Mizzou Arena is an

indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

located on the campus of the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourth ...

. Home to the school's men's and women's

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, the facility opened in November 2004 and replaced the

Hearnes Center Hearnes Center is a 13,611-seat multi-purpose arena in Columbia, Missouri. The arena opened in 1972. It is currently home to the Missouri Tigers' wrestling and volleyball teams as well as the school's gymnastics and indoor track & field teams ...

as the school's flagship indoor sports facility. The arena also serves as the Columbia-Jefferson City market's venue for well-known 'arena' acts such as

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American country music band founded in 1999. The band members were Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background vocals). DeMarcus is LeVox's second cou ...

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 ...

and the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, jus ...

. The arched-roof building seats 15,061, and is located just south of Hearnes and Memorial Stadium. The arena is host to

Missouri State High School Activities Association The Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) is the governing body for high school activities throughout the state of Missouri. Approximately 580 high schools are members of MSHSAA. The MSHSAA conducts championship-level activi ...

championships for basketball and

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

. The arena was originally known as Paige Sports Arena.

About the arena

Mizzou Arena also includes offices for the Men's and Women's basketball programs, the Athletic Administration and Mizzou Arena's Building Operations. For the basketball programs the arena also offers locker rooms, a 24-hour practice gym, weight and training facilities including a hydrotherapy pool, video classrooms with audio and video editing capabilities, and an academic study center. Missouri basketball coach from 1967 to 1999,

Norm Stewart Norman Eugene Stewart (born January 20, 1935) is a retired American college basketball coach. He coached at the University of Northern Iowa (then known as State College of Iowa) from 1961 to 1967, but is best known for his career with the Univers ...

, is the namesake of the arena's playing court.

History

After protracted negotiations, a third of the venue's $75 million cost was donated by Walmart heiress

Nancy Walton Laurie Nancy Walton Laurie (born May 15, 1951) is an American heir to the Walmart fortune. She is also a businesswoman and a philanthropist. Early life Nancy Walton was born on May 15, 1951. She is the younger daughter of Bud Walton, the brother and bus ...

and her husband

Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

. It was initially named Paige Sports Arena after their daughter (who attended the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

rather than Mizzou, to much alumni and student criticism regarding the name), but the Lauries gave up their

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

due to a term paper scandal involving that daughter shortly after the arena's dedication. The name of the arena's playing surface,

Court (in honor of Mizzou's longtime men's coach), was carried over from the basketball team's previous home at the

with the arena's opening in 2004. Attendance at men's basketball games has dropped somewhat, commensurate with the move of Mizzou in 2012 from the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

to the

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 ...

due to weak overall conference strength in the sport. With one conference game left to play in 2014, attendance was on track to be at its lowest since the 2007–08 season. In September 2014, the university announced renovations to the arena including new

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 ...

infrastructure, improvements to the facility's entryway and upgrades to the team's locker room coming from a $1.5 million donation. In June 2017 a former Mizzou athletics staffer was arrested on two felony charges after he allegedly drove a

Volkswagen Passat The Volkswagen Passat is a series of large family cars manufactured and marketed by the German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen since 1973, and now in its eighth generation. It has been marketed variously as the Dasher, Santana, Quantum, Mag ...

through Mizzou Arena and onto Norm Stewart Court early that morning, causing an estimated $100,000 in damages.

References

External links

Mizzou Arena Concerts at MUTigers.com

Tiger Scholarship Fund
{{Authority control College basketball venues in the United States Missouri Tigers basketball venues Sports venues completed in 2004 Basketball venues in Missouri Sports venues in Columbia, Missouri Buildings and structures in Columbia, Missouri 2004 establishments in Missouri Sports venues in Missouri

About the arena

History

See also

References

External links