Value City Arena is a multi-purpose arena, located on the campus of Ohio State University, in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The arena opened in 1998 and is currently the largest by seating capacity in the Big Ten Conference, with 19,049 seats, which is reduced to 18,809 for Ohio State men's and women’s basketball games.[4]
Prior to July 1, 2010, one of Value City Arena's major event competitors was the downtown Nationwide Arena, which opened in 2000 and is home to the NHL'sColumbus Blue Jackets. In May 2010, the Blue Jackets and OSU signed a one-year, annually renewable, agreement to turn over day-to-day operations and non-athletic event booking of Nationwide Arena to OSU, effective July 1, 2010.[5] This agreement put both arenas under the same management and made the facilities sister venues. As part of the March 2012 sale of Nationwide Arena to the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority (FCCFA), the non-profit company Columbus Arena Management was created. The company, created by OSU, the Blue Jackets, the FCCFA and Columbus-based Nationwide Insurance, currently manages the day-to-day operations as well as budgeting and event bookings at both arenas.[6]
Buckeye Nuthouse
Buckeye Nuthouse at Value City Arena
The student section at men's basketball games is known as the Buckeye Nuthouse. From the time when the venue opened to the end of the 2009-2010 season, the students were seated behind the baskets. In response to the criticism for lacking the energy and gameday atmosphere seen in many other college basketball arenas, the athletic department reconfigured the student section in 2010 so that the students would then be seated behind the team benches allowing them to be visible on television broadcasts, as well as behind the basket that the opponent shoots at during the second half. In making this reconfiguration possible, 240 seats are tarped off behind the student section so that spectators seated behind the students could see the game without having to stand up, reducing its capacity to 18,809 during men's basketball games. To compensate for the revenue lost from the tarped-off seats, the student allotment was reduced from 2,000 to 1,400 tickets.[7]
Rankings
A 2016 ranking of toughest Big Ten Arenas to play in by ESPN put the venue #10 in the conference, citing its name as a contributing factor for not being tough.[8] In 2014, a ranking of B10 conference arenas by the Chicago Tribune placed it at #11,[9] and Scout.com put it at #99 overall out of 351 venues nationwide, behind Ohio University's Convocation Center, which was ranked #53, and the University of Dayton Arena, ranked at #28.[10]Bleacher Report has called the arena too "generic" for the most expensive tickets in the conference,[11] and The Gazette has opined it is "sterile", "cold", "devoid of charm", and lacks intimacy.[12]
On October 18, 2016, the Cleveland Cavaliers hosted a preseason game vs. the Washington Wizards at the arena.
On April 28–29, 2018, the Professional Bull Riders' Unleash the Beast Series visited Value City Arena[16] for its first Columbus event since 2012. Prior to 2012, the PBR's premier series events in Columbus had been held at Nationwide Arena.
On August 11, 2018 The Smashing Pumpkins performed their Shiny and Oh So Bright Tour.
On November 27, 2018, the Dave Matthews Band performed the first show of their 2018 Fall tour. Their unique setlist at this show was well received, including the first performance of Kill the King since 2011 (and second since 2006).
Comedian John Mulaney held a show for his "From Scratch" tour at the arena on May 20, 2022. The performance drew controversy as Dave Chappelle reportedly made a surprise appearance as the opening act and went on to tell transphobic jokes.[18]
1
City of Columbus, Ohio
