Miami Beach Convention Center

Opened in 1957, the Miami Beach Convention Center has been the heart of Miami Beach for over fifty years. It served as the site where Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammad Ali) defeated Sonny Liston for his first Heavyweight Championship of the World in 1964. In 1968, the Miami Beach Convention Center hosted the Republican National Convention and more than 20,000 delegates; while in 1972, more than 45,000 delegates visited the facility during both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions.

As the demand for exhibition space has increased, in 1989 the facility underwent a $92 million renovation and doubled in size. In the last six years, the facility has also boasted over $35 million in continuing upgrades, including complete renovations of all restrooms, full carpet replacement, and installation of a state-of-the-art telecommunications and networking infrastructure that allows the MBCC the place second to none in meeting all of your event's technology needs.

The Miami Beach Convention Center has played host to a number of leading convention industry events, including the annual meetings of both the Professional Convention Management Association and the International Association for Exposition Management, as well as the Travel Industry Association's Pow Wow. Major association users have included the Society for Neuroscience, International Association of Chiefs of Police, and others. The MBCC has also welcomed numerous important corporate users, including SAP, Sprint, Prudential Realty, and the inaugural Microsoft Global Briefing, a major sales and technology meeting of Microsoft employees worldwide.

Major annual trade shows here include the Jewelers International Showcase (three times annually), Graphics of the Americas, the International Boatbuilders Exhibition (IBEX), and the Seatrade Cruise Shipping Conference/Expo. The MBCC annual calendar also boasts some of the nation's premiere public events, including America's largest consumer show, the Miami International Boat Show, the South Florida International Auto Show, currently the third largest in the United States, and North America's most important contemporary art fair, Art Basel Miami Beach.

The Miami Beach Convention Center is located in the heart of South Beach. Known throughout the world for its exciting nightlife and myriad of fine dining and hotel accommodations, Miami Beach will present a visitor experience like no other destination. Whether it's enjoying the party atmosphere of Ocean Drive, the amazing nightclubs of Washington Avenue, or trying to decide among Lincoln Road's vast selection of fine restaurants, you'll never be wanting for excitement in our tropical paradise.