Capacity 19,000 Phone +1 801-422-2981 | Opened 1971 | |
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Location Provo, Utah, United States Operator Brigham Young University Address Marriott Center, 701 E University Pkwy, Provo, UT 84604, USA Team BYU Cougars men's basketball Similar Brigham Young University, LaVell Edwards Stadium, Franklin S Harris Fine Arts Center, Smith Fieldhouse, Brigham Young University | ||
Marriott center renovation overview byu basketball
The Marriott Center is a 19,000-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. It is home to the BYU Cougars men's and women's basketball teams. The largest basketball arena in the West Coast Conference (in which BYU competes for most sports except football), it is among the largest on-campus basketball arenas in the nation. In addition to basketball, the Marriott Center is used for weekly devotionals and forums.
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Basketball marriott center annex
History
The Marriott Center was named in honor of benefactor and hotel tycoon J. Willard Marriott, founder of the Marriott Corporation. When the arena opened in 1971, it replaced the University of Minnesota's Williams Arena as the largest college basketball arena in the United States. It was also the largest venue in the nation built for basketball, being larger than any NBA arena at that time. It would lose both distinctions when the University of Kentucky men's basketball team moved into Rupp Arena in 1976, but would remain the nation's largest basketball-specific facility on a college campus until 1987, when the University of Tennessee opened Thompson-Boling Arena.
In April 2012, BYU announced renovations to the Marriott Center. The lower bench seating on the north side was replaced with prime chair seating. A new sound system was installed, and the men's and women's locker rooms were renovated. The changes in the lower seating lowered the Marriott Center’s capacity from 22,700 to 20,951. The remaining lower bench seating would be replaced after the 2015 season, lowering seating capacity to around 19,000. The new renovation would also install new video boards for the Marriott Center and the Marriott Center Annex building, where practice sessions would take place for both teams. The Marriott Center Annex (nicknamed the "Y" MCA) would be placed between the Marriott Center and the BYU Broadcasting Building.
Previously, the Cougars basketball team played at the Smith Fieldhouse. The court was replaced in 2003 with a permanent floor.
The facility hosted the 1988 Western Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament. It also hosted the West Regionals of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship in 1972, 1977, 1979 and 1982.
On February 7, 1993, Cody Judy threatened Howard W. Hunter with a supposed bomb in front of a crowd of 15,000–17,000 onlookers in the Marriott Center.
On February 19, 1999, the Marriott Center set an NCAA record for highest attendance for a men's volleyball match: 14,156 fans watched BYU defeat Long Beach State, shattering the previous record of 10,225 (held by Hawaii).