Truist Arena

Last updated

Truist Arena
Truist Arena logo.svg
Northern Kentucky University arena.jpg
Truist Arena, also referred to as "The Bank"
Truist Arena
Former namesThe Bank of Kentucky Center (20082015)
BB&T Arena (2015–2022)
Location500 Nunn Drive
Highland Heights, Kentucky 41099
Coordinates 39°01′56″N84°27′32″W / 39.032273°N 84.458864°W / 39.032273; -84.458864
Owner Northern Kentucky University
Operator ASM Global
Capacity 9,400 (Basketball)
7–8,000 (Concerts)
Construction
Broke groundMay 20, 2006
OpenedMay 10, 2008
Construction cost$64 million
($87 million in 2022 dollars [1] )
Architect 360 Architecture
GBBN Architects
Structural engineerTHP Limited Inc. [2]
General contractor Turner Construction [3]
Tenants
Northern Kentucky Norse (NCAA) 2008–present
Northern Kentucky River Monsters (UIFL/CIFL) 2011, 2014
Black-n-Bluegrass RollerGirls (WFTDA) 20122013
Cincinnati Bearcats (NCAA) 20172018

Truist Arena, formerly The Bank of Kentucky Center and BB&T Arena, is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Highland Heights, Kentucky, on the campus of Northern Kentucky University. The arena was topped off on June 21, 2007, and the first event held there was NKU's graduation ceremony on May 10, 2008. A grand opening ceremony was held on September 22, 2008.

Contents

The NKU men's and women's basketball teams are the main tenants, [4] but many outside events are booked at the center. Among the first were country music star Carrie Underwood, comedian Jeff Dunham, and the cast of the reality television show So You Think You Can Dance as well as Cirque du Soleil, and the Walking With Dinosaurs live production. It hosted the Elite Eight of the NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Tournament in 2012. [5] It was again set to host the Division II 2013 Elite Eight, [5] but the NCAA moved the event to Freedom Hall in Louisville as NKU joined Division I (the NCAA would later go further by only holding the Elite Eight and Final Four matchups in Louisville; the Division II championship game was moved to Atlanta, Georgia's State Farm Arena with the Division III championship game as part of the celebration of 75 years of the men's Division I tournament, the Final Four of which was held in the Georgia Dome). [6] On May 10, 2011, The Bank of Kentucky Center hosted WWE live. Other artists/performers that have visited the arena include Alan Jackson with Jana Kramer, Barry Manilow, Bill Engvall, Jeff Foxworthy, and Larry The Cable Guy, Blake Shelton, Bob Dylan, Dane Cook, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Martina McBride, Trace Adkins, Jay-Z, REO Speedwagon, and Styx among others.

The first basketball event at the arena saw the NKU men's and women's basketball teams play Louisville on November 8, 2008. [7]

The arena hosted the KHSAA Girls' Sweet Sixteen in high school basketball from 2016 through 2018, after which the event moved to Rupp Arena in Lexington. [8] [9]

Sponsorship

The Bank of Kentucky agreed to cover 10% of the cost of the arena, up to $6 million, in exchange for naming rights. It will also get a luxury suite, access to premium tickets and free use of the facility rent free for one special event each year. [10]

In 2015, the name of the arena was changed to the BB&T Arena after BB&T Corp. bought out The Bank of Kentucky. In 2020, BB&T merged with SunTrust, with the merged company renaming itself Truist. However, the arena continued to bear the BB&T name because Truist did not start rebranding its Kentucky locations with the new corporate name until late 2021. The Truist name was adopted for the arena shortly after the 2021–22 basketball season, taking effect on April 5, 2022. [11]

Tenants

Beginning in spring of 2011, Truist Arena was home to the Northern Kentucky River Monsters of the Ultimate Indoor Football League. After the season, the River Monsters agreed to part ways with the UIFL. The UIFL still had rights to place a team in the arena, so there will be an expansion team placed there, the Kentucky Monsters.

Truist Arena has also played host to the Black-n-Bluegrass Roller Girls since 2012. [12] The home dates for the league in 2012 were: May 19, June 16, July 21, August 18, September 22, and October 20.

The Cincinnati Bearcats from the University of Cincinnati played their home games at what was then BB&T Arena during the 2017–18 season while Fifth Third Arena underwent renovations. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heritage Bank Center</span> Indoor arena in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.

Heritage Bank Center is an indoor arena located in downtown Cincinnati, next to the Great American Ball Park. It was completed in September 1975 and named Riverfront Coliseum because of its placement next to Riverfront Stadium. In 1997, the facility became known as The Crown, and in 1999, it changed its name again to Firstar Center after Firstar Bank assumed naming rights. In 2002, following Firstar's merger with U.S. Bank, the arena took on the name U.S. Bank Arena and kept that name until 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Kentucky University</span> Public university in Highland Heights, Kentucky

Northern Kentucky University is a public university in Highland Heights, Kentucky. Of its 15,000 students, over 10,000 are undergraduate students and nearly 5,000 are graduate students. Northern Kentucky University is the third largest university, behind the University of Cincinnati and Miami University, of Greater Cincinnati's four large universities and the youngest of Kentucky's eight. Among the university's programs are the Salmon P. Chase College of Law and the College of Informatics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum</span> Indoor arena at Wake Forest University

The Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum is a 14,665-seat multi-purpose arena, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Construction on the arena began on April 23, 1987, and it opened on August 28, 1989. It was named after Lawrence Joel, an Army medic from Winston-Salem who was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1967 for action in Vietnam on November 8, 1965. The memorial was designed by James Ford in New York, and includes the poem "The Fallen" engraved on an interior wall. It is home to the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons men's basketball and women's basketball teams, and is adjacent to the Carolina Classic Fairgrounds. The arena replaced the old Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum, which was torn down for the LJVM Coliseum's construction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fifth Third Arena</span> Multi-purpose arena in Cincinnati, Ohio

Fifth Third Arena is an indoor arena in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The arena opened in 1989 and is located on the campus of the University of Cincinnati. It primarily serves as the home venue for the Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball, women's basketball, and women's volleyball teams and hosts other events. It is located in the Myrl H. Shoemaker Center, which was also the name of the arena until 2005, when it was named for Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chartway Arena</span> Multipurpose arena in Virginia

Chartway Arena at the Ted Constant Convocation Center is a 219,330-square-foot (20,376 m2), multi-purpose arena in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, on the campus of Old Dominion University. It is operated by Spectra Venue Management. Chartway Arena is part of the University Village project, a 75-acre (30 ha) development that features a shopping center that includes restaurants, offices, research labs and residences with connections to the campus. It has 7,319 seats, 862 upper club/priority seats, 16 suites, and a jumbotron scoreboard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Binghamton University Events Center</span> Multipurpose arena in Binghamton, New York

Binghamton University Events Center is the premier Division I Athletics and multipurpose facility at Binghamton University. The arena opened in 2004 and is adjacent to the Bearcat Sports Complex. It is home to the Binghamton Bearcats Division I Intercollegiate Athletic Program and can seat 5,142 patrons for home games, and over 8,000 for other large-scale events. It has hosted the 2005, 2006, and 2008 America East Conference men's basketball tournaments; the 2007 American East women's tournament as well as the first round and quarterfinal of the 2018 WBI tournament. The Events Center was host to the 2009 America East Conference Championship game when the Bearcats defeated UMBC to make March Madness. The facility has also hosted commencements and concerts such as Bob Dylan, Green Day, Incubus, Ludacris, Foo Fighters, Drake and Harry Connick Jr. The arena contains 53000 square feet of space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sports in Cincinnati</span>

Cincinnati is the home of three major league teams, three minor league teams, five college institutions with sports teams, and numerous top level amateur teams.

The Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball program represents the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio. The school's team competes in NCAA Division I as part of the Big 12 Conference. The Bearcats are currently coached by Wes Miller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Kentucky Norse</span> Athletic program of Northern Kentucky University

The Northern Kentucky Norse are the athletic teams of Northern Kentucky University, located in Highland Heights, Kentucky, United States. NKU is an NCAA Division I school competing in the Horizon League, which it joined on July 1, 2015, after leaving the Atlantic Sun Conference. The university's teams for both men and women are nicknamed "Norse."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball</span> Mens basketball team that represents Northern Kentucky University

The Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team represents Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, Kentucky, United States. The school's athletic program began a transition to NCAA Division I in the 2012–13 school year. For the first three seasons of the transition, it was a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference. In the final season of the transition in 2015–16, the Norse joined the Horizon League. The Norse were coached by John Brannen until April 14, 2019, when he left to take a job with the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. Before him the Norse program's coach was Dave Bezold, who had an overall record of 138 wins and 72 losses. On April 23, 2019 Darrin Horn was hired as head coach by Northern Kentucky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament</span>

The 2012 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college basketball as a culmination of the 2011–12 basketball season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016–17 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2016–17 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team represented Northern Kentucky University (NKU) during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Norse, led by second-year head coach John Brannen, played their home games at BB&T Arena in Highland Heights, Kentucky as members of the Horizon League. They finished the season 24–11, 13–6 in Horizon League play to finish in a tie for third place. As the No. 4 seed in the Horizon League tournament, they defeated Wright State, Youngstown State, and Milwaukee to win the Horizon League tournament. They received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament in the school's first year of eligibility after its transition to a Division I school. They lost in the first round to Kentucky.

The Cincinnati–Louisville rivalry is a college sports rivalry between the University of Cincinnati Bearcats and the University of Louisville Cardinals. The rivalry between these two schools, located about 100 miles (160 km) apart, dates to their first men's college basketball game in 1921, and has continued across all sports, with the football series gaining attention as well, having started in 1929. Both universities share common characteristics, both being over 200 year old institutions in urban settings. The schools have also shared conferences historically, with the rivalry stretching over the span of four conferences from the Missouri Valley Conference, to the Metro Conference to Conference USA, and more recently in the Big East Conference, which in 2013 was renamed to the American Athletic Conference. After the 2013–14 season, Louisville joined the Atlantic Coast Conference and since then the rivalry has been put on hiatus in football and basketball. Cincinnati will officially join the Big 12 conference in 2023. However, many other sports at the universities, such as baseball, continue to battle periodically.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017–18 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2017–18 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team represented Northern Kentucky University (NKU) during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Norse, led by third-year head coach John Brannen, played their home games at BB&T Arena in Highland Heights, Kentucky as members of the Horizon League. They finished the season 22–10, 15–3 in Horizon League play to win the Horizon League regular season championship. They were upset in the quarterfinals of the Horizon League tournament by No. 8 seed Cleveland State. As a regular season league champion who failed to win their league tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to Louisville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018–19 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2018–19 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team represented Northern Kentucky University (NKU) during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Norse, led by fourth-year head coach John Brannen, played their home games at BB&T Arena in Highland Heights, Kentucky as members of the Horizon League. They finished the season 26–9, 13–5 in Horizon League play to win a share of the regular season championship with Wright State. They defeated Detroit Mercy, Oakland, and Wright State to be champions of the Horizon League tournament. They received the Horizon League's automatic-bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to Texas Tech.

Drew McDonald is an American former basketball player. He played college basketball for the Northern Kentucky Norse. McDonald was named the conference's Player of the Year in 2019.

The 1997 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament was the 41st annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college basketball in the United States.

The 1998 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament was the 42nd annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college basketball in the United States.

The 2000 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament was the 44th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college basketball in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021–22 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2021–22 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team represented Northern Kentucky University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Norse, led by third-year head coach Darrin Horn, played their home games at BB&T Arena in Highland Heights, Kentucky as members of the Horizon League.

References

  1. 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  2. "THP Limited Inc. | Portfolio | Structural Engineering | Sports". Archived from the original on September 9, 2011. Retrieved January 21, 2012.
  3. "Bank of Kentucky Center / Northern Kentucky Norsemen | Visits | Arena Digest". Archived from the original on December 25, 2011. Retrieved January 21, 2012.
  4. "NKY.com" . Retrieved July 11, 2007.
  5. 1 2 "NCAA selects NKU as host for 2012 and 2013 Division II Elite Eight for men's basketball" (Press release). Northern Kentucky University Athletics. June 11, 2010. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
  6. "Division II Elite Eight to be played at Louisville's Freedom Hall in 2013" (Press release). NCAA. August 23, 2012. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
  7. "NKU ticket information". Archived from the original on July 31, 2008.
  8. "Board of Control Approves Future Championship Sites, Football Alignment" (Press release). Kentucky High School Athletic Association. May 12, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  9. "Board of Control Addresses Championship Sites for Football, Girls' Basketball, Dance" (Press release). Kentucky High School Athletic Association. May 10, 2017. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  10. Hassert, Dan (February 19, 2005). "Battles over taxes on several fronts". The Kentucky Post . E. W. Scripps Company. Archived from the original on February 28, 2006.
  11. "Northern Kentucky's BB&T Arena changes name to Truist Arena". Cincinnati: WLWT. April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  12. Erpenbeck, Kevin (December 7, 2011). "Roller derby takes over BOKC – The Northerner". www.thenortherner.com. The Northerner. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
  13. "Bearcats to play at BB&T Arena in 2017-18 season". February 10, 2017.