Taken at a Basketball Game: Is CNC Arena a Real Basketball Stadium?

In Lifetime’s ‘Taken at a Basketball Game,‘ a former cop named Wayne Edwards takes his estranged daughter, Robyn, out for some quality bonding time at a local basketball game in the CNC Arena. After years of being away from her life, Wayne wants to make more meaningful steps toward a connection with her. However, his plans of wholesome game night talks are shattered when Robyn goes missing at the stadium during a small restroom break. Worried about her safety, Wayne starts scouring the entire building for any sign of his daughter, only to find it an impossible task with the throngs of people everywhere. He soon realizes that Robyn has been kidnapped. While it remains the center of a traumatic incident in the story, the CNC Arena plays a pivotal role narratively, setting the stage for the gripping survival tale involving father and daughter.

CNC Arena is a Fictional Basketball Stadium at the Center of the Abduction Drama

The CNC Arena is notably one of the most important locations in ‘Taken at a Basketball Game.’ It is the site of the basketball game where Robyn is kidnapped, and Wayne has to embark on a quest to retrieve his daughter safely. The stadium is a fictional creation of scriptwriters Richard Blaney and Gregory Small. In reality, the production team utilized a clever mix of on-site filming to create the basketball arena from scratch authentically. For instance, the exterior of the building is likely filmed outside the GMC Stadium in Calgary, Alberta. Situated at 2200 Stampede Trail Southeast, it is a 17,000-seater stadium that can provisionally host an extra 8,000 people standing, known for hosting the rodeo, the chuckwagon races, and the evening grandstand show of the Calgary Stampede. However, it is not a basketball stadium as depicted in the film.

The actual interior of the CNC Arena was likely recorded in a separate establishment in Calgary, most likely a real basketball stadium. As such, it would allow the film crew to weave together the necessary elements of a full-fledged and functioning basketball arena. After all, the whole point is to immerse the audience in the sights and sounds of this place during a game night. The chaos of the event is what leads Wayne to lose track of his daughter in the crowd gathered inside the building. With so many clamoring in and out of their seats, the ex-cop finds it nearly impossible to locate his daughter once she heads out for a restroom break. However, it also reflects the expertise of the kidnappers to use the crowd to their favor and avoid detection in the massive establishment.

The events described in ‘Taken at a Basketball Game’ may be fictional. However, there have been cases of girls being abducted from sporting events for nefarious purposes. In 2022, a young teenager named Natalee Cramer was abducted by some unknown men while she was out with her family to watch a game between the Dallas Mavericks and Portland Trail Blazers at the American Airlines Center. She was found over a week later as a victim of sex trafficking in Oklahoma. The terrifying ordeal touches upon some of the things discussed in the Lifetime movie, especially the dangers of being out and about in massive sporting arenas where it is easy to lose track of someone. To that end, CNC Arena captures a horrifying truth, even though it remains a fictional building.