Bon Secours Wellness Arena (formerly the BI-LO Center; The Well) is a
multi-purpose arena in
Greenville, South Carolina
Greenville (; locally ) is a city in and the seat of Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. Greenville is located approximately halfway be ...
. The arena serves as the home of the
Greenville Swamp Rabbits of the
ECHL.
History
The Bon Secours Wellness Arena was built in 1998 at a cost of
US $63 million, under its former name of BI-LO Center, to replace Greenville's outdated and under-repaired
Greenville Memorial Auditorium, which was imploded on September 20, 1997, on a site located across the street from the new arena. The arena naming rights were purchased by Dutch grocer
Ahold, then-owner of
BI-LO, which had been founded in nearby
Mauldin and was still based there at the time. When it was built, it passed
Columbia
Columbia may refer to:
* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
* Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...
's
Carolina Coliseum as the largest arena in the state of South Carolina, a distinction it held until 2002, when the
Carolina Center was built in
Columbia.
On September 18, 2013, the BI-LO Center was officially renamed the Bon Secours Wellness Arena after the
Bon Secours Health System purchased the naming rights.
Seating capacity
As a concert venue, the Bon Secours Wellness Arena can seat approximately 19,000 spectators, depending on the positioning of the stage. In addition, the arena features 30 luxury suites and 840 club seats.
Notable events
The arena has hosted a variety of events such as
professional wrestling,
monster truck rallies,
ice dancing shows and competitions, and concerts spanning many different musical genres.
Concerts
During an average year, The Well hosts 20–25 concerts spanning across all music genres and related artists. Notable concerts include
The Eagles,
Garth Brooks
Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him popularity, particularly in the United States with success on the co ...
,
Luke Bryan
Thomas Luther "Luke" Bryan (born July 17, 1976) is an American country music, country singer, songwriter, and television personality. He began his music career writing songs for Travis Tritt and Billy Currington before signing with Capitol Reco ...
,
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...
,
Eric Church,
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...
, and many more.
The BI-LO Center opened with Janet Jackson in 1998 (24 years ago) and followed in the same year with
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...
, and later,
Rob Zombie
Rob Zombie (born Robert Bartleh Cummings; January 12, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and voice actor. His music and lyrics are notable for their horror and sci-fi themes, and his live shows have be ...
with
Korn
Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream.
Originally formed in 1993 ...
;
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...
in 1999;
Backstreet Boys,
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...
,
Creed
A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets.
The ea ...
,
Red Hot Chili Peppers with
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) re ...
,
Ricky Martin,
NSYNC
NSYNC (, ; also stylized as *NSYNC or 'N Sync) was an American boy band formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich. Their self-titled debut album was successfully released to European ...
,
Limp Bizkit
Limp Bizkit is an American rap rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. Its lineup consists of lead vocalist Fred Durst, drummer John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland, turntablist DJ Lethal and bassist Sam Rivers. The band's music is marked by D ...
with
Godsmack,
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...
with
DMX
Earl Simmons (December 18, 1970 – April 9, 2021), known professionally as DMX, was an American rapper and actor. He began rapping in the early 1990s and released his debut album ''It's Dark and Hell Is Hot'' in 1998, to both critical acclaim ...
(who once lived in Greenville) in 2000;
Fuel
A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...
with
Buckcherry,
Dave Matthews Band in 2001; and
Puddle of Mudd, and
Tool in 2002.
Jars of Clay performed there in 2007 for their Christmas Offerings Tour.
Twenty One Pilots played here on October 11, 2019, for
The Bandito Tour.
Family events
The arena also hosts a number of family events such as
Disney on Ice
Disney on Ice, originally Walt Disney's World on Ice, is a series of touring ice shows produced by Feld Entertainment's Ice Follies And Holiday on Ice, Inc. under agreement with The Walt Disney Company. Aimed primarily at children, the shows fea ...
,
Monster Jam,
WWE Raw, and
Harlem Globetrotters
The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name ''Harlem'' because of i ...
.
Sporting events
The arena has served as the home of multiple professional and semi-professional teams. From 2001 to 2003, the arena served as the home for the
Greenville Groove
The Greenville Groove were a National Basketball Development League (NBDL) team based in Greenville, South Carolina. Playing their home games at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena, the Groove was a charter franchise of the league, which had four team ...
, one of the original members of the
National Basketball Development League.
It hosted the
Carolina Rhinos
The Carolina Rhinos were one of the original 15 teams to join the inaugural 2000 AF2 season. They were members of the American Conference for their entirety of existence, and the Eastern Division in 2001 and 2002. In their first year, they won 7 ...
football team, one of the inaugural members of
AF2, from 2000 to 2002.
Beginning in 1998, the arena hosted the
Greenville Grrrowl, an ECHL team. The team won the
Kelly Cup
The Patrick J. Kelly Cup goes to the playoff champion of the ECHL. The Kelly Cup has been awarded to teams since 1997. Prior to 1997, the playoff winner was awarded the Riley Cup, named after former American Hockey League president Jack Riley. Th ...
in 2002 during that time.
On February 14, 2010, the ECHL team
Johnstown Chiefs announced that it would be moving from
Johnstown, PA to Greenville, SC following the 2010 season. The Johnstown Chiefs became began in Greenville as the Greenville Road Warriors. In 2015, the team was renamed to the
Greenville Swamp Rabbits.
The
Impact Wrestling
Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment.
Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promot ...
pay-per-view,
Against All Odds 2008 was also held at the Arena on February 10, 2008.
On June 22, 2019,
UFC Fight Night: Moicano vs. The Korean Zombie was held at the venue, this was its first event in South Carolina.
Basketball
The arena hosted the
Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament in 2000 and 2001, as well as first and second-round games during the
2002 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
The 2002 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 2002, and ended with the champions ...
. In September 2016, the NCAA announced that it would move all tournament games scheduled to take place in
North Carolina during the 2016–2017 academic year, due to North Carolina's controversial
House Bill 2. Therefore, on March 17 and 19, 2017, the Bon Secours Wellness Arena hosted the first and second-round games for the 2017 NCAA men's basketball tournament, originally intended to take place at the
Greensboro Coliseum Complex in
Greensboro, North Carolina. This was the first NCAA postseason basketball event to have been held at the arena since 2002.
The arena also hosted first and second-round NCAA men's tournament games in
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
.
In 2005, the
SEC Women's Basketball Tournament was played at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena following a scheduling conflict with the intended host site,
Philips Arena. Logistically,
Philips Arena could not hold the 2005 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament just six weeks after the 54th
NHL All-Star Game. Even with the 2004–2005
NHL Lockout
The NHL lockout may refer to any of the four labour actions in the history of the National Hockey League:
* The 1992 NHL strike, which postponed 30 games of the 1991–92 season
* The 1994–95 NHL lockout, which cancelled many of the games of ...
, the SEC chose to keep the tournament in
Greenville. The SEC Women's Tournament returned to Greenville in March 2017. In October 2017, it was announced that Bon Secours would host the SEC Women's Basketball Tournament for three consecutive years, starting with the
2019 tournament. In 2023, the SEC Women's Basketball Tournament returns annually to the arena for three consecutive years.
On October 10, 2014, the Bon Secours Wellness Arena hosted an
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
preseason game between the
Washington Wizards and
Charlotte Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...
.
Due to the significant renovation planned for
Clemson University's
Littlejohn Coliseum, the
Clemson Tigers Men's and
Women's
A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...
Basketball Teams played their home games for the 2015–2016 season at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Sports venues completed in 1998
Arena football venues
Buildings and structures in Greenville, South Carolina
Greenville Groove
Ice hockey venues in South Carolina
Indoor ice hockey venues in the United States
Defunct NBA G League venues
Sports venues in Greenville, South Carolina
Indoor arenas in South Carolina