Milwaukee Bucks’ home opener at Fiserv Forum

A sellout crowd of 17,341 filled the seats of Fiserv Forum when the Milwaukee Bucks played their first-ever regular season game at the new $524 million arena in downtown Milwaukee.

The highly anticipated event was four years in the making for the franchise and its majority owners, Marc Lasry, Wes Edens, Jamie Dinan and Michael Fascitelli. They purchased the team in 2014 and funded about half of the arena construction project, which was completed in August. Fiserv Forum now replaces the BMO Harris Bradley Center, the Bucks’ home for the past 30 years.

The Bucks won the home opener game 118 to 101 over the Indiana Pacers, but they weren’t the only local team to achieve victory that night. Just hours later, the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series at Miller Park.

Many fans at Fiserv Forum sported Brewers hats with Bucks jerseys, periodically leaving their seats to catch a glimpse of the baseball game being streamed on one of the 700 LED screens throughout the arena. When the Bucks game ended, fans filled the new outdoor beer garden in the Entertainment Block near the arena to watch the end of the Brewers playoff game.

1. Fans gathered on the plaza outside the arena before the game.
2. Former Bucks star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar attended the game.
3. The team and mascot Bango lined up for the National Anthem before tipoff.
4. Fans, wearing special light-up wristbands, await the pre-game show. They changed colors to reflect different moments during the night.
5. Flamethrowers added a dramatic effect to the team’s pre-game show.
6. Bucks star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo received constant fanfare throughout the game.
7. Fiserv Forum features open concourses, allowing fans to leave their seats and still watch the game.
8. Sobelman’s Pub & Grill is among the arena’s local food and beverage offerings.
9. Fans gathered after the game in the new beer garden at the Entertainment Block near the arena to cheer on the Milwaukee Brewers.
10. Fans pose with a deer sculpture created out of basketballs. It’s one of the works in the team’s 79-piece art collection at the arena.
11. Bucks majority owner Marc Lasry (third from left) and Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele (far right) watch the game.
12. A couple takes a selfie near the court.
13. The Cascio Music Bucks Beats Drumline is one of several entertainment acts to perform during the game.
14. An ice luge with the team’s motto, “Built to stay,” in the bar area of the arena’s fourth floor Panorama Club.
15. Fans wave to themselves on the giant scoreboard suspended above the court.
16. 17,341 people attended the game.
17. Bucks entertainers celebrate the team’s win over the Indiana Pacers.