Jon M. Huntsman Center

Jon M. Huntsman Center
Former names	Special Events Center (1969-1987)
Location	1825 East South Campus Drive; Salt Lake City, UT 84112
Coordinates	40°45′44″N 111°50′19″W / 40.7621°N 111.8387°W
Owner	University of Utah
Operator	University of Utah
Capacity	15,000
Record attendance	16,019 (March 6, 2015, Women's Gymnastics vs. Michigan)
Surface	Multi-surface
Construction
Broke ground	1967
Opened	November 30, 1969
Construction cost	$10,392,000; ($86.3 million in 2024 dollars)
Architect	Bruce H. Jensen
Tenants
	Utah Utes; (Men's & Women's Basketball, Women's Gymnastics)

The Jon M. Huntsman Center is a 15,000-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The arena opened in 1969 as the Special Events Center. In 1987, it was renamed in honor of chemicals entrepreneur and philanthropist Jon M. Huntsman, father of Utah's former governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. From its opening until the completion of the Vivint Smart Home Arena in 1991, it was one of Salt Lake City's premier sports and entertainment venues (the other being the Salt Palace, where the Utah Stars of the ABA and the Utah Jazz of the NBA played their home games.) Architecturally, it was once known for its steel cloud, which hung from the arena's silver dome interior. The steel cloud held the arena's center court scoreboard, sound and lighting systems. The scoreboard was upgraded in the 1980s with the addition of state-of-the-art rear projection video screens. The rear projection system was upgraded in 1995, and replaced in 2006 by four LED video screens. In 2014, the arena was renovated again. The $6 million project removed the steel cloud, as well as added a new floor, LED lights, sound system, drapes, and two grand entrances to house a Hall of Fame and Legacy Hall.

The arena hosted the 1979 Final Four, featuring the first round of the rivalry between all-time greats Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Magic's Michigan State team defeated Bird's then-unbeaten Indiana State in the final, which remains the most-watched college basketball game in history. Many observers consider the Magic-Bird rivalry established here and carried into the NBA when both entered the league that fall to be a major factor in the league's 1980s renaissance.

The facility hosted the 1989 Western Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament.

Today the 15,000-seat arena is still home to the University of Utah's "Runnin' Utes" basketball teams (men's and women's) and "Red Rocks" women's gymnastics team. It also hosts concerts, mostly second-tier acts; most premier concerts have been hosted at what is now Vivint Smart Home Arena.

The Huntsman Center has hosted the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament 12 times (1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2006). It has twice hosted the West Regional Final (1971, 1981) and one Final Four in 1979. Due to the frequency of hosting first and second round games, the Huntsman Center is second all-time in NCAA Tournament games hosted with 81.

With Utah joining the Pac-12 for the 2011 season, the Huntsman Center is the largest arena in the conference.

References

^ 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 February 29, 2024.
^ "Attendance and Sites". 2014 Men's Final Four Records Book (pdf). Indianapolis, IN: NCAA Publications. 2014. p. 138. Retrieved February 20, 2015.

External links

Preceded by Checkerdome	NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Finals Venue 1979	Succeeded by Market Square Arena

[inflation-US-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 February 29, 2024.

[2] "Attendance and Sites". 2014 Men's Final Four Records Book (pdf). Indianapolis, IN: NCAA Publications. 2014. p. 138. Retrieved February 20, 2015.

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v t e University of Utah
Located in: Salt Lake City, Utah
Colleges	College of Architecture and Planning College of Engineering College of Science Honors College David Eccles School of Business School of Medicine S.J. Quinney College of Law
Institutes	Center for American Indian Languages Hinckley Institute of Politics Middle East Center Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute
Medical	ARUP Laboratories Huntsman Cancer Institute Moran Eye Center Primary Children's Hospital University Neuropsychiatric Institute University of Utah Hospital University Orthopaedic Center
Athletics	Utah Utes Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Football Gymnastics Lacrosse Women's soccer Swoop Pac-12 Conference
Campus	Block U Carlson Hall Fort Douglas George S. Eccles 2002 Legacy Bridge Huntsman Center Marriott Library Nielsen Fieldhouse Olympic Cauldron Plaza Presidents Circle Red Butte Garden Research Park Rice–Eccles Stadium Telescope Array Observatory Willard L. Eccles Observatory
Cultural	Kingsbury Hall Pioneer Theatre Company University of Utah Press Utah Museum of Fine Arts Natural History Museum of Utah
People	List of University of Utah people University of Utah Presidents
Broadcasting	Eccles Broadcast Center K-UTE PBS Utah Utah Education Network KUER-FM
Related	2017 University of Utah Hospital incident
Founded: 1850

v t e Utah Utes men's basketball
Venues	Deseret Gymnasium (19??–1939) Nielsen Fieldhouse (1939–1969) Jon M. Huntsman Center (1969–present)
Rivalries	BYU In-state Utah schools
Culture & lore	Swoop
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 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
NCAA national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e Utah Utes women's basketball
Venues	Jon M. Huntsman Center (1975–present)
Rivalries	BYU In-state Utah schools
Culture & lore	History Swoop
People	Head coaches
Seasons	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

See also

References

External links