Viejas Arena (formerly Cox Arena) is the home

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

of the

San Diego State Aztecs The San Diego State Aztecs are the athletic teams that represent San Diego State University (SDSU). San Diego State currently sponsors six men's and eleven women's sports at the varsity level. The Aztecs compete in NCAA Division I ( FBS for foo ...

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. It is located on the

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

(SDSU) campus in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

. Viejas Arena opened in July 1997 and seats 12,414 for basketball and up to 12,845 for concerts.Viejas Arena
at goaztecs.cstv.com, URL accessed November 24, 2009

11/24/09SDSU and Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians Agree on Arena Naming Rights
at sdsuniverse.info, URL accessed November 24, 2009
Archived
11/24/09 The facility also hosts SDSU's commencement ceremonies.

History

Viejas Arena was built on the site of the old Aztec Bowl football stadium (a

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

project) on the SDSU campus, and the university (or its affiliated corporation) still owns the arena. It was originally named Cox Arena after

Cox Communications Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable) is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services. It i ...

, which owns one of the local

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...

systems in the greater San Diego regional area, and which paid fees to become the arena's corporate sponsor. The arena was renamed to Viejas Arena under a 10-year naming rights agreement announced March 17, 2009. On October 29, 2015, the basketball court was named Steve Fisher Court after men's basketball head coach Steve Fisher.

Events

The stadium has hosted numerous sporting events such as the men's NCAA basketball tournament first and second rounds in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, and

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 the 2006 tournament, the first-round games were delayed and the building evacuated due to a bomb-sniffing dog picking up scents of a potentially dangerous substance. These fears were unfounded, however, and play went on as scheduled. Because of its status as SDSU's home court, the Aztecs were not allowed to open the tournament at home (under "pod system" rules).It's simple: The pod system is a failure
at nbcsports.msnbc.com, URL accessed November 24, 2009
Archived
11/24/09 In 2007, the arena was the home of the

San Diego Shockwave The San Diego Shockwave was a 2007 expansion team from the National Indoor Football League. They played their home games at the Viejas Arena, which is also home to the San Diego State Aztecs basketball teams. The Shockwave finished the 2007 se ...

indoor football team for one season.Stadiums in the United States
at worldstadiums.com, URL accessed November 24, 2009
Archived
11/24/09 In addition to sports, Viejas Arena has also hosted television events such as

WCW World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nationa ...

's '' Bash at the Beach'' in 1998 and some episodes of ''

WCW Monday Nitro ''WCW Monday Nitro'', also known as ''WCW Nitro'' or simply ''Nitro'', is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast weekly every Monday night on TNT in the Unite ...

''. The arena hosted

TNA 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 promoti ...

's '' Bound For Glory'' pay-per-view event on October 20, 2013. They were also the host of filming

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...

's live DVD '' Blood in the Water: Live in San Diego''. Viejas Arena is also used as a large concert venue where major musical acts perform. The arena is often used as an alternative to the much larger

Pechanga Arena Pechanga Arena (historically known as the San Diego Sports Arena) is an indoor arena built in 1966 and located in the Midway area of San Diego, California. The arena seats 12,000 for indoor football, 12,920 for ice hockey, indoor soccer and ...

across town.

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

performed at the stadium on her ArtRave: The Artpop Ball tour on June 2, 2014. On June 11, 2019, it became the first arena to host

Dude Perfect Dude Perfect (DP) is an American sports and comedy group headquartered in Frisco, Texas. The group consists of Tyler "TT" Toney, twins Cory and Coby Cotton, Garrett "Purple Hoser" Hilbert, and Cody "Tall Guy" Jones, all of whom are former colleg ...

's live show, "Pound It, Noggin Tour". Veijas was also the arena where Dude Perfect filmed the footage used for their documentary, ''Dude Perfect Backstage Pass''.

Gallery

References

External links

Viejas Arena
- official page

{{Authority control 1997 establishments in California Arena football venues Basketball venues in California College basketball venues in the United States Indoor arenas in California Music venues in California San Diego State Aztecs basketball venues Sports venues completed in 1997 Sports venues in San Diego

History

Events

Gallery

See also

References

External links