Colonial Life Arena
| Colonial Life Arena | |
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| The Colonial Life Arena in Columbia | |
| Earlier names | |
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Carolina Center (2002-2003) |
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| Data | |
| place | 801 Lincoln Street Columbia , South Carolina 29208
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| Coordinates | 33 ° 59 '41.2 " N , 81 ° 2' 14.8" W |
| owner | University of South Carolina |
| operator | Global spectrum |
| start of building | 2001 |
| opening | November 22, 2002 |
| costs | 64 million US dollars |
| capacity | 18,000 seats |
| Societies) | |
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The Colonial Life Arena (until July 2008 Colonial Center , until 2003 Carolina Center ) is a multi-purpose arena in the US city of Columbia , South Carolina . It is the home of the University of South Carolina NCAA basketball teams , the South Carolina Gamecocks , and the Columbia Stingers of the National Indoor Football League (NIFL). Opened in 2002, the stadium has a capacity of 18,000, making it the largest arena in the state of South Carolina and one of the ten largest college sports halls in the United States. In addition, other events such as conferences, trade fairs or concerts take place in the hall.
history
Construction work on the new arena, which replaced the Carolina Coliseum as the home stadium of the University of South Carolina , began in 2001. Under the name Carolina Center , the hall was finally opened on November 22, 2002 with a game of the university's women's basketball team against the rivals of of Clemson University opened in front of 17,712 spectators. However, the official opening did not take place until December 2nd, when the men's team was able to defeat the Temple University team with 66:47.
In 2003, Life & Accident Insurance Company of Columbia acquired the naming rights to the arena, which was subsequently renamed Colonial Center . Since July 22, 2008, the stadium has been renamed Colonial Life Arena . In 2003 the arena took 22nd place worldwide among the stadiums with the best-selling tickets, and in 2005 the hall was also the university stadium with the second most spectators.
use
In addition to the college games of the NCAA basketball competitions and the home games of the Columbia Stingers , the arena is also the venue for the annual high school basketball championships. There is also the option of playing ice hockey games in the hall , which, however, has not yet been used due to open disputes regarding the financing of the arena. The hall is operated by Global Spectrum , whose NBA team Philadelphia 76ers played a friendly game in the arena in October 2005.
Other events that took place in the Colonial Life Arena were Disney on Ice , Sesame Street , American Idol Live! as well as the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus . In addition, the musicians Bruce Springsteen , Prince , Shania Twain , Britney Spears , Rascal Flatts , Taylor Swift , Cher , Billy Joel , Michael W. Smith and Elton John organized concerts in the hall. On October 9, 2006 and March 24, 2008, the wrestling organization WWE performed an episode of Monday Night Raw in Columbia in the stadium, after an episode of SmackDown had already been recorded in the Carolina Center in November 2002 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ The State Online, Colonial Center name change approved
- ↑ uscsports.collegesports.com, The Colonial Center Ranks 22nd Worldwide in Ticket Sales to its Events :: USC's Basketball Arena is Highest Ranked College Arena for 2003