The Bryce Jordan Center is a 15,261-seat multi-purpose arena in
University Park, Pennsylvania
University Park (also referred to as Penn State University Park) is the name given to the Pennsylvania State University's main campus located in both State College and College Township, Pennsylvania, United States. The campus post office was de ...
, United States, on the University Park campus of the
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...
. The arena opened in 1996 and is the largest such venue between
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
and
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
. It replaced
Rec Hall
Recreation Building, or Rec Hall as it is more commonly known, is a field house located on the University Park campus of the Pennsylvania State University. It was opened on January 15, 1929, and is still in use. Previously, Penn State's indoor s ...
as the home to the
Nittany Lions men's and
women's basketball
Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...
teams, the Pride of the Lions Pep Band, and its student section,
Legion of Blue. It also plays host to a number of events such as music concerts, circuses, and commencement ceremonies for colleges within the university. The arena is named after former Penn State University president
Bryce Jordan
Henry Bryce Jordan (September 22, 1924 – April 12, 2016) was an American university administrator and musicologist. He was the fourteenth president of the Pennsylvania State University, serving from 1983 until 1990. Prior to that, he served as ...
who was instrumental in acquiring the funding needed to build it. The arena is associated with the Arena Network, a marketing and scheduling group of 38 arenas.
Location and layout
The arena is located across the street from
Beaver Stadium
Beaver Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium on the campus of Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania. It has been home to the Penn State Nittany Lions of the Big Ten Conference since 1960, though some parts of ...
on Curtin Road, on the eastern part of the campus. This part of campus is home to many of the school's athletic facilities, including the recently built
Medlar Field at Lubrano Park
Medlar Field at Lubrano Park is a 5,570-seat baseball stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania, that hosted its first regular season baseball game on June 20, 2006, when the State College Spikes lost to the Williamsport Crosscutters, 5–3. The Pe ...
baseball facility,
Pegula Ice Arena
The Pegula Ice Arena is a 6,014-seat multi-purpose arena in University Park, Pennsylvania on the campus of Penn State University. The facility is located on the corner of Curtin Road and University Drive near the Bryce Jordan Center. The arena is ...
, and Jeffrey Field soccer stadium. There is a large electronic display outside the arena which provides advertisements for future events. The university also recently contracted with
ANC Sports to install over of LED ribbon board signage to be used for sponsor advertisements and game prompts.
Operations
The Jordan Center is owned by Penn State University and operated through its Auxiliary & Business Services Unit.
Notable events
It hosts numerous concerts and
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
events, including ''
RAW
Raw is an adjective usually describing:
* Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made
* Raw food, uncooked food
Raw or RAW may also refer to:
Computing and electronics
* .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...
''.
Parts of
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...
's 1998 live album, ''
A Little South of Sanity
''A Little South of Sanity'' is a live album by American hard rock band Aerosmith, released on October 20, 1998, by Geffen Records. The two-disc album features recordings taken while the band was on the Nine Lives Tour, which began in 1997 and w ...
'', were recorded at the Jordan Center. Lead singer
Steven Tyler
Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer, best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, piano, and percussion. ...
can be heard yelling "State College" out to the audience in order to rile them up during "
Love in an Elevator
"Love in an Elevator" is a song performed by American rock band Aerosmith, written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. It was released in August 1989 as the lead single from their third album with Geffen Records, ''Pump'', released in September. It p ...
".
The music video for The
Backstreet Boys
Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson. Lou Pearlman formed the group in 1993 in Orlando, Florida.
The gr ...
' 2000 hit,
"The One", was filmed at the arena
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 ...
played a concert in 2001 as part of her
Dream Within a Dream Tour
The Dream Within a Dream Tour was the fourth concert tour by American entertainer Britney Spears. It was launched in support of her third studio album, '' Britney'' (2001). The tour was promoted by Concerts West, marking the first time Spears di ...
. Some performances were taped with a new technology, at the time, called
First-person shooter engine
A first-person shooter engine is a video game engine specialized for simulating 3D environments for use in a first-person shooter video game. First-person refers to the view where the players see the world from the eyes of their characters. Shoot ...
and were released as bonus videos in her video game "Britney's Dance Beat", for
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
.
The arena played host to the politically motivated
Vote for Change
The Vote for Change tour was a politically motivated American popular music concert tour that took place in October 2004. The tour was presented by MoveOn.org to benefit America Coming Together. The tour was held in swing states and was designed ...
Tour on October 1, 2004, featuring performances by
My Morning Jacket
My Morning Jacket is an American rock band formed in Louisville, Kentucky in 1998. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Jim James, bassist Tom Blankenship, drummer Patrick Hallahan, guitarist Carl Broemel, and keyboardist Bo Koster. The ba ...
,
Jurassic 5
Jurassic 5 is an American alternative hip hop group formed in 1994 by rappers Charles Stewart (Chali 2na), Dante Givens (Akil), Courtenay Henderson (Soup aka Zaakir), Marc Stuart (Marc 7); and disc jockeys Mark Potsic (DJ Nu-Mark) and Lucas Macf ...
,
Ben Harper
Benjamin Chase Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live perfo ...
& The Innocent Criminals, and The
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band (also known by the initials DMB) is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and bac ...
.
In March 2006, the arena hosted first and second rounds of the
NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 women's college basketball teams from the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic ...
. The arena also hosts the
Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, Inc., also known by its acronymn PIAA, is one of the governing bodies of high school and middle school athletics for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in the United States.
The PIAA's main ...
(PIAA) Basketball Championships on a yearly basis.
In 2007, the
Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, commonly known as THON, was moved to the Jordan Center. The event, designed to raise money to fight
pediatric cancer
Childhood cancer is cancer in a child. About 80% of childhood cancer cases can be successfully treated thanks to modern medical treatments and optimal patient care. However, only about 10% of children diagnosed with cancer reside in high-income cou ...
, raises millions of dollars every year.
On October 13, 2008, it played host to Change Rocks: A Concert to Benefit Obama, among guests playing included
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guita ...
and
Bob Weir
Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead ...
,
Phil Lesh
Philip Chapman Lesh (born March 15, 1940) is an American musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career.
After the band's disbanding in 1995, Lesh continued the tradition of ...
,
Mickey Hart
Mickey Hart (born Michael Steven Hartman, September 11, 1943) is an American percussionist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 until February 19 ...
and
Bill Kreutzmann
William Kreutzmann Jr. ( ; born May 7, 1946) is an American drummer and founding member of the rock band Grateful Dead. He played with the band for its entire thirty-year career, usually alongside fellow drummer Mickey Hart, and has continued ...
, all four of whom were members of The
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...
.
On October 20, 2018,
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
set the attendance record with a crowd of 15,588 people.
See also
*
List of NCAA Division I basketball arenas
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
References
External links
*
Bryce Jordan Center at GoPSUSports.com
{{Authority control
College basketball venues in the United States
Sports venues in Pennsylvania
Music venues in Pennsylvania
Indoor arenas in Pennsylvania
Penn State Nittany Lions and Lady Lions basketball venues
Pennsylvania State University campus
1996 establishments in Pennsylvania
Sports venues completed in 1996