The Colonial Life Arena
is a multi-purpose arena in Columbia, South Carolina, primarily home to the University of South Carolina men's and women's basketball teams. Opened as a replacement for the Carolina Coliseum with the name Carolina Center
in 2002, the 18,000 seat arena is also host various events like conferences, concerts, and graduation ceremonies throughout the year. It is the largest arena in the state of South Carolina and the tenth largest college arena.
The naming rights were acquired in 2003 by Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company of Columbia, a subsidiary of Chattanooga, Tennessee-based insurance company Unum, and it was renamed to the Colonial Center
. On July 22, 2008 the USC board approved renaming the building to the Colonial Life Arena as part of a rebranding by Colonial Life. [1]
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COLONIAL LIFE ARENA TICKETS
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History and Use
The arena first opened on
November 22,
2002 with the season opener of the South Carolina women's basketball team. A sell-out crowd of 17,712 fans saw the 72-58
Gamecocks victory over in-state rival
Clemson, with a one-dollar admission charge, commonly used by the women's basketball team to promote major games. The official grand opening took place
December 2,
2002. The men's basketball team defeated
Temple 66-47.
Aside from Gamecock basketball, the Colonial Life Arena also hosts the South Carolina
High School Basketball Championships each year. The facility is built to also host
ice hockey games, but because of legal issues with the funding for the facility, has yet to host one.
The Colonial Life Arena was ranked 22nd in the world in ticket sales in
2003 [2]. It was also ranked the #1 arena in
the Carolinas and was the #2 rated university arena in the world in 2005, based on ticket sales for touring shows
[3].
It is managed by Global Spectrum, whose
Philadelphia 76ers played an exhibition game in the venue in October 2005.
Ticketing is provided by
New Era Tickets, and tickets can be purchased through the Arena's web site.
Non-Basketball Events
Other events held at the Arena have included
Disney on Ice,
Sesame Street,
American Idols Live!, and
Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. Some of the artists that have performed in the Colonial Life Arena so far are
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (first artist to perform at venue),
Prince,
Britney Spears,
Cher,
Billy Joel,
Michael W. Smith,
Point of Grace (first vocal group at the venue), and
Elton John among others.
The University of South Carolina holds most of its commencement exercises in the Colonial Life Arena. The first commencement speaker for ceremonies at the Colonial Center was President
George W. Bush in 2003.
On
October 9,
2006,
WWE held an edition of Monday Night Raw in Columbia. The special 3-hour edition was entitled 'WWE Homecoming - Family Reunion.' The WWE's first visit came in November 2002, when the Colonial Life Arena played host to a taping of Smackdown.
In
2007 it will be home to the
Columbia Stingers of the
National Indoor Football League.
On
June 28,
2007, selected contestants from
Dancing with the Stars (US TV series) performed dances, as part of their summer tour.
On December 9, 2007, a rally for
Barack Obama was scheduled to be held at the arena. Because the rally also featured
Oprah Winfrey, tickets to the event sold out days before the rally. The rally was eventually moved to the nearby
Williams-Brice Stadium [4]
On March 24,2008, WWE hosted an event of Monday Night Raw.
The venue, like all Comcast-Spectator managed facilities, has its own ticketing policy, and therefore concerts are not controlled by the major ticketing-industry industry firms.
Controversy
The venue was built to host future
NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament games, but before the venue opened, it was banned from such use by the NCAA under a policy, enacted shortly before construction began, barring venues in South Carolina and
Mississippi from hosting such events due to protests from the
NAACP. The NAACP and several other groups objected to the state hosting any NCAA-sanctioned tournament games due to the presence of a
Confederate battle flag flying near a soldiers' memorial on the
South Carolina Statehouse grounds.
Notes and References
- http://www.thestate.com/gogamecocks/story/467531.html Colonial Center name change approved] - ''The
- The Colonial Center Ranks 22nd Worldwide in Ticket Sales to its Events :: USC's Basketball Arena is Highest Ranked College Arena for 2003
- http://sdm3.com/viewmsg.cfm?n35069s338c632468t337e1685912
- Oprah, Obama To Visit S.C. - Greenville News Story - WYFF Greenville