Rupp Arena: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Rupp Arena February 2020.jpg|thumb|Rupp Arena in 2020.]] | |||
'''Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center''' is an arena located in downtown [[Lexington, Kentucky]], United States. Since its opening in 1976, it has been the centerpiece of [[Central Bank Center]] (formerly Lexington Center), a convention and shopping facility owned by an arm of the [https://www.lexingtonky.gov/ Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government], which is located next to the Lexington Hyatt and Hilton hotels. Rupp Arena also serves as home court to the [[Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball|University of Kentucky men's basketball program]], and is named after legendary former Kentucky coach [[Adolph Rupp]] with an official capacity of 20,500. In 2014 and 2015, in Rupp Arena, the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team was second in the nation in college basketball home attendance. Rupp Arena also regularly hosts concerts, conventions and shows. | '''Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center''' is an arena located in downtown [[Lexington, Kentucky]], United States. Since its opening in 1976, it has been the centerpiece of [[Central Bank Center]] (formerly Lexington Center), a convention and shopping facility owned by an arm of the [https://www.lexingtonky.gov/ Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government], which is located next to the Lexington Hyatt and Hilton hotels. Rupp Arena also serves as home court to the [[Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball|University of Kentucky men's basketball program]], and is named after legendary former Kentucky coach [[Adolph Rupp]] with an official capacity of 20,500. In 2014 and 2015, in Rupp Arena, the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team was second in the nation in college basketball home attendance. Rupp Arena also regularly hosts concerts, conventions and shows. | ||
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==References== | ==References== | ||
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupp_Arena Rupp Arena. Wikipedia] | * [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupp_Arena Rupp Arena. Wikipedia] | ||
[[Category:Attractions]] | |||
Latest revision as of 00:15, 5 January 2024
Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center is an arena located in downtown Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Since its opening in 1976, it has been the centerpiece of Central Bank Center (formerly Lexington Center), a convention and shopping facility owned by an arm of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, which is located next to the Lexington Hyatt and Hilton hotels. Rupp Arena also serves as home court to the University of Kentucky men's basketball program, and is named after legendary former Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp with an official capacity of 20,500. In 2014 and 2015, in Rupp Arena, the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team was second in the nation in college basketball home attendance. Rupp Arena also regularly hosts concerts, conventions and shows.
History[edit | edit source]
The arena's primary tenant is the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team, with the Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team hosting rivalry and power program opponent games at the venue in recent years. Rupp Arena was the host of the 1985 NCAA Final Four, won in an upset by eighth-seeded Villanova. It also formerly hosted the Kentucky Thoroughblades (currently the San Jose Barracuda) (capacity 10,011) and the Lexington Men O' War (capacity 7,500) minor-league hockey teams, and the Lexington Horsemen arena football team (capacity 7,550), numerous concerts (theater capacity 2,300; concert hall 10,000; arena capacity 20,500 approx.), conventions, and other events. It is named after University of Kentucky coaching legend Adolph Rupp, and opened in 1976, a little more than a year before Rupp's death in late 1977. Since the 1985 Final Four, Rupp Arena has hosted a number of NCAA Tournament regional games, most recently in 2013 when it hosted second and third round NCAA Tournament games. Rupp Arena is also home to Kentucky's high school boys' basketball Sweet Sixteen, a single-elimination tournament which determines the state champion with sixteen teams representing each of Kentucky's regional high school champions.
On January 27, 2020, it was announced that Lexington Center's overall naming rights were sold to Central Bank, a local community bank, by the Lexington Center Corporation and JMI Sports, which handles the multimedia rights for both the LCC and the University of Kentucky. The Rupp name will continue to receive primacy in the fourteen-year agreement for the arena portion of the complex, and be known as "Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center". Floor signage indicating the new naming arrangement was installed on Rupp Arena's basketball floor in time for the 2020–21 season.