Hamilton was left without a large
ice hockey venue after the
Barton Street Arena was demolished in 1977, and even that arena had a small
seating capacity by modern standards. Construction on the new site was started in 1983 and completed two years later at a cost of $33.5 million, with an additional $2.3 million spent on a parking garage. The project was overseen by Hamiltonian Joseph Pigott. The arena was originally named Copps Coliseum after long-time mayor
Victor Copps, the patriarch of a Hamilton political family that includes his daughter, former Member of
Parliament of Canada and
Member of Provincial Parliament of Ontario Sheila Copps, and wife, Geraldine, who was a long-time councillor. The arena's first scoreboard was purchased from the
Winnipeg Arena for $214,000. That original Day Signs/Naden scoreboard, built in Toronto, was replaced in the early-1990s by a centre-hung scoreboard with an electronic message centre on each side. In turn, it was replaced by the current scoreboard, which was built in Hamilton by Media Resources, featuring an LED video board on each side. The arena has hosted many teams and events over the years. The
Hamilton Steelhawks of the
Ontario Hockey League (OHL) began play at the arena in 1985. The
1986 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships were held in
Southern Ontario, with Copps Coliseum used as the primary venue. In a decisive game, the undefeated Soviet Union handed
Canada its first loss, 4–1. Copps was the primary host for the
1987 Canada Cup, and the site of the famous
Gretzky to
Lemieux goal that beat the
Soviets 6–5 in the final. The
Dukes of Hamilton replaced the Steelhawks as the city's OHL team and played in Copps Coliseum from 1989 to 1991. The arena hosted the
1990 Memorial Cup and set the single game attendance record, on May 13, 1990, with 17,383 spectators watching the
Oshawa Generals defeat the
Kitchener Rangers, in the final, 4–3 in double overtime on a
Bill Armstrong goal. The venue hosted a number of games in the
1991 Canada Cup, including the finals, when
Canada defeated the
United States. The first
WWF Royal Rumble, which was shown on the
USA Network, was held in the arena on January 24, 1988. Copps hosted the WWF pay-per-view
Breakdown: In Your House on September 27, 1998, and the
Billy Graham crusade that year, attended by 19,000 spectators each night. The
Grateful Dead played the Coliseum on four occasions, with two dates in 1990 and two dates in 1992. Although
the 2009 plan for the
2015 Pan American Games based around Toronto was to host
the volleyball tournament in Copps Coliseum, eventually it was held in the
Toronto Exhibition Centre. On January 3, 2014, Nitro Circus performed at the stadium for the first ever and only stop in Canada. Due to the high-risk nature of their stunt-based shows, most North American venues will not host the events. On January 27, 2014, Hamilton City council voted unanimously to approve a $3.5-million deal to rename Copps Coliseum after local credit union
FirstOntario. The city unveiled the new look signage, FirstOntario Centre, later that spring. A smaller sign reading "In honour of Victor K. Copps" appears to its right on the Bay side of the arena, and below it on the York side. In November 2022, it was announced that beginning in the late summer of 2023, the arena would close for 20 months due to renovations. This would force the
Bulldogs and
Rock to relocate for all of the 2023–24 season and most of the 2024–25 season. As a result of the closure, the
Honey Badgers decided to permanently relocate to
Brampton, Ontario and the Bulldogs relocated to
Brantford, Ontario. The renovations were delayed until December 2023 which allowed the Rock to play their first couple games of the
2023–24 season at the arena, before moving to the
Paramount Fine Foods Centre in
Mississauga, Ontario. This also allowed five
Cirque du Soleil performances at the arena before its closing. However, in September 2023, it was announced that renovations would be delayed once again and that the Toronto Rock would play the entirety of the 2023–24 season in Hamilton. Major construction finally began in May 2024 with completion planned for December 2025. On June 25, 2025, the venue had its name changed to TD Coliseum. The venue reopened on November 21, 2025, with an inaugural concert from
Paul McCartney.
Basketball The
Hamilton Skyhawks debuted with a 101–99 win over the
Halifax Windjammers in
World Basketball League play, in 1992. The league folded during the season, and several Canadian teams, including the Skyhawks formed the
National Basketball League for 1993, but the Hawks moved to Edmonton for the playoffs, then folded. The Coliseum was host to the
1994 FIBA World Championship, along with
Maple Leaf Gardens and
SkyDome. The next year, the Centre hosted the
FIBA Americas Championship for Women, which was won by Canada. During their first two seasons of play (1995–96 and 1996–97), prior to the completion of construction on their new home the
Air Canada Centre, the
Toronto Raptors played three regular season games at Copps Coliseum, as well as a preseason game in 1997. In 1998 due to a strange twist of scheduling conflicts the Toronto Raptors thought they had to play their final regular season game in Hamilton, as the Toronto Blue Jays had first right of refusal for all SkyDome dates. The Raptors initial attempts to play the April 19 match at Maple Leaf Gardens were unsuccessful, but were later approved.
Hockey AHL and OHL The
American Hockey League expanded to Copps in 1992 in the form of
Vancouver's affiliate, the
Hamilton Canucks. After two seasons, the team was moved to
Syracuse, where they became one of the league's most stable franchises. In October 1996, Copps Coliseum became home to the
Hamilton Bulldogs of the
American Hockey League. The Bulldogs, who were the top affiliate of the
Edmonton Oilers (1996–2003) and the
Montreal Canadiens (2002–2015), brought over 2 million fans to the arena. On June 7, 2007, the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs won their first Calder Cup Championship in franchise history at home in Copps Coliseum, defeating the Hershey Bears. In 2015, Montreal moved its AHL affiliate to
St. John's, and the
Ontario Hockey League's
Belleville Bulls moved to Hamilton to carry the Bulldogs banner, and Hamilton's traditional black and yellow colours, in the junior league. The Bulldogs were the primary tenant in the facility until their move to Brantford became permanent in 2025. In January 2026, it was reported that the
Bridgeport Islanders, the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the
New York Islanders, were planning on moving to Hamilton from Bridgeport. On March 31, 2026, the AHL announced that the move had been approved unanimously by the league's board of governors. The team will play at TD Coliseum and will join the AHL's North Division.
NHL ambitions Copps Coliseum was built to
National Hockey League capacity and specifications in the hope that it would allow Hamilton to acquire an
NHL expansion franchise. However, said arena is just 36.3 miles from the home venue of the
Toronto Maple Leafs and 57.9 miles from the home venue of the
Buffalo Sabres, both of which have opposed an NHL franchise in Hamilton. Copps hosted 8 regular-season neutral-site games during the
1992–93 and
1993–94 seasons, mostly featuring the Maple Leafs or Sabres. In 2007, Waterloo billionaire
Jim Balsillie, co-CEO of
Research in Motion, made an offer to purchase the
Nashville Predators for $220 million US. His intention was to move the team to Hamilton and either use Copps Coliseum as a temporary home while a new state-of-the-art arena could be built, or to renovate the Coliseum to bring it up to modern NHL standards. The bid was unsuccessful. In the spring of 2009, the
Phoenix Coyotes filed for bankruptcy and
Jim Balsillie immediately offered a rumoured $212.5 million US, while stating he wanted to move the franchise to southwestern Ontario. Balsillie applied for a lease option which, should the relocation have succeeded, would have invoked a 20-year lease for the team to play at Copps Coliseum. On May 9, 2009, the
Toronto Star,
Hamilton Spectator and others reported that Hamilton mayor
Fred Eisenberger was to meet with a second group interested in securing a lease. The group, led by
Vancouver businessmen
Tom Gaglardi and
Nelson Skalbania, was interested in securing an interest in the
Atlanta Thrashers and moving them to the centre for the 2010–11 NHL season. The team moved to Winnipeg in 2011, becoming the second incarnation of the
Winnipeg Jets instead. On May 13, 2009, Balsillie won the exclusive rights to a long-term lease of Copps Coliseum after a unanimous vote by Hamilton city council. On May 29, 2009, Balsillie unveiled his plans to renovate the Centre into a state-of-the-art facility in anticipation of an NHL franchise coming to Hamilton. In September 2009, an Arizona bankruptcy judge blocked the sale of the Coyotes. Balsillie relented and ended his pursuit of an NHL team.
PWHL On January 3, 2026, TD Coliseum hosted the
Professional Women's Hockey League's
Seattle Torrent and
Toronto Sceptres for a Takeover Tour game and the first PWHL game in Hamilton. The Torrent won 3–2 against the Sceptres in front of 16,012 fans.
Curling In 2007, from March 3 to 11, Copps Coliseum hosted the
2007 Tim Hortons Brier, the annual Canadian men's
curling championship. The Coliseum hosted the West 49 Canadian Open, from September 20 to October 1. ==Images==