Desert Financial Arena (formerly ASU Activity Center and Wells Fargo Arena) is a 14,198-seat multi-purpose

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 ...

located at 600 E Veterans Way in

Tempe, Arizona Tempe ( ; ''Oidbaḍ'' in O'odham language, O'odham) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2020 population of 180,587. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in t ...

, United States, in the

Phoenix metropolitan area The Phoenix metropolitan area, also known as the Valley of the Sun, the Salt River Valley, metro Phoenix, or The Valley, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the Southwestern United States, with its largest principal city being the c ...

. It sits immediately east of

Mountain America Stadium Mountain America Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium in Tempe, Arizona, located on the campus of Arizona State University (ASU). It is the home of the Arizona State Sun Devils football team of the Big 12 Conference. The stadium ...

on the northern edge of the Tempe campus of

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

(ASU). Constructed in the spring of 1974 as the University Activity Center (or the "You-Ack") and at the cost of $8 million, it is the home of

men'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 (appro ...

, women's basketball, and women's volleyball and former home of women's gymnastics and men's wrestling. The facility also plays host to graduation ceremonies and a variety of concerts and shows. The building replaced Sun Devil Gym as the primary arena for the Sun Devils' basketball team. The former naming rights for the arena were purchased by Wells Fargo & Co. in 1997. The current naming rights for the arena were purchased by Desert Financial Credit Union in 2019 for $1.5 million for 5 years.

Design

The structure is long, wide and six stories high. The structure contains offices and locker rooms for men's basketball, women's basketball, women's volleyball, and the men's and women's track and field team, along with a weight room, coaches and film rooms, and an equipment room. In 2010, a temporary wall was placed on the upper bowl, reducing the arena's capacity from 13,947 to 10,754 due to the lack of fans attending games. In 2018, due to the success of the men's basketball team the wall was removed, increasing the capacity to 14,100.

Events

The Eagles The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971. With five number-one singles, six number-one albums, six Grammy Awards and five American Music Awards, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s in ...

played at the facility on October 15, 1976, with the setlist including the first live performance of “

Hotel California "Hotel California" is a song by American rock band the Eagles, released as the second single of their album of the same name on February 22, 1977. The song was written by Don Felder (music), Don Henley, and Glenn Frey (lyrics), featuring H ...

.”

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

& the

E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band that has been the primary backing band for rock musician Bruce Springsteen since 1972. In 2014, the E Street Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For the bulk of Springsteen's recordin ...

performed at the arena on November 5, 1980 during the River Tour. Video and audio of the show were released in 2015 in conjunction with the band's '' The Ties That Bind'' commemorative box set, and their performance of "

Badlands Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded."Badlands" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 47. They are characterized by steep slopes, ...

" was included on 1986's ''

Live 1975–85 ''Live/1975–85'' is a live album by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, consisting of 40 tracks recorded at various concerts between 1975 and 1985, and released as a box set by Columbia Records on November 10, 1986. It broke the record fo ...

'' album. The arena has also hosted the 1st and 2nd rounds of the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Women's Basketball Tournament in both

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

References

External links

Desert Financial Arena
on the ASU virtual tour {{Authority control College basketball venues in Arizona College gymnastics venues in the United States College volleyball venues in the United States College wrestling venues in the United States Arizona State Sun Devils basketball Arizona State Sun Devils women's volleyball Arizona State Sun Devils wrestling Arizona State University buildings and structures Sports venues in Tempe, Arizona 1974 establishments in Arizona Sports venues completed in 1974 Arizona State Sun Devils sports venues Wells Fargo

Design

Events

See also

References

External links