Neville Arena, formerly Auburn Arena, is a 9,121-seat multi-purpose arena in

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

, Alabama, on the campus of

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

. Built in 2010 to replace Beard–Eaves–Memorial Coliseum, the $86 million facility is the home of the

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

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 ...

women's gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymn ...

, and women's volleyball teams. In 2020, this arena was also referred to as “The Pearl Palace.” This was in tribute to the 2019 Final Four appearance of the Auburn Tigers. The arena is located on the west side of the Auburn campus, near Wire Road between Thach Avenue and Heisman Drive. Aside from the main court, the arena also contains two practice courts, a weight room, 12 suites, coaches offices, the Auburn Ticket Office, and the Lovelace Athletic Museum. The outside of the arena features a large monument to the Auburn Creed and a statue of former Auburn men's basketball player Charles Barkley.

History

On June 29, 2007,

announced plans to build a new $92.5 million (eventually completed under budget at $86 million) basketball arena and practice facilities to replace Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum. Auburn held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new facility 13 months later on August 29, 2008. Auburn held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Auburn Arena on October 15, 2010. That night Auburn held the official grand opening for the new arena. Many celebrities were in attendance, including former Auburn men's basketball player Charles Barkley. The event concluded with a

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 ...

game. The Auburn 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 first competitive games in Auburn Arena in a doubleheader on November 12, 2010. The women's team defeated

Mercer Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trader ...

79–61, and the men's team lost to

UNC Asheville The University of North Carolina Asheville (UNC Asheville, UNCA, or simply Asheville) is a public liberal arts university in Asheville, North Carolina, United States. UNC Asheville is the designated liberal arts institution in the University of N ...

70–69 in overtime. The men's first win in Auburn Arena came three games later in a 68–66 win over Middle Tennessee. On October 22, 2016, Auburn announced that it plans to build a statue of former men's basketball player Charles Barkley to be displayed outside of Auburn Arena. The statue was unveiled on November 25, 2017, on the morning of the 2017 Iron Bowl. On February 8, 2022, the Auburn Athletics Department announced that Auburn Arena's name would be changed to Neville Arena in recognition of the single largest gift in Auburn Athletics history by donors Bill and Connie Neville. The dedication for the official name change took place on March 4, 2022. In addition, Auburn initiated plans for construction of a new practice gym and renovation of the existing practice gym at the Arena.

Auburn basketball

Notable games

* November 12, 2010 - UNC Asheville 70, Auburn 69 (OT):

defeated Auburn in the first ever men's basketball game played in Auburn Arena. * November 21, 2010 - Auburn 68, Middle Tennessee 66: Auburn defeated Middle Tennessee for their first ever win in Auburn Arena. * February 6, 2013 - Auburn 49, Alabama 37: Auburn defeated rival Alabama for the first time in Auburn Arena. Former Auburn quarterback Cam Newton cheered on the Tigers from the front row of The Jungle during the game. * January 16, 2016 - Auburn 75, Kentucky 70: Auburn defeated #14 Kentucky, snapping Auburn's 18-game losing streak against the Wildcats. The Auburn students stormed the court for the first time in Auburn Arena at the end of the game. * March 3, 2018 - Auburn 79, South Carolina 70: #19 Auburn defeated South Carolina in the last regular season game of the year, clinching a share of the 2018 SEC regular season championship. *February 1, 2020 - Auburn 75, Kentucky 66: ESPN's College GameDay visited Auburn for the first time ever, where #17 Auburn defeated #13 Kentucky. *February 8, 2020 - Auburn 91, LSU 90 (OT): Despite trailing #18

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

by 8 points with a little over a minute left in regulation, #11 Auburn came back to tie the game and send it into overtime. Auburn took an early lead in overtime, but LSU scored with 9 seconds left to take the lead back. Auburn's J'von McCormick drove the length of the floor and hit the game-winning shot with 0.1 seconds to go. *January 22, 2022 - Auburn 80, Kentucky 71: In anticipation of an early Saturday matchup between #2 Auburn and #12 Kentucky, Auburn students camped out in sub-freezing temperatures starting day before in order to get into the game. Auburn defeated Kentucky en route to earning their first ever #1 ranking in the next AP poll. After the game, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl dubbed the student campout "Jungle City." Students would camp out in Jungle City for other home games later in the season. *March 5, 2022 - Auburn 82, South Carolina 71: #5 Auburn defeated South Carolina in the last regular season game of the year, clinching the 2022 SEC regular season championship outright. This was also the first men's basketball game played in the arena after it was renamed Neville Arena.

Average attendance by season

Events

Non-Auburn sporting events

Auburn Arena hosted games for the first and second rounds of the

2011 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2011 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 19, 2011 and concluded on April 5, 2011. The Texas A&M Aggies won the championship, defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic ...

Concerts

Since it opened in 2010, Neville Arena has hosted concerts featuring many artists across many different genres. The following is a list of all artists that have performed in Neville Arena. * The Avett Brothers *

B.o.B Bobby Ray Simmons Jr. (born November 15, 1988), known professionally as B.o.B, is an American rapper and record producer. Raised in Decatur, Georgia, Simmons was signed to Jim Jonsin's Rebel Rock Entertainment imprint in 2006. Two years later, ...

* The Band Perry * Ben Rector *

Cole Swindell Colden Rainey Swindell (born June 30, 1983) is an American rock music singer and songwriter. He has written singles for Craig Campbell, Thomas Rhett, Scotty McCreery, and Luke Bryan, and has released four albums for Warner Bros. Records Nashvil ...

* Girl Talk *

Green River Ordinance A Green River Ordinance is a common United States city ordinance prohibiting door-to-door solicitation. Under such an ordinance, it is illegal for any business to sell their items door-to-door without express prior permission from the household. ...

* Hot Chelle Rae * Ludacris *

Lupe Fiasco Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco ( ), is an American rapper, singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his debut album, ''Lupe Fiasco's ...

* Needtobreathe * The Neighbourhood * Train * Young the Giant

References

External links

Auburn ArenaAuburn Arena Private Events
{{Music venues of Alabama Auburn Tigers basketball venues College basketball venues in the United States College gymnastics venues in the United States Basketball venues in Alabama Buildings and structures in Auburn, Alabama 2010 establishments in Alabama Sports venues completed in 2010 Gymnastics venues in Alabama