Legacy Arena (formerly known as the BJCC Coliseum and the BJCC Arena) is an arena located at the

Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex The Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex (formerly known as Birmingham–Jefferson Civic Center) is a sports, convention and entertainment complex located in Birmingham, Alabama. The Sheraton Birmingham and Westin Birmingham are located on t ...

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. The arena seats 17,654 for sporting events, 19,000 for

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

s and 8,000 in a theater setting. When the arena is converted to theater seating, the arena serves under the name Magic City Theatre.

Arena information

The arena stands ten stories tall, but it actually measures only 75 feet (23 m) from floor to ceiling and contains an oval-shaped 24,200-square-foot (2,244.5 m²) (110' by 220' (33.5 x 67 m)) arena floor. The arena contains several luxury suites and a press box. The BJCC Arena Club is also located in the arena. It is a lounge that is limited to 500 guests and available for most arena events. Backstage there are 2 locker rooms and 6 dressing rooms as well as a press room and a VIP Reception area. The arena can accommodate 8 trucks backstage—3 on truck docks and room for 5 more. The arena's four-sided center-hung scoreboard, designed by

Daktronics Daktronics is an American company based in Brookings, South Dakota that designs, manufactures, sells, and services video displays, scoreboards, digital billboards, dynamic message signs, sound systems, and related products. Founded in 1968 by ...

, measures 18' by 18' (5.5 x 5.5 m) on each side. Also on each side is a 7.5'-by-8'8" ProStar 16.5 mm video display.

History

The arena opened in 1976 as part of the Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex. The arena was home of the Birmingham Bulls of the WHA from 1976 to 1979; when the WHA folded, a minor league team with the same name called the arena home through 2001. It was there in December 1977 that hockey legend

Gordie Howe Gordon Howe (March 31, 1928 – June 10, 2016) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. From 1946 to 1980, he played 26 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and six seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA); his first 25 seaso ...

, then playing for the WHA's

New England Whalers New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, scored his 1,000th career goal at the age of 49; his Whalers defeated the Bulls 6–3. The arena was also the home of the UAB men's basketball team before it moved into

Bartow Arena Bartow Arena is an 8,508-seat multi-purpose arena in Birmingham, in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is home to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Blazers men's and women's basketball teams as well as the women's volleyball team. The a ...

in 1988 and was home to the

Alabama Steeldogs The Alabama Steeldogs, originally known as the Birmingham Steeldogs, were incorporated in 2000 as one of the charter teams in the AF2, the developmental league of the Arena Football League. Entering their eighth season as of 2007, they were the l ...

arena football Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller ...

team of the

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...

from 2000 to 2007. On December 17, 2014 the Civic Center board and officials of Legacy Credit Union announced a five-year, $2 million naming rights contract. Beginning January 1, 2015 the arena was officially renamed as Legacy Arena at the BJCC. On October 24, 2018, the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division and play their hom ...

and the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

announced that the Pelicans have acquired the right to own and operate an NBA G League team in Birmingham, Alabama. The team was expected to begin play in Birmingham by the 2022–23 basketball season playing at Legacy Arena following renovations to the arena. In the interim, the team began play for the 2018–19 season in Erie, Pennsylvania, as the Erie BayHawks, while the arena underwent a $123 million expansion and renovation. The renovations were completed in time for the 2021–22 season and the Pelicans chose to move the franchise, now known as the

Birmingham Squadron The Birmingham Squadron are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Birmingham, Alabama, and are affiliated with the New Orleans Pelicans. The team plays their home games at Legacy Arena. The team began play in 2019 ...

, at that time.

Notable events

Sports

Basketball

The arena has hosted four

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

men's basketball tournaments between 1979 and 1992, five

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

men's basketball tournaments in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1990, and the

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

men's basketball tournament in 1999, 2015, and 2016 (along with

), as well as C-USA's 1996 and 2016 Women's Basketball Championship. It has also hosted the NCAA college basketball tournament serving as first and second round host in 1984, 1987, 2000, 2003 and 2008. It will host the first and second rounds in 2023. The BJCC will host the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight for the 2025 NCAA women's college basketball tournament. The BJCC has been a regional site five times – 1982, 1985, 1988, 1995 and 1997 for the men's tournament. It also serves as the host for the

Alabama High School Athletic Association The Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA), based in Montgomery, is the governing body for interscholastic athletics and activities programs for public schools in Alabama. The AHSAA is a member National Federation of State High School ...

basketball state finals each year.

Tennis

In 2009, the arena hosted the first round tie of the

2009 Davis Cup The 2009 Davis Cup was the 98th edition of the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. Sixteen teams participated in the World Group and more than one hundred other took part in different regional groups. Spain , imag ...

between the United States and Switzerland. Several tennis stars participated including

Andy Roddick Andrew Stephen Roddick (born 30 August 1982) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is a major champion, having won the 2003 US Open. Roddick reached four other major finals (Wimbledon in 2004, 2005, and 2009, and the US Open ...

, James Blake,

Bob and Mike Bryan The Bryan brothers, identical twin brothers Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, are retired American professional doubles tennis players and the most successful duo of all time. They were born on April 29, 1978, with Mike being the elder by two minutes. ...

and

Stanislas Wawrinka Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka (; born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 3 for the first time on 27 January 2014. His ca ...

. The arena also hosted the

2017 Davis Cup The 2017 Davis Cup was the 106th edition of the Davis Cup, a tournament between national teams in men's tennis. It was sponsored by BNP Paribas. France won their tenth title (their first since 2001), with Lucas Pouille defeating Steve Darcis of B ...

on February 3–5, 2017.

References

External links

Official website
{{UAB Blazers men's basketball navbox Alabama Steeldogs Arena football venues Basketball venues in Alabama College basketball venues in the United States Erie BayHawks (2019–2021) Event venues established in 1976 Indoor ice hockey venues in Alabama NBA G League venues Sports venues in Birmingham, Alabama Tennis venues in the United States Tourist attractions in Birmingham, Alabama UAB Blazers basketball venues World Hockey Association venues 1976 establishments in Alabama Indoor arenas in Alabama