The Winston-Salem Entertainment-Sports Complex is a group of arenas, sports venues, and entertainment venues in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. The complex consists of six structures, five of which are found in the same area along Deacon Boulevard in the city's North Ward. The complex is championed by the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum (LJVM Coliseum) and its own complex, which includes the LJVM Coliseum Annex and Education Building. The Winston-Salem Fairgrounds are intertwined with LJVM Complex. Across the road from the LJVM Coliseum lies BB&T Field, a football stadium, and Gene Hooks Field, a baseball stadium. Bowman Gray Stadium, a race track and football field, is considered part of the Winston-Salem Entertainment-Sports Complex, but it is not found in the vicinity of the other venues. It is found along Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard southeast of downtown. BB&T Ballpark is also part of the complex and is located in downtown at the intersection of Business 40 and North Carolina Highway 150.
The complex is used by sports teams from Wake Forest University (Demon Deacons) and Winston-Salem State University (Rams). The Winston-Salem Dash baseball team played at Gene Hooks Field until 2009 (but now play at Truist Stadium formerly BB&T Ballpark starting in 2010).
The Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum was the city's old multi-purpose arena and was demolished and replaced by the LJVM Coliseum in 1989.
Winston-Salem is a city in and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina and the 91st-most populous city in the United States. The population of the Winston-Salem metropolitan area was estimated to be 695,630 in 2023. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina's Piedmont Triad region, home to about 1.7 million residents.
The Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum is a multi-purpose stadium in Oakland, California, United States. It is part of the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Complex, with the adjacent Oakland Arena, near Interstate 880. In 2017, the playing surface was dedicated as Rickey Henderson Field in honor of Major League Baseball Hall of Famer and former Athletics left fielder Rickey Henderson.
The Greensboro Complex, formerly known as the Greensboro Coliseum Complex, 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.
The Gateway Sports and Entertainment Complex is an entertainment complex located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It opened in 1994 and is owned by the city of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County and is managed by the Gateway Economic Development Corporation, a non-profit group with board members who are appointed by county and city leaders.
David F. Couch Ballpark is a collegiate and former minor-league baseball park in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The full-time home of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons baseball team, starting in 2009, it was also previously home of the Winston-Salem entry in the Carolina League, a role it played since the park opened in 1956.
The Winston-Salem Dash are a Minor League Baseball team in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They are a High-A team in the South Atlantic League and have been a farm team of the Chicago White Sox since 1997. The Dash began playing their home games at the Truist Stadium in 2010 after having Ernie Shore Field as their home from 1956 to 2009.
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.
Salem Memorial Ballpark is a baseball park in Salem, Virginia. It is part of the James E. Taliferro Sports and Entertainment Complex, along with the Salem Civic Center and Salem Football Stadium, located approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) southeast of downtown. Opened on August 7, 1995, it is home to the Salem Red Sox, a minor-league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. It was built in 1995 at a cost of $10.1 million to replace Municipal Stadium. With a seating capacity of 6,300 people, it offers an impressive view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. For sponsorship reasons, since 2021 the full name of the facility has been Carilion Clinic Field at Salem Memorial Ballpark, named after local healthcare organization Carilion Clinic.
Winston-Salem War Memorial Coliseum was a multi-purpose arena in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The arena, which opened in 1955, held 8,200 people and was eventually replaced by the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in 1989. It was home to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball team from 1956 to 1989, though from 1959 onward the Deacons played many of their games at the Greensboro Coliseum as well.
The Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena is a 4,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Winston-Salem, North Carolina built in 1989. Since 2017, it has been home to the Carolina Thunderbirds, a minor league hockey team in the Federal Prospects Hockey League. It was formerly home to the Winston-Salem Thunderbirds, Winston-Salem Mammoths, Winston-Salem IceHawks, Winston-Salem T-Birds, Winston-Salem Polar Twins, and Twin City Cyclones ice hockey teams. It also serves as an occasional concert venue, hosting Bob Dylan on two occasions, in 1991 and 2002.
Gene Hooks Stadium was a baseball stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It was the primary home field of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons baseball program from 1981 through 2008.
Athletes and sports teams from North Carolina compete across an array of professional and amateur levels of competition, along with athletes who compete at the World and Olympic levels in their respective sport. Major league professional teams based in North Carolina include teams that compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer (MLS), and National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The state is also home to NASCAR Cup Series races. At the collegiate and university level, there are several North Carolina schools in various conferences across an array of divisions. North Carolina also has many minor league baseball teams. There are also a number of indoor football, indoor soccer, minor league basketball, and minor league ice hockey teams based throughout the state.
Truist Stadium is a ballpark in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States, that replaced Ernie Shore Field. It is primarily used for baseball, and is the home field of the Winston-Salem Dash minor league baseball team.
Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium is a football stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The stadium is just west of Gene Hooks Field at Wake Forest Baseball Park, home of the Wake Forest baseball team. It is primarily used for American football, and is the home field of the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons. The stadium opened in 1968 and holds 31,500 people. It is the smallest football stadium, by permanent capacity, in both the ACC and in all Power Five conferences. Previously known as Groves Stadium, in September 2007, Wake Forest University and BB&T, which was headquartered in Winston-Salem, announced a 10-year deal to officially rename the stadium BB&T Field starting with the first 2007 home game against Nebraska. The deal was part of a larger development process to secure funds for stadium renovations and upgrades. On July 8, 2020, the name of the stadium was changed to Truist Field at Wake Forest following a merger between BB&T and SunTrust. On June 21, 2023, the stadium name was changed to Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium after Allegacy became an official banking partner with Wake Forest Athletics.
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons baseball team represents Wake Forest University in NCAA Division I college baseball. The program competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). They won the 1955 College World Series. They are coached by Tom Walter.
The 2012 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team represented Wake Forest University during the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Jim Grobe, who was coaching his twelfth season at the school, and played its home games at BB&T Field. Wake Forest competed in the Atlantic Coast Conference, as they have since the league's inception in 1953, and are in the Atlantic Division.
The 2013 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team represented Wake Forest University during the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Jim Grobe, who coached his 13th season at the school, and played its home games at BB&T Field. Wake Forest competed in the Atlantic Coast Conference, as they have since the league's inception in 1953, and were in the Atlantic Division. They finished the season 4–8, 2–6 in ACC play to finish in sixth place in the Atlantic Division.
The 2014 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team represented Wake Forest University during the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Dave Clawson, who was coaching his first season at the school, and played its home games at BB&T Field. Wake Forest competed in the Atlantic Coast Conference as part of the Atlantic Division, as they have since the league's inception in 1953. They finished the season 3–9, 1–7 in ACC play to finish in a tie for sixth place in the Atlantic Division.
The Winston Wildcats were an indoor football team based in Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina. The Wildcats joined the professional American Indoor Football (AIF) as an expansion team in 2015. Following the 2016 season, the AIF ceased operations, leaving the Wildcats without a league. The Wildcats have periodically played as an independent against various teams in the local market. When they were in the AIF, their home games were at the LJVM Coliseum Annex in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Since the 2019 season, they are based out of High Point, North Carolina, operating as a travel team called the High Point Wildcats in the Southern Steam's Elite Indoor Football, a league composed of a variety of professional to semi-professional indoor football teams. During the 2019 season, the team announced that coaches Malachi King, Dale Glossenger, and John Burns had purchased the team from Roderick Hinton and rebranded as the Carolina Wildcats.