UCF Arena - History

History

A new arena was built 2007, as part of a larger project to create an athletic village known as Knights Plaza. The new arena, built in the space in front of the original arena, is double the seating capacity of its predecessor, including 7,479 fixed standard seats, 500 club seats, 1,328 retractable seats, 188 disabled seats, 16 luxury suites (seating capacity 192, total capacity 256), two party suites (total capacity 60) and loge box seating for 64. According to the promoters' guide, the new arena has a basketball capacity of 9,465, and can hold up to 10,072 for concert events. The student section has been dubbed the "Knightmare."

The new arena was completed in September 2007 and is the home to both the men's and women's basketball teams. This expansion made the UCF Arena the second largest arena complex in Orlando. Beginning in 2008, the grounds around UCF Arena hosted "Light Up UCF", a holiday celebration that features an outdoor ice skating rink. For the event, the UCF Arena is decorated with thousands of lights that are synchronized to holiday music.

In October of 2008, the UCF Arena was home to one of the largest Presidential Debate Watch Parties ever. On the front lawn of the UCF Arena the Presidential Debate was projected onto a large inflatable movie screen while a Lupe Fiasco concert was taking place inside the arena. The Presidential Debate, which was the final debate of the election, was then replayed for the thousands of attendees as they were leaving the concert. Lupe Fiasco actually acknowledged that the debate would be shown after the show and encouraged the attendees to stay and watch it because of the significance of the election.

On May 18-19, 2012, the UCF Arena hosted the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2012 Science Olympiad National Tournament.

UCF has expressed interest in selling the naming rights to the arena. At one point, AirTran Airways was in negotiations to purchase naming rights, but no agreement was ever reached.

In addition to its use as a basketball arena, the arena is regularly used to host other events on campus, including career fairs, graduation ceremonies, concerts, and public speakers.