Rupp Arena is an arena located in downtown Lexington, Kentucky, U.S. Since its opening in 1976, it has been the centerpiece of 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 23,500, it is the largest arena designed specifically for basketball, as well as the largest indoor arena by capacity, in the United States. In Rupp Arena, the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team is second in the nation in college basketball home attendance.[5] The arena also regularly hosts concerts, conventions and shows.
History
The arena's primary tenant is the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team, but the Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team has also hosted games there in recent years, particularly an upset in early 2006 of the #1 Tennessee Lady Volunteers. 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 Horsemenarena football team (capacity 7,550), numerous concerts (theater capacity 2,300; concert hall 10,000; arena capacity 23,500+), conventions, and other events. It is named after US 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 boy's basketball Sweet Sixteen, a single elimination tournament which determines the state champion with sixteen teams representing each of Kentucky's regional high school champions. The construction of Rupp Arena came to a halt during the beginning of the dig after the discovery of bones left behind from the Inuit Tribe local to the Lexington Kentucky area. It was decided to move the build site 1,000 feet in order to properly respect the Native Indian Burial ground.
Seating arrangement
The arena has an official capacity for basketball of 23,500, but has packed in more than 24,000 for many UK basketball games. This is possible because less than half of the seating (approx. 10,000) consists of chair-back seats, all of them in the lower seating bowl. The lower bowl also incorporates a student standing-room area called the "eRUPPtion Zone" behind one goal. The upper bowl is completely made up of bleacher bench seats that allow more capacity than chair-back seats. Unlike many arenas built in the following years, it has no luxury suites, and has never been renovated to add them. However, in 2001 the arena received some minor renovations including four oversize video boards, new lower bowl seating, new locker rooms and a new court.
Milestones
The ceremonial first basket in the new facility was sunk by Adolph's young grandson Chip (Adolph III), who went on to play college basketball at Southeastern Conference (SEC) rival Vanderbilt.
Rupp staged three Southeastern Conference men's basketball tournaments between 1982 and 1993; it was also the host of the Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament in 1992 and 1993.
The Rupp Arena attendance record was set on January 2, 2010, when 24,480 people watched #3 Kentucky play rival Louisville. The final score was a 71-62 victory by the Kentucky Wildcats.
The UK men are the only basketball program in the SEC that plays home games in an off-campus facility. All of the other programs play on-campus, including the UK women, who play in the men's former home of Memorial Coliseum. However, when the women's program expects an unusually large crowd, it will shift an occasional game to Rupp; they notably upset then top-ranked Tennessee there on January 26, 2006.
Rupp is also home to the annual KHSAA State Basketball Championship, with boys basketball teams from throughout the commonwealth appearing for a shot at the state title.
Rupp Arena is the home court of the Kentucky Wildcats Men's Basketball Team, with the Kentucky Men's Basketball boasting an impressive overall record in Rupp Arena of 529-64 (.892) since beginning play there on November 27, 1976.
The University of Kentucky has led the nation 25 times in NCAA Men's Basketball home attendance (an NCAA record) since the 1976-77 season (the previous 39 seasons at Rupp Arena), including 17 out of the last 20 seasons, and 8 of the last 10 seasons.[6]
On December 21, 2009, in Rupp Arena, the Kentucky Men's basketball team became the first college basketball program to win 2000 games, in an 88-44 win against the Drexel University Dragons.
Rupp Arena hosted the August 2, 2011 tapings of SmackDown and WWE Superstars, with the former set to air on August 5, 2011, and the latter having aired on August 4, 2011.
Hosted several TV tapings for various WWF shows in the 1980s and 90s.
The 500th win in Rupp Arena came on November 27, 2013 against Eastern Michigan, with Kentucky winning 81-63.
Since 2004, Rupp Arena has been home to numerous pageants. Including the Miss Kentucky pageant, The Annual Rupp Arena Dog show and the Kitty America Pageant for cats.
NCAA Tournament games
File:OldRuppfloor.jpgThe old center court welcomes fans in the main lobby of Rupp Arena
The Kentucky Wildcats have set or broken the Rupp Arena attendance record 24 times since the arena opened in 1976. In those games, the Wildcats have won 20 times and lost 4 times.[7]