USA - College Basketball Arenas

[Beware]

AWESOME!



(above image from i.cnn.net/si)



As opposed to....



(image from www.aarp.org)

This, AARP rally, (above image) amazingly resembles My hometown's Carver Arena crowd for a Bradley University game.

[bigwilley]

lol aarp rally

[en1044]

Duke University- Durham, NC
Cameron Indoor Stadium, 9,314





University of Maryland- College Park, MD
Comcast Center, 17,950





University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill, NC
Dean Smith Center (Dean Dome), 21,750




North Carolina State University- Raleigh, NC
RBC Center, 19,722




University of Virginia- Charlottesville, VA
John Paul Jones Arena, 14,593+




Virginia Tech- Blacksburg, VA
Cassell Coliseum 10,052





Wake Forest University- Winston-Salem, NC
LJVM Coliseum, 14,665



Boston College-Chestnut Hill, MA
Conte Forum, 8,606




Florida State University- Tallahassee, FL
Donald L. Tucker Center, 12,100




Clemson University- Clemson, SC
Littlejohn Coliseum, 9,749



Georgia Tech- Atlanta, GA
Alexander Memorial Coliseum, 9,191




University of Miami- Coral Gables, FL
BankUnited Center, 8,000

[Bigmac1212]

I think the University of Missouri has a similar arena to Maryland's Comcast Center.

[hngcm]

Are all of these specific to the college or are some arenas from the local city which the teams just happen to play in?

Why is Duke's so small, I would expected a much larger arena from them (heck, San Diego State's arena has 12k).

[en1044]

Originally Posted by hngcm

Are all of these specific to the college or are some arenas from the local city which the teams just happen to play in?

Why is Duke's so small, I would expected a much larger arena from them (heck, San Diego State's arena has 12k).

Well tio answer the Duke question, its a really small, hot arena. Ive been there twice to see Maryland play and that place shakes at times, tis the ultimate home court advantage. Theres no need to make it bigger

The arenas at NC State, Florida State, and Wake Forest are off campus and are used for city events, although all these arenas are used for events other than basketball. The RBC Center is where the Carolina Hurricanes NHL team plays.

[dot dot]

When the North Carolina State University Men's Basketball team won the 1983 NCAA Championship, the University immediately began seeking to replace aging Reynolds Coliseum with a newer and larger facility. Reynolds, on the main campus of NC State, had been completed in the 1940s and has a capacity of 12,400. (Reynolds looks very, very much like Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium, but is longer from one end to the other, thus the greater seating capacity). The University felt it needed a larger arena, and began negotiating with the city of Raleigh to build a downtown arena with a seating capacity of at least 18,000. Over the years, several downtown sites were considered but nothing ever came to fruition. The University eventually gave up on a partnership with the city for a downtown location.

In the 1990s, the University again began discussions, this time with the city of Raleigh, Wake County, and the State of North Carolina for a proposed arena on University property beside the University's football stadium and adjacent to the State Fairgrounds. A partnership was created called the Centennial Authority which was comprised of members of the city, county, state, and the University to oversee the construction and management of the building.

The University donated the land, paid for the initial site development, and paid for the architectural drawings. Additionally, the University paid $22 million which was raised by private donations to the Wolfpack Club, the University's Educational Foundation and athletic booster club. The city, county and state kicked in like amounts of money. A tax was placed on hotels, prepared meals, and rental cars to help pay for the tax dollars which were spent on the project. After construction had begun, Peter Karmanos (the owner of the NHL Hartford Whalers) decided to move his team to Raleigh, where they were renamed the Carolina Hurricanes. For the arena to meet NHL standards, several upgrades were added to the plan with the building almost half complete - like escalators, more luxury suites than had originally been planned, a press ring, TV and radio production facilities, a restaurant, more luxurious locker rooms, etc. The hockey team, in turn, added a large sum of money (I think it was around $30 million) to help pay for these late upgrades. Accordingly, the University, the Hurricanes, city, county and state all share in profits made from the use of the building, which hosts basketball and hockey games, concerts, wrestling, motorcross, monster truck exhibitions, the circus, figure skating, etc.

So, the RBC Center sits on land that had been University property but was given to the Centennial Authority as part of the University's share of the construction costs. The arena is about 2.5 miles from the main campus, but it sits right beside the University's football stadium.

Technically, NC State University's Men's Basketball team is a tenant in the building, having leased it for a nominal fee from the Centennial Authority. The Hurricanes are also lessees, but they too pay very little in rent in exchange for having helped to pay for the cost of the building. Also, as part of their contract, the Hurricane's management company, named Gale Force Holdings, agreed to pay for any/all operating losses for the facility. However, I believe the arena has turned a profit, and therefore incurred no operating losses, each year since it opened in 1999.

The rafters inside are filled with championship banners and retired jerseys of NC State basketball players, and of the Hurricanes. The arenas decor is red, as the NC State colors are red & white. The Hurricanes changed their colors to red and white as well when they moved from Hartford.

The building seats 19,722 for basketball and 18,176 for hockey. It is interesting to note that it is also the loudest arena in the nation, as a noise level of 134 decibels was recorded during the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals during which the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Edmonton Oilers, a testament to the passion of the area's fans.

[rockin'.baltimorean]

GO TERPS!! i love the comcast center!!

[dot dot]

^ If you are a Terps fan, you should post some pictures of the Byrd Stadium renovation project.

[GunnerJacket]

Originally Posted by hngcm

Are all of these specific to the college or are some arenas from the local city which the teams just happen to play in?

The arenas for FSU and WFU are both within a 1/2 mile of campus. In the case of FSU it's just 2 blocks from campus in an area rife with housing and shops catering to the student population. Meanwhile, the arena for Wake is just down Deacon Pkwy(?) from the campus as you head towards downtown Winston Salem. Many students can hoof this trip, as well, since its a small city.

[WeimieLvr]

Lawrence Joel Coliseum - Wake Forest University Men's and Women's Basketball


http://www.ljvm.com/mainarena.html



http://wakeforestsports.cstv.com/fac...wake-joel.html



Joel Coliseum is part of the Winston-Salem Sports & Entertainment Complex along Deacon Boulevard, which includes: BB&T Field (WFU football); The Annex (WSSU basketball, Twin City Cyclones hockey); an Education Building; the Dixie Classic Fairgrounds; and Ernie Shore Field. The complex is less than a mile from Wake Forest campus.

http://www.ljvm.com/fairgrounds.html

[WeimieLvr]

Carmichael Auditorium - University of North Carolina Women's Basketball, capacity 8,000; also home to UNC Volleyball, Gymnastics, and Wrestling.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/chathamshooter/2356110462/


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:C...Auditorium.jpg

[WeimieLvr]

Reynolds Coliseum, N.C. State University Women's Basketball, capacity 14,000.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolinaterp/1545939790/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhawkins/2421710714/

[WeimieLvr]

Originally Posted by hngcm

Are all of these specific to the college or are some arenas from the local city which the teams just happen to play in?

Why is Duke's so small, I would expected a much larger arena from them (heck, San Diego State's arena has 12k).

Cameron is small because it is intended to be small...I'm pretty sure Duke University could build whatever arena it desires, but given that Sports Illustrated recently ranked Cameron 4th best sporting venue of the 20th Century and it is consistently ranked as the #1 college basketball arena, the university will probably stick with what they have.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/markbogart/2202586173/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/9636666...n/photostream/

[Bobby3]

I don't like the RBC Center for basketball.

This is a map of all UNC's sporting venues: http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=35.905...8&z=16&l=0&m=a including their two basketball arenas.

[nomarandlee]

Awesome photos. I like the intimate look of Georgia Tech's, Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Very much reminds me of a slightly smaller version of University of Illinois Assembly Hall.

[ayomaju]

Originally Posted by WeimieLvr

Reynolds Coliseum, N.C. State University Women's Basketball, capacity 14,000.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolinaterp/1545939790/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhawkins/2421710714/

I think it is too small for 14,000 attendances.

[WeimieLvr]

Originally Posted by ayomaju

I think it is too small for 14,000 attendances.

Oh, I guess I made it up...

The Coliseum has been the home to the fabled Wolfpack basketball teams including two NCAA champions, and it had hosted great events - exciting tournaments, presidential addresses, musical concerts, even a public lecture by world famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright attended by 5000 people. The $2.3 million building is named for William Neal Reynolds, one of five brothers who developed the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in Winston-Salem, established by the oldest brother. The building's arena floor measures 108 x 312 feet with enough seating for 14,000 people.

http://www.ncsu.edu/facilities/buildings/reynolds.html

[mavn]

Originally Posted by WeimieLvr

Cameron is small because it is intended to be small...I'm pretty sure Duke University could build whatever arena it desires, but given that Sports Illustrated recently ranked Cameron 4th best sporting venue of the 20th Century and it is consistently ranked as the #1 college basketball arena, the university will probably stick with what they have.

That drew my attention... I looked it up...

The people who made that list have probably never been outside the US. They just included some random names they had looked up on the internet. I mean, come on... 16 American venues in a worldwide top 20... That's hilarious

[en1044]

thats not really a big deal, its an american magazine. I bet you if a european magazine did a list like this there wouldnt be any american venues, even though they would belong.