The Stampede Corral is an ice hockey, rodeo, and tennisarena multi-purpose venue in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The arena was completed in 1950 at a cost of C$1.25 million to replace Victoria Arena as the home of the Calgary Stampeders Hockey Club. Seating 6,475, plus standing room, it is used in the annual Calgary Stampede. The Corral was built and is still owned by the Calgary Stampede not-for-profit organization, which leases the underlying land at $1/year from the city of Calgary.
At the time of construction, it was the largest arena in Canada west of Toronto.[citation needed] It was officially opened on December 15, 1950. The first hockey game was held at the Corral on December 26, as the Stampeders defeated the Edmonton Flyers 5–0 in a Western Canada Senior Hockey League game before a standing-room-only crowd of 8,729.
For years, the Corral played host to special wrestling supershows promoted by Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling, particularly during the Calgary Stampede. Stampede Wrestling is known for having featured some of the biggest names in pro wrestling history prior to its purchase by World Wrestling Federation in 1984. Some of said stars included Bret Hart, Archie Gouldie, Dan Kroffat and Jake Roberts.
The Corral houses one of the most extensive private sports photo collections in Canada on public display. A significant restoration of this photo collection has recently taken place. The project took over two years to complete at a cost of over $75,000. The original photographs have been removed for preservation in the Calgary Stampede Archives collection. Original captions have been retained for authenticity with some minor corrections.