Colonial Life Arena

Colonial Life Arena
Former names	Carolina Center (2002–2003); Colonial Center (2003–2008)
Location	801 Lincoln Street; Columbia, South Carolina 29208
Public transit	The Comet: ; Routes 28, 52X, 63, 101, 201, 301, 401, 601 ; Amtrak Silver Star at Columbia
Owner	University of South Carolina
Operator	Spectra
Capacity	15,000 (Basketball); 13,000 (Concerts)
Surface	Multi-surface
Construction
Broke ground	April 25, 2001[1]
Opened	November 21, 2002
Construction cost	$65 million; ($88.4 million in 2017 dollars[2] )
Architect	Rosser International Inc.; JHS Architects[3]
Structural engineer	Geiger Engineers[4]
General contractor	Beers Construction[5]
Tenants
	South Carolina Gamecocks (NCAA) (2002–present); Columbia Stingers (NIFL) (2007)

The Colonial Life Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Columbia, South Carolina, primarily home to the University of South Carolina men's and women's basketball teams. Opened as a replacement for the Carolina Coliseum with the name Carolina Center in 2002, the 18,000-seat arena is also host to various events like conferences, concerts, and graduation ceremonies throughout the year. It is the largest arena in the state of South Carolina and the eighth largest campus college arena.

The naming rights were acquired in 2003 by Unum, a Portland, Maine–based insurance company, and it was renamed to the Colonial Center after the Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company, a Unum subsidiary headquartered in Columbia. On July 22, 2008, the USC board approved renaming the building to the Colonial Life Arena as part of the rebranding by Unum (which by then had moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee) of Colonial Life & Accident as Colonial Life.^[6]

History and use

The arena floor of the Colonial Life Arena.

The arena first opened on November 22, 2002, with the season opener of the South Carolina women's basketball team. A near sell-out crowd of 17,712 fans saw the 72–58 Gamecocks victory over in-state rival Clemson, with a one-dollar admission charge, at that time commonly used by the women's basketball team to promote major games. The official grand opening took place December 2, 2002. The men's basketball team defeated Temple 66–47. On January 26, 2010 South Carolina defeated #1 ranked and undefeated Kentucky 68-62 in the arena, one of the biggest wins in South Carolina history.^[7]

Aside from Gamecock basketball, the Colonial Life Arena also hosts the South Carolina High School Basketball Championships each year. The facility is built to also host ice hockey games, and was intended to be the new home of the ECHL's Columbia Inferno. However, due to legal issues with the funding for the facility, the Inferno never played there. The franchise suspended operations in 2008, but after plans for a new arena in neighboring Lexington County fell through, the franchise was finally canceled in 2014.

The Colonial Life Arena was ranked 22nd in the world in ticket sales in 2003.^[8] It was also ranked the #1 arena in the Carolinas and was the #2 rated university arena in the world in 2005, based on ticket sales for touring shows.^[9]

It is managed by Spectra (formerly Global Spectrum), the facilities management subsidiary of Comcast Spectacor. The NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, then owned by Comcast Spectacor, played an exhibition game in the venue in October 2005.

In 2007, it was home to the Columbia Stingers of the National Indoor Football League. The arena has hosted the Charlotte Bobcats and New York Knicks in the past.

The venue, like all Comcast-Spectator managed facilities, has its own ticketing policy, and therefore concerts are not controlled by the major ticketing industry firms.

Ticketing is provided by New Era Tickets, and tickets can be purchased through the Arena's web site.

Non-basketball events

Other events held at the Arena have included Disney on Ice, High School Musical: The Concert, Sesame Street, American Idols Live! & Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus (until 2017), and WWE Raw.

Concerts

Artists that have performed at the arena over the past 16 years include: Red Hot Chili Peppers twice (in 2012 and 2017), The Eagles, Cher, Billy Joel, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (who played the first ever show at the Arena in November 2002), Prince & The New Power Generation twice (in 2004 and in 2011), Pearl Jam twice (first with Kings of Leon in 2008, and in 2016), Jimmy Buffett twice (in 2004 and in 2010), Shania Twain, Britney Spears in 2004, Def Leppard with Foreigner, Journey with Steve Miller Band, Aerosmith in 2004, Cheap Trick, John Mayer in 2007, Taylor Swift four times (with Rascal Flatts in 2008, 2010, with Needtobreathe in 2011, with Ed Sheeran in 2013), Usher in 2011 with Akon, R. Kelly four times, Kanye West in 2004, B2K, Jamie Foxx, Lil Jon, Soulja Boy, T.I., Lil Wayne, Jason Aldean in 2014, Thomas Rhett, Florida Georgia Line, Carrie Underwood a few times (once in 2010), Craig Morgan, Miley Cyrus and Metro Station in 2009, Justin Bieber in 2013, Bruno Mars in 2014, Maroon 5 twice (in 2016 w/Tove Lo), Mötley Crüe, Darius Rucker twice (in 2014 and 2017), Lee Brice in 2013, Eric Church in 2012, James Taylor in 2015, Kenny Chesney a few times (once in 2015), Blake Shelton with Luke Bryan in 2010, Zac Brown Band in 2012, Drake with Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd w/Gucci Mane in 2017, Chris Brown in 2014, Trey Songz, Janet Jackson, Mary J. Blige, Coolio, Skillet, Nickelback with Chevelle in 2006, Imagine Dragons, and the Foo Fighters with The Struts in 2017, among others.

Britney Spears 2004 The Onyx Hotel Tour

Taylor Swift 2011 Speak Now World Tour

Drake 2012 Club Paradise Tour

Nickelback 2006 All The Right Reasons Tour

Pearl Jam 2008 Pearl Jam 2008 United States Tour

Aerosmith 2004 Honkin' on Bobo Tour

Elton John 2005 Peachtree Road Tour

On June 25, 2015, Paul McCartney performed at the Colonial Life Arena as part of his 2015 Out There (tour). The June 25 show was Paul's first performance in Columbia since he played Williams-Brice Stadium on May 7, 1993 as part of his The New World Tour.

Other events

The University of South Carolina holds most of its commencement exercises in the Colonial Life Arena. The first commencement speaker for ceremonies at the Colonial Center was President George W. Bush in 2003.

On June 28, 2007, selected contestants from Dancing With The Stars performed dances, as part of their summer tour.

On December 9, 2007, a rally for Barack Obama was scheduled to be held at the arena. Because the rally also featured Oprah Winfrey, tickets to the event sold out days before the rally. The rally was eventually moved to nearby Williams-Brice Stadium.^[10]

References

↑ "Crowd Revels in Future Arena". The State. Columbia, SC. April 26, 2001. p. B1. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
↑ Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Community Development Project. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
↑ "Book of 2005 Lists" (PDF). Columbia Business Journal. July 11, 2005. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
↑ "Paul A. Gossen, P.E." Geiger Engineers. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
↑ "What's on Deck?". SportsBusiness Journal. July 30, 2001. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
↑ "Colonial Center Name Change Approved". South Carolina Athletics. July 22, 2008. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
↑ "Kentucky Schedule (2009-10)". Big Blue History. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
↑ "The Colonial Center Ranks 22nd Worldwide in Ticket Sales to its Events". South Carolina Athletics. January 16, 2004. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
↑ http://sdm3.com/viewmsg.cfm?n35069s338c632468t337e1685912%5Bpermanent+dead+link%5D
↑ "Oprah, Obama To Visit S.C." WYFF. Greenville, SC. December 4, 2007. Archived from the original on December 26, 2007. Retrieved December 4, 2007.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] "Crowd Revels in Future Arena". The State. Columbia, SC. April 26, 2001. p. B1. Retrieved February 4, 2012.

[inflation-US-2] Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Community Development Project. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved January 2, 2018.

[3] "Book of 2005 Lists" (PDF). Columbia Business Journal. July 11, 2005. Retrieved March 12, 2016.

[4] "Paul A. Gossen, P.E." Geiger Engineers. Retrieved January 7, 2013.

[5] "What's on Deck?". SportsBusiness Journal. July 30, 2001. Retrieved February 4, 2012.

[6] "Colonial Center Name Change Approved". South Carolina Athletics. July 22, 2008. Retrieved November 12, 2013.

[7] "Kentucky Schedule (2009-10)". Big Blue History. Retrieved November 12, 2013.

[8] "The Colonial Center Ranks 22nd Worldwide in Ticket Sales to its Events". South Carolina Athletics. January 16, 2004. Retrieved November 12, 2013.

[9] ttp://sdm3.com/viewmsg.cfm?n35069s338c632468t337e1685912%5Bpermanent+dead+link%5D

[10] "Oprah, Obama To Visit S.C." WYFF. Greenville, SC. December 4, 2007. Archived from the original on December 26, 2007. Retrieved December 4, 2007.

South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball
Venues	Carolina Fieldhouse (1927–1968) Carolina Coliseum (1968–2002) Colonial Life Arena (2002–present)
Rivalries	Clemson
Culture & lore	History Cocky "The Fighting Gamecocks Lead the Way" Garnet Army 2017–18 corruption scandal
People	Head coaches Retired jerseys
Seasons	1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

National Indoor Football League
Indoor Bowl
Seasons	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Music venues of South Carolina
Theaters and clubs	House of Blues Music Farm New Brookland Tavern
Arenas	Colonial Life Arena North Charleston Coliseum

Construction

Former names	Carolina Center (2002–2003) Colonial Center (2003–2008)
Location	801 Lincoln Street Columbia, South Carolina 29208
Public transit	The Comet: Routes 28, 52X, 63, 101, 201, 301, 401, 601 Amtrak Silver Star at Columbia
Owner	University of South Carolina
Operator	Spectra
Capacity	15,000 (Basketball) 13,000 (Concerts)
Surface	Multi-surface
Broke ground	April 25, 2001^[1]
Opened	November 21, 2002
Construction cost	$65 million ($88.4 million in 2017 dollars^[2] )
Architect	Rosser International Inc. JHS Architects^[3]
Structural engineer	Geiger Engineers^[4]
General contractor	Beers Construction^[5]
Tenants
South Carolina Gamecocks (NCAA) (2002–present) Columbia Stingers (NIFL) (2007)