Nationwide Arena Seating Chart
Nationwide Arena anchors the Arena District in downtown Columbus and is home to the NHL's Blue Jackets. The bowl is known for its cannon celebration after Blue Jackets goals and serves as the city's primary big-concert venue.
Sections at Nationwide Arena
The Nationwide Arena chart lists 5 main sections, and the one on your ticket does most of the deciding — price, distance, and view included. Scan the list before you buy, keeping in mind that the event type reshuffles the room: concerts, games, and private buyouts each open different parts of the house.
- Lower bowl 100s — full ring around the ice
- Club seats and loge boxes
- Upper bowl 200s — second deck
- Cannon-end student and supporter areas
- Suites
Best seats at Nationwide Arena
Lower bowl sections 119-122 near the cannon end give you the celebration up close when the Blue Jackets score there. Upper bowl center sections 207-210 are a strong value with a clean full-ice view.
Tips before you go
The Arena District is walkable with bars and restaurants right outside the doors, so park once and stay for the night. Garages on Nationwide Boulevard and Neil Avenue feed in directly; there is no rail, so arrive early downtown.
How to read the Nationwide Arena seating chart
Start with the shape of the room: 18,500 seats in a bowl that wraps a central court, rink, or stage, split into 5 sections — Lower bowl 100s, Club seats and loge boxes, Upper bowl 200s, Cannon-end student and supporter areas, and Suites. Your ticket names exactly one of them, and that name is worth reading twice, because neighboring sections can differ by a full level, a price tier, or which side of the room you face from.
What actually separates one Nationwide Arena seat from another comes down to three things: how close you are to the floor, whether you face the action square on or from a baseline, and how high you sit. Compare Suites and Lower bowl 100s on the chart and you'll see the spread — a different level, a different price, sometimes a different side of the Columbus room. The best-seats notes above narrow it down for Nationwide Arena; before buying, check the official map against your exact section, row, and seat.
Some context on size — Nationwide Arena's 18,500 capacity places it 12th among the 24 Ohio venues in this guide; Schottenstein Center (18,809) is the next size up, UD Arena (13,409) the next size down.
Building a seating chart for an event at Nationwide Arena
Hosting a suite night, a group outing, or a private event near Nationwide Arena? Work from the same layout shown on the chart above — sections like Lower bowl 100s and Suites and the tiers around them — and map your party onto tables that mirror it. Assign each guest a spot and export a PDF the Columbus event-services team can set up from. Nationwide Arena runs to 18,500 at full configuration, but a private block is usually a club, a suite, or an adjacent banquet room — a fraction of that, and exactly the scale the maker below handles: rounds for the dinner, rows for the program, and head tables placed where you want them.
Hosting a private event at Nationwide Arena?
Build a seating chart for your Nationwide Arena event — banquet rounds for the dinner, rows for the program, head tables wherever the format calls for them. The maker handles layouts up to 500 seats and exports a print-ready PDF you can hand the Columbus venue's event team.
Open the seating chart generatorFrequently asked questions
- How many seats does Nationwide Arena hold?
- Nationwide Arena holds 18,500 at full configuration. The usable count shifts with the event — a concert may open or close sections a daytime event keeps as-is — and a private buyout uses only the sections you book, often a club, a suite, or a section or two out of the 5 on the Columbus chart.
- What are the best seats at Nationwide Arena?
- Lower bowl sections 119-122 near the cannon end give you the celebration up close when the Blue Jackets score there. Upper bowl center sections 207-210 are a strong value with a clean full-ice view.
- What sections does Nationwide Arena have?
- Main sections include: Lower bowl 100s — full ring around the ice; Club seats and loge boxes; Upper bowl 200s — second deck. Full breakdown in the sections list above.
- Where is Nationwide Arena located?
- You'll find Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Check the official site shortly before the event for the street address, parking, and the closest transit to sections like Lower bowl 100s — gate assignments, lots, and rideshare zones vary across Columbus venues.
- How do I plan a private event at Nationwide Arena?
- Use the maker on this page: begin with Nationwide Arena's real layout — sections like Lower bowl 100s and Suites — place tables over the footprint your event will use, seat your guests, and export a PDF for the Columbus event-services team.