![BudWaltonArena1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/BudWaltonArena1.jpg)
Bud Walton Arena (also known as the Basketball Palace of Mid-America) is the home to the
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
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
teams of the
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...
, known as the
Razorbacks. It is located on the campus of the University of Arkansas in
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Fayetteville () is the second-largest city in Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, and the biggest city in Northwest Arkansas. The city is on the outskirts of the Boston Mountains, deep within the Ozarks. Known as Washington until ...
and has a seating capacity of 19,368, which is the fifth largest for an on-campus arena in the United States.
The arena features Bud Walton Arena Razorback Sports Museum on the ground level, which houses a history of Razorback basketball, track and field, baseball, tennis and golf.
Construction
The arena is named after
James "Bud" Walton
James Lawrence "Bud" Walton (December 20, 1921 – March 21, 1995) was the brother of Sam Walton and co-founder of Walmart.
Biography
Early life
Walton was born to Thomas Gibson Walton and Nancy "Nannie" Lee Lawrence Walton on December 20, 19 ...
, co-founder of
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
, who donated a large portion of the funds needed to build the arena. Walton purportedly gave $15 million, or around half of the construction cost. Construction of the arena took only 18 months, a short time considering the size of the undertaking.
When it was built, it was touted as a larger version of
Barnhill Arena
Barnhill Arena is a 10,000-seat multipurpose arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas, now used primarily for volleyball. The arena opened in 1954 and was home to the University of Arkansas Razorbacks (men's) and Ladybacks (women's) basketball teams befo ...
, the team's former home. In hopes of recreating the formidable home-court advantage the Razorbacks enjoyed at Barnhill, architect
Rosser International Rosser International was an architectural and engineering firm formed from the acquisition of FABRAP by the Atlanta engineering firm Rosser White Hobbs Davidson McClellan Kelly. The firm ceased operations around June 2019.
Buildings
*Memphis Pyram ...
built an arena that, as the company put it, had "more seats in less space than in any other facility of the same type anywhere in the world."
Early years
The arena has been the home to the Razorbacks since November 1993; the men's team won the
national championship
A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...
in the arena's first season of operation. The basketball team's former home, Barnhill Arena was renovated into a
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
-specific facility and now houses the Razorback women volleyball team.
In its early years,
Nolan Richardson
Nolan Richardson Jr. (born December 27, 1941) is a former American basketball head coach best known for his tenure at the University of Arkansas, where he won the 1994 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and led the Razorbacks to three F ...
's teams frequently attracted standing-room-only crowds of over 20,000.
Improvements
Since its opening, there have been a number of enhancements and improvements to the arena. In 2004, a new custom
scoreboard
A scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score in a game. Most levels of sport from high school and above use at least one scoreboard for keeping score, measuring time, and displaying statistics. Scoreboards in the past used ...
debuted, which is wide by tall, features four video screens, each wide by tall. (There is also a
LED
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...
ring at the top that is used to display game statistics.) In 2005, the locker rooms were remodeled, and a lounge and meeting area were added.
Prior to the 2008–09 season, eight luxury suites were added, raising the total to 47. In addition, courtside seating was added, the student section was reconfigured, and press seating was moved to the east side of the arena behind the basket. In 2008, LED ribbon boards were installed around the ring between the upper and lower decks.
The addition of these improvements expanded seating to 19,368.
Prior to the 2013-14 season, the press seating was moved to the southeast corner of the bottom bowl, with its prior location being used for an expanded student section.
Nolan Richardson Court
On March 28, 2019, the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees voted unanimously to name the court at the arena in honor of former Arkansas head coach
Nolan Richardson
Nolan Richardson Jr. (born December 27, 1941) is a former American basketball head coach best known for his tenure at the University of Arkansas, where he won the 1994 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and led the Razorbacks to three F ...
.
Statistics of Bud Walton Arena
Attendance Record: 20,361 vs. Auburn, February 8, 2022.
Attendance Chart (men) for every year Bud Walton Arena has been in operation
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 uni ...
References
External links
Bud Walton Arena- Arkansas Razorbacks
Google Maps Satellite/Map of Bud Walton ArenaBud Walton Arena overview at LadyBacks.com (official site of Arkansas women's athletics)FayettevilleTourism.com information on Bud Walton ArenaRateItAll.com Rating of Bud Walton Arena
{{Arkansas NCAA Division I college basketball venue navbox
University of Arkansas buildings
Arkansas Razorbacks basketball venues
Basketball venues in Arkansas
College basketball venues in the United States
Indoor arenas in Arkansas
Tourist attractions in Fayetteville, Arkansas
Museums in Washington County, Arkansas
Sports museums in Arkansas
1993 establishments in Arkansas
Sports venues completed in 1993
University and college buildings completed in 1993