommodating athletes from all sports and all levels of fitness and performance.
Focus Fitness features treadmills, spin bikes, cable columns, free weights, Olympic lifting platforms and over 3,200 square feet of turf. Focus Fitness incorporates proven old school tools and methods like tractor tires, sleds, battle ropes and kettle balls to ensure athletes are challenged to improve their total body strength and overall conditioning. From developmental ages to the pros, Focus Fitness is the premier training facility for helping you reach your goals and become the best version of yourself.
The Press Box Restaurant & Sports Bar provides perfect above-the-action sightlines facing the Canadian Tire and RE/MAX ice sheets at Bell MTS Iceplex. With a licensed bar and full menu, the Press Box is a great place to take in the action and relive the memories after the games.
In addition to restaurant services, the Press Box Restaurant & Sports Bar proudly caters functions from 20 to 500 people, specializing in team windups, holiday parties, birthday parties, fundraisers, and corporate events. From corporate to casual, the Press Box catering team will make any event a success.
Located on the edge of Winnipeg’s Exchange District is one of Canada’s most acclaimed live music and performance venues, the Burton Cummings Theatre for the Performing Arts. The theatre is named after the famed Winnipeg frontman of The Guess Who, Burton Cummings, and is now affectionately known as “the Burt”. It is an immediate draw with its unique appeal, both visually and sonically. The 1,581 reserved-seat theatre, both a National Historic Site of Canada and Provincial Heritage site, was built in 1906. True North Sports + Entertainment assumed management and operating control of the venue in 2014 and purchased it in 2016. Over the decades, the vaudeville era theatre has staged ballets, operas, and Broadway-style shows to now modern-day concerts and events. Offering a vintage, yet carefully maintained interior space that includes a 70’ vaulted ceiling and three levels of audience seating, the Burt provides an up-close and personal experience for both audiences and performers.
In April 2017, True North, along with Burton Cummings himself, announced a 15-year extension of the theatre’s naming rights as well as a commitment from Cummings to perform a minimum of four concerts during this period, with proceeds going toward True North’s long-term investment into the theatre and to patron experiences at the Burt. To date, True North has invested over $1.2 million into the venue, including on air conditioning, seating, flooring, lighting, backstage renovations, accessibility upgrades, and digital display and signage additions.
True North Square is a transformative mixed-use development located kitty-corner to Bell MTS Place that will feature more than 1.5 million square feet of office, hotel, residential, retail, parking, and public plaza space in five towers, creating a new dynamic epicentre for Winnipeg's downtown. 242 Hargrave, a 17-storey office tower, opened in July 2018 and is currently home to lead tenants Thompson Dorfman Sweatman and Scotiabank, and will welcome MNP and Ceridian in fall 2019. 225 Carlton is a 25-storey premium residential tower featuring 194 rental suites that welcomed its first residents in July 2019. Phase two of the development is under construction and will include the Sutton Place Hotel & Residences located on Carlton Street with anticipated completion in late 2021/early 2022. The third phase of True North Square will see the development of the 19-storey tower that will serve as the North American headquarters for Manitoba-made insurance company Wawanesa.
One of the newest and most innovative additions to Winnipeg’s food scene, Hargrave St. Market is set to open at True North Square in fall 2019. Inspired by cutting-edge food halls located across North America and Europe, the locally focused and chef-driven offerings include a full-service restaurant, a microbrewery, six culinary concepts and a boutique grocery store. Gusto North, Lake of the Woods Brewing Company, Yard Burger, The Good Fight Taco, Rose Bar, Saburo Kitchen, Miss Browns, Fools + Horses, and Mottola Grocery will offer something for everyone at True North Square.
