The Coliseum has been home to the NBA Trail Blazers, the Winter Hawks of the Western Hockey League, and the former Buckaroos of the old Western Hockey League. The Trail Blazers played 1,000 games in 25 years at the Coliseum, before moving to the Moda Center, one of the games where they defeated the Philadelphia 76ers to win the NBA World Championship in 1977. The Winter Hawks still call Veterans Memorial Coliseum home.

Veterans Memorial Coliseum was designed as a flexible, multi-purpose venue. In 1965 the Coliseum hosted the NCAA Final Four collegiate basketball tournament. In 1992 the Coliseum hosted to the Tournament of the Americas (North America's basketball selection tournament for the Olympic Games in Barcelona). In 2007, the Coliseum hosted the Davis Cup tennis finals.

From tennis, to ice hockey, wrestling, and basketball, the Coliseum is a popular location for amateur and professional sports.