The Donald Bren Events Center, commonly known as the Bren Events Center or simply the Bren, is a 5,608-seat indoor

arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

on the campus of the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

, in

Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier * Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia * Irvine Island * Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada * Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut Scotland *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotlan ...

, California, United States.

Construction and history

It was conceived and planned in 1981, with the passage of a student referendum authorizing an assessment of $23 per student per quarter as of winter 1987. It opened January 8, 1987, with UCI men's basketball vs. Utah State. Parkin Architects Limited served as the architects for the building, which was renamed "Donald Bren Events Center" in 1988. The

renamed the structure in honor of real estate mogul and chairman of the

Irvine Company The Irvine Company LLC is an American private company focused on real estate development. It is headquartered in Newport Beach, California, with a large portion of its operations centered in and around Irvine, California, a planned city of more ...

Donald Bren Donald Leroy Bren (born May 11, 1932) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the chairman and owner of the Irvine Company, a U.S. real estate development corporation. With a net worth of $18 billion, he ranks number 104 on the 2024 Forbes ...

, upon receipt of a $1.5 million donation. In fall 2023, renovations began on the Bren Events Center to install a new

jumbotron A jumbotron, sometimes referred to as jumbovision, is a video display using large-screen television technology (video wall). The original technology was developed in the early 1980s by Mitsubishi Electric and Sony, which coined JumboTron as a ...

on the south wall as well as new ribbon boards around the perimeter of the arena. A temporary court was also installed due to damage from a flood.

Amenities

It is a 65,000 assignable (90,000 gross) square-foot multi-purpose facility servicing the university and all of southern California. It features a arena which hosts UCI Anteater Basketball, volleyball and serves as a general assembly space for special events. Additional conference and meeting spaces are available to support arena events and to host small meetings. In addition, it provides: *An arena of approximately 21,300 ASF that accommodates intercollegiate regulation basketball. *An arena that can be converted into three courts for recreational use for basketball and volleyball. *An arena with seating of 4,984 for spectator sporting events and 5,710 for concerts, lectures and conventions . *The Koll Room, a multi-purpose room of 1,820 ASF on the arena level to accommodate meetings, receptions, and instruction. *The Stewart Room, a room of 1,600 ASF suitable for receptions for 150 and banquet seating for 60. *The Berry Family Terrace, an outdoor terrace of 4,480 ASF suitable for intermission and pre- or post event receptions.

Tenants

Athletics

It serves as the home to

UC Irvine Anteaters The UC Irvine Anteaters are the athletic teams fielded by the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine). Its athletics programs participate in the NCAA's Division I, as members of the Big West Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Feder ...

athletic programs. Men's basketball, women's basketball, and men's volleyball all play their home games at Bren. The facility was home to the 1990, 1991 and 1992 U.S. Open

Badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

Championships.

Other events

It is also used for

concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

trade fair A trade show, also known as trade fair, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific Industry (economics), industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest Product (business), products and se ...

conventions Convention may refer to: * Convention (norm), a custom or tradition, a standard of presentation or conduct ** Treaty, an agreement in international law ** Convention (political norm), uncodified legal or political tradition * Convention (meeting) ...

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

shows and

graduation A graduation is the awarding of a diploma by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it, which can also be called Commencement speech, commencement, Congregation (university), congregation, Convocat ...

ceremonies. Recent examples of usage include hosting Tenzin Gyatso, the

14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso; ) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served a ...

, when he spoke in 2004, while

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

spoke and answered questions about his book '' Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid'' on 3 May 2007.

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

spoke at a

campaign rally A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referen ...

for local Democratic candidates in 2012. The university's Filipino cultural organization, Kababayan, hosts their annual ''Pilipinx American Cultural Night'', abbreviated to PACN, at the Bren. It is the largest Filipino cultural performance in the state.

TNA TNA may refer to: Organisations * Tamil National Alliance, a political coalition in Sri Lanka * The National Alliance, a political party in Kenya * The National Archives (United Kingdom), a UK public body * Tonga Nurses' Association, a trade union ...

Wrestling also held its 2009 Bound For Glory Event here.

Blink-182 Blink-182 is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Poway, California, in 1992. Its current and best-known line-up consists of bassist and vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist and vocalist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. Though its so ...

headlined a sold-out show at the Bren in 1999.

References

External links

Bren Events Center
{{Authority control Badminton venues Volleyball venues in California College basketball venues in California College volleyball venues in the United States Convention centers in California Music venues in California Sports venues in Irvine, California Sports venues completed in 1987 UC Irvine Anteaters basketball UC Irvine Anteaters volleyball University of California, Irvine main campus buildings and structures Event venues established in 1987 1987 establishments in California