Desert Financial Arena
33°25′28″N 111°55′51″W / 33.424524°N 111.930948°W
Former names | ASU Activity Center (1974–97) |
---|---|
Location | 600 E Veterans Way Tempe, AZ 85287 |
Owner | Arizona State University |
Capacity | 14,100 |
Construction | |
Broke ground | 1972 |
Opened | April 29, 1974[1] |
Construction cost | $8 million ($58.3 million in 2023 dollars[2]) |
Architect | Drover, Welch & Lindlan, Inc.[1] |
General contractor | Olson Construction Company[1] |
Tenants | |
Arizona State Sun Devils (NCAA) (1974–present) |
Wells Fargo Arena (formerly ASU Activity Center) is a 14,000-seat[3] multi-purpose arena located at 600 E Veterans Way in Tempe, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona.
Constructed in the spring of 1974 as the ASU Activity Center and at the cost of $8 million, it is the home of multiple Arizona State University athletic teams, to include men's basketball, women's basketball, women's volleyball, women's gymnastics, and men's wrestling. The facility also plays host to graduation ceremonies and a variety of concerts and shows. The building replaced Sun Devil Gym as the primary arena for the Sun Devils' basketball team.
Naming rights for the arena were purchased by Wells Fargo & Co. in 1997.
Design
The structure is 403 feet long, 340 feet wide and six stories high. The structure contains offices and locker rooms for men's basketball, women's basketball, women's volleyball, and the men's and women's track and field team, along with a weight room, coaches and film rooms, and an equipment room.
Events
Led Zeppelin played their third-to-last show as part of their 1977 North American Tour
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band performed at the arena on November 5, 1980 during the River Tour. Video and audio of the show were released in 2015 in conjunction with the band's The Ties That Bind commemorative box set, and their performance of "Badlands" was included on 1986's Live 1975–85 album.
The arena hosted the first dates of U2's Joshua Tree Tour in March 1987, with the tour eventually concluding next door at Sun Devil Stadium in December of that year.
It hosted the 1990 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball tournament. Previously, the Sun Devils played at Sun Devil Gym.
The arena has also hosted the 1st and 2nd rounds of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament in both 2015 and 2016.
See also
References
- ^ a b c "ASU Tempe Campus Buildings Survey, 1960-2007" (PDF). Arizona State University. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Haller, Doug (December 4, 2010). "ASU Reduces Capacity at Wells Fargo Arena". The Arizona Republic. Phoenix. Retrieved December 15, 2010.
External links
- Wells Fargo Arena on the ASU virtual tour
- College basketball venues in the United States
- College gymnastics venues in the United States
- College volleyball venues in the United States
- College wrestling venues in the United States
- Arizona State Sun Devils men's basketball
- Arizona State Sun Devils women's basketball
- Arizona State Sun Devils women's volleyball
- Arizona State Sun Devils wrestling
- Arizona State University buildings
- Basketball venues in Arizona
- Sports venues in Tempe, Arizona
- 1974 establishments in Arizona
- Sports venues completed in 1974
- Arizona State Sun Devils