Lake Charles is the fifth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Founded in 1861 in Calcasieu Parish, it is a major industrial, cultural, and educational center in the southwest region of the state. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Lake Charles's population was 84,872.
Footprint Center is a multi-purpose arena in Phoenix, Arizona. It opened under the name America West Arena on June 6, 1992 at a cost of $89 million.
Spectrum Center is an indoor arena located in Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina. It is owned by the city of Charlotte and operated by its main tenant, the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The arena seats 19,077 for NBA games but can be expanded to 20,200 for college basketball games.
United Center is an indoor arena on the Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is home to the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). It is named after its corporate sponsor United Airlines, which has been based in Chicago since 2007 and has a hub at O'Hare International Airport. With a capacity of nearly 21,000, the United Center is the largest arena by capacity in the NBA, and second largest arena by capacity in the NHL. It also has a seating capacity of 23,500 for concerts.
McNeese State University is a public university in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Founded in 1939 as Lake Charles Junior College, it was renamed McNeese Junior College after John McNeese, an early local educator. The present name was adopted in 1970. McNeese is part of the University of Louisiana System and is classified as a Master's University. The selective admissions university consists of six colleges and the Doré School of Graduate Studies. McNeese is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and all programs of study are accredited by their respective national boards.
Frost Bank Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena on the east side of San Antonio, Texas, United States. It is the home of the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Smoothie King Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is located in the city's Central Business District, adjacent to Caesars Superdome. The arena opened in 1999 as New Orleans Arena and has been home to the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA) since 2002. The New Orleans VooDoo of the Arena Football League played their home games in the arena from 2004 until the team disbanded in 2008. The VooDoo resumed play at the arena in March 2011, until after the 2015 AFL season when the franchise folded.
The Greensboro Coliseum Complex, commonly referred to as Greensboro Coliseum, is an entertainment and sports complex located in Greensboro, North Carolina. Opened in 1959, the complex holds eight venues that includes an amphitheater, arena, aquatic center, banquet hall, convention center, museum, theatre, and an indoor pavilion. It is the home of the UNC Greensboro Spartans men's basketball team, the Greensboro Swarm of the NBA G League, the Carolina Cobras of the National Arena League, as well as the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) with their Men's and Women's basketball tournaments.
Carolina Coliseum is a 12,401-seat former multi-purpose arena in Columbia, South Carolina, built in 1968 by the University of South Carolina. The Coliseum was the largest arena in South Carolina at the time of its completion. It was the home of the USC men's and women's basketball teams from 1968 to 2002, as well as Columbia's main events venue until 2002, when the Colonial Life Arena, opened a block away on Greene Street.
Berglund Center is a 10,500-seat multi-purpose arena located in the Williamson Road neighborhood of Roanoke, Virginia. It was built in 1971 and is currently the home of the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs of the SPHL. The arena also hosts Virginia Tech, Radford University and Roanoke College men's ice hockey games, as well as regular concerts and other large indoor events. The arena is also the home of the annual boys basketball games between Roanoke's two city high schools, Patrick Henry High School and William Fleming High School.
The Eastern States Coliseum, better known as the Big E Coliseum, is a 5,900-seat multi-purpose arena in West Springfield, Massachusetts.
Hirsch Memorial Coliseum is 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Shreveport, Louisiana, designed by the late local architect Edward F. Neild Jr. (1908–1958) who, with his father in 1937, had designed the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum in Shreveport. The coliseum is named after William Rex Hirsch, a former fair president, manager and treasurer. The building completed construction in 1954, the year of Hirsch's death, and initially was planned to have the name The Youth Building. The coliseum has been used for a variety of events through the years, with dirt being brought in and placed on the floor for rodeos and tractor pulls. It is located adjacent to the Independence Stadium and across from Fair Park High School in Shreveport. Hirsch coliseum is very similar in design, though smaller in size to the John M. Parker Agricultural Coliseum, owned and operated by the Louisiana State University Campus in Baton Rouge. However, the Parker coliseum has a dirt floor arena and is mainly used for livestock-type events, with portable hard floors laid on top of the dirt for other types of events such as basketball games or concerts.
The Leonard E. Merrell Center is a 7,200-seat multi-purpose arena in Katy, Texas. It was built in 2005 and was the former home of the Katy Copperheads and the Katy Ruff Riders of the Intense Football League. The Merrell Center has hosted the Southland Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments from 2008 to 2022, but both tournaments will move to The Legacy Center on the campus of McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana in 2023. The Houston Stallions of the Lone Star Football League moved to the Merrell Center in 2011.
The Burton Coliseum, built in 1976, is located in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
The Delta Center is an indoor venue in Salt Lake City. Opened in 1991, the arena is the home of the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Utah NHL team of the National Hockey League (NHL). Over the years, it has also hosted other professional sports teams including the Utah Blaze of the Arena Football League and the Utah Starzz of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). With a seating capacity of 18,306 for basketball, up to 16,200 for ice hockey and indoor football, and 20,000 for concerts, the arena offers space for many kinds of events. It has 56 luxury suites and 668 club seats. During the 2002 Winter Olympics, the arena hosted figure skating and short-track speed skating competitions under the name "Salt Lake Ice Center".
The culture of Louisiana involves its music, food, religion, clothing, language, architecture, art, literature, games, and sports. Often, these elements are the basis for one of the many festivals in the state. Louisiana, while sharing many similarities to its neighbors along the Gulf Coast, is unique in the influence of Louisiana French culture, due to the historical waves of immigration of French-speaking settlers to Louisiana. Likewise, African-American culture plays a prominent role. While New Orleans, as the largest city, has had an outsize influence on Louisiana throughout its history, other regions both rural and urban have contributed their shared histories and identities to the culture of the state.
Ralph O. Ward Memorial Arena formerly McNeese Arena is a 5,000 seat multi-purpose arena located in the McNeese State Recreational Sports Complex in Lake Charles, Louisiana. It is named after Ralph O. Ward, who was head coach of the men's basketball team from 1952 to 1971. The arena is currently home of the men's and women's indoor track and field teams. The Department of Health & Human Performance and administration offices are also located in the building along with athletic facilities for students.
The 2014–15 McNeese State Cowboys basketball team represented McNeese State University during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cowboys were led by eighth year head coach Dave Simmons and played their home games at Burton Coliseum, with three home games at Sudduth Coliseum in the Lake Charles Civic Center complex. The Cowboys are members of the Southland Conference.
The 2020–21 McNeese State Cowboys basketball team represented McNeese State University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cowboys, led by third-year head coach Heath Schroyer, played their home games at Burton Coliseum, due to hurricane damage at the HH&P Complex, in Lake Charles, Louisiana as members of the Southland Conference.
The 2021–22 McNeese State Cowboys basketball team represented McNeese State University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cowboys, led by first-year head coach John Aiken, played their home games at Burton Coliseum until moving to The Legacy Center on January 15, 2022 following hurricane damage repairs, in Lake Charles, Louisiana as members of the Southland Conference.
