Patriot Center

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations.

Patriot Center
Location	4500 Patriot Circle, Fairfax, VA 22030
Broke ground	1982
Opened	1985
Owner	George Mason University
Operator	Centre Management
Construction cost	$16 million[1]
Architect	HOK Sport, Mosley Architects
Tenants	George Mason Patriots
Capacity	Basketball: 10,000

The Patriot Center is a 10,000 seat arena in Fairfax, Virginia. It is located on the campus of George Mason University (which has 30,000+ students), and has attracted 7.7 million people to over 2400 events. Pollstar has ranked The Patriot Center as number 51 in ticket sales (2005). The Patriot Center opened on October 4th, 1985, where the New York Knicks played the Washington Bullets (now Washington Wizards ) in a pre-season game. The arena hosts all the home games for the George Mason Patriots basketball team (who went on a miracle run to the Final Four in 2006), as well as concerts and shows with the 17,000 square feet of space.

The Patriot Center is the first university venue to be managed by a private company, Washington Sports and Entertainment, who also manages the Washington Wizards and Verizon Center. In 1986, the Patriot Center hosted the first men’s CAA (Colonial Athletic Association Tournament and hosted it’s first women’s CAA Tournament in 2005. In 1990, the Patriot Center held the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championships.

Currently the arena is undergoing a $10 million renovation, which will include new concession stands, new hospitality area, new locker rooms and bathrooms, and an improved main concourse. The Patriot Center holds over 120 events and attracts over 450,000 people every year. This year GMU men’s basketball team set an attendance record against their rival Virginia Commonwealth University; the very next game against James Madison University, another record was set (both games were won).

Contents 1 Concerts By 2 Records 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Concerts By

• Bruce Springsteen
• Jonas Brothers
• The Beach Boys
• Beastie Boys
• The Cure
• Bob Dylan
• Duran Duran
• ZZ Top
• David Bowie
• Fall Out Boy
• Panic At The Disco
• Gwen Stefani
• The Killers
• Ludacris
• Maná
• Muse
• Nelly Furtado
• Oasis
• Outkast
• REM
• The Smashing Pumpkins
• Ricardo Arjona
• Chris Brown
• The White Stripes
• Raven-Symoné

[edit] Records

Men's Basketball Game - 9,840 on February 2nd, 2008
Concert - Phish, 10,356
Grossing Concert - Bruce Springsteen in 2005, $573,885
Grossing Family Show - The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus in 2003, $1.2 million

[edit] References

1. ^ George Mason Timeline

[edit] External links

• Patriot Center Official Website

v • d • e Current Basketball Arenas in the Colonial Athletic Association Cabot Center (Northeastern women) • Bob Carpenter Center (Delaware) • Daskalakis Athletic Center (Drexel) • GSU Sports Arena (Georgia State) • Hofstra Arena (Hofstra) • JMU Convocation Center (James Madison) • Kaplan Arena at William & Mary Hall (William & Mary) • Matthews Arena (Northeastern) • Patriot Center (George Mason) • Stuart C. Siegel Center (Virginia Commonwealth) • Ted Constant Convocation Center (Old Dominion) • Towson Center (Towson) • Trask Coliseum (UNC-Wilmington)