Blackham Coliseum

Blackham Coliseum
Location	444 Cajundome Boulevard; Lafayette, Louisiana 70506
Owner	University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Operator	University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Capacity	Official: 5,500; Concerts: 9,800
Surface	Concrete
Opened	1950
Tenants
	Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (NCAA) (1950–1985); Acadiana Mudbugs (SIFL) (2009); Louisiana IceGators (SPHL) (2009–2010); Louisiana VooDoo (AFL) (2024)

Last updated May 07, 2024

Blackham Coliseum is a multipurpose arena in Lafayette, Louisiana. It was built on the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus in 1949 as the home to the then-named SLI Bulldogs, now called the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball teams. The arena was named for Stafford Morgan Blackham, former dean of the Department of Animal Husbandry at SLI, and as such it was built to host livestock exhibitions as well as athletics (in a similar manner to the usage of LSU's Parker Coliseum).^[1] It replaced the 1,500-seat Earl K. Long Gymnasium as home to the athletics teams. It remained the home for the men's team until the Cajundome was completed in 1984. The women continue to play the majority of their games at Earl K. Long. Blackham hosted the Southland Conference men's basketball tournament in 1982.

Today it is still in use, seating 5,500 for basketball and up to 9,800 for concerts. It also features 25,000 square feet (2,300 m²) of space at the main arena, with two barns adding 46,500 square feet (4,300 m²) of space. Altogether, the three buildings can also be used for trade shows, rodeos and conventions. It was home to the Acadiana Mudbugs of the Southern Indoor Football League for their 2009 season, and in fall 2009, the revived Louisiana IceGators began play there as a member of the Southern Professional Hockey League.^[2]

In April 2009, the venue held its first heavy metal concert, the 2009 No Fear Music Tour featuring Lamb Of God, As I Lay Dying, Children of Bodom, God Forbid and Municipal Waste.

The venue serves as home to the Grammy-styled, annual Le Cajun Music Awards Festival held every August by the Cajun French Music Association, an association of Cajun music enthusiasts for the preservation of the Cajun music, language, heritage and culture.

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The Cajundome is a 13,500-seat multi-purpose arena located in Lafayette, Louisiana on the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus. It is home to the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's and women's basketball programs in addition to hosting various university events and commencement ceremonies including high school graduations.

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The 2016–17 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Ragin' Cajuns were led by seventh-year head coach Bob Marlin and played their home games at the Cajundome, with four home games at Blackham Coliseum, as members in the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 21–12, 10–8 in Sun Belt play to finish in a three-way tie for sixth place. They defeated Little Rock before losing to Georgia State in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt tournament. Despite having 21 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

The 2016–17 Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Ragin' Cajuns were led by fifth-year head coach Garry Brodhead and played all home games at the Cajundome with a select few at Blackham Coliseum during the Cajundome renovations towards the beginning of the season, the first games played there in thirty years. This is also one of the first years that women's basketball does not play at Earl K. Long Gymnasium, their previous on-campus home, at any time during the season They were members in the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 20-11, 11–7 in Sun Belt play to finish in fourth place. They advanced to the championship game of the Sun Belt women's tournament where they lost to Troy by the score of 64-78. They did not compete in any other postseason tournaments.

The 2009–10 Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette during the 2009–10 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Ragin' Cajuns were led by third-year head coach Errol Rogers; they played their double-header home games at the Cajundome with other games at the Earl K. Long Gymnasium, which is located on campus. They were members in the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 10–22, 4–14 in Sun Belt play to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place in the West Division. They were eliminated in the first round of the Sun Belt women's tournament.

The 1982–83 Southwestern Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team represented the University of Southwestern Louisiana as an NCAA Independent during the 1982–83 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Ragin' Cajuns, led by 6th-year head coach Bobby Paschal, played their home games at Blackham Coliseum in Lafayette, Louisiana. The team received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 8 seed in the East region, SW Louisiana was defeated by Rutgers in the opening round, 60–53.

The 1982 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 5–7, 1982 at Blackham Coliseum in Lafayette, Louisiana.

The 1981–82 Southwestern Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team represented the University of Southwestern Louisiana as an NCAA Independent during the 1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Ragin' Cajuns, led by 6th-year head coach Bobby Paschal, played their home games at Blackham Coliseum in Lafayette, Louisiana. After winning the conference regular season and tournament titles, SW Louisiana received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 8 seed in the East region, SW Louisiana was defeated by Tennessee in the opening round, 61–57.

References

↑ L UL Lafayette: About Us: University History: Buildings Archived March 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
↑ Foote, Kevin (May 15, 2009). "IceGators to skate again; join the discussion". Lafayette Daily Advertiser. Archived from the original on May 19, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2009.

External links

Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission - Blackham Coliseum

30°12′38″N92°01′59″W / 30.210554°N 92.033122°W / 30.210554; -92.033122

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[1] L UL Lafayette: About Us: University History: Buildings Archived March 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine

[2] Foote, Kevin (May 15, 2009). "IceGators to skate again; join the discussion". Lafayette Daily Advertiser. Archived from the original on May 19, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2009.

[1]

[2]

v t e Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball
Venues	Earl K. Long Gymnasium (1939–1950) Blackham Coliseum (1950–1985) Cajundome (1985–present)
Culture & lore	Cayenne "Ragin' Cajuns Fight Song" NCAA sanctions
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 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 1999–2000 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 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24

v t e Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball
Venues	Earl K. Long Gymnasium (1939–1949) Blackham Coliseum (1949–1985) Cajundome (1985–present)
Culture & lore	Cayenne "Ragin' Cajuns Fight Song"
People	Linda Nance (1971–1976) Jill Kelly (1976–1978) Mary Jo Castell (1978–1982) Jim Izard (1982–1983) Ross Cook (1983–1987) Wilo Colon (1987–1988) Mike Doucet (1988–1990) Dwayne Searle (1990–1996) Gay Nix (1996–2002) J. Kelley Hall (2002–2007) Meredith Hall (2006–2007) Errol Rogers (2007–2012) Garry Brodhead (2012– )
Seasons	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 1999–2000 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 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24

v t e SPHL
Teams	Birmingham Bulls Evansville Thunderbolts Fayetteville Marksmen Huntsville Havoc Knoxville Ice Bears Macon Mayhem Pensacola Ice Flyers Peoria Rivermen Quad City Storm Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs
Arenas	Berglund Center (Rail Yard Dawgs) Carver Arena (Rivermen) Crown Coliseum (Marksmen) Ford Center (Thunderbolts) Macon Coliseum (Mayhem) James White Civic Coliseum (Ice Bears) Pelham Civic Center (Bulls) Pensacola Bay Center (Ice Flyers) Vibrant Arena at The MARK (Storm) Von Braun Center (Havoc)
Seasons	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 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
President's Cup William B. Coffey Trophy Other professional hockey leagues

Blackham Coliseum

Contents

See also

Related Research Articles

References

External links

Tenants


Location	444 Cajundome Boulevard Lafayette, Louisiana 70506
Owner	University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Operator	University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Capacity	Official: 5,500 Concerts: 9,800
Surface	Concrete
Opened	1950
Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (NCAA) (1950–1985) Acadiana Mudbugs (SIFL) (2009) Louisiana IceGators (SPHL) (2009–2010) Louisiana VooDoo (AFL) (2024)