By the Numbers
1969: Year UD Arena opened
109: NCAA Tournament games UD Arena has hosted
12,592: Attendance Wednesday night, a First Four record
12,726: Average 2014-15 attendance for UD men's regular-season games
$4.5 million: Economic impact of the First Four
If you’re a basketball fan living in the Dayton area, you’ve likely set foot inside the University of Dayton Arena in the last three weeks.
And probably more than once.
UD Arena has been the area’s basketball epicenter this month, as thousands of hoops-hungry fans have packed the venue for not only the NCAA First Four, but also high school boys basketball games and regular-season men’s and women’s Flyers games.
The historic venue has hosted an NCAA-best 109 tournament games, and local officials say they put the 46-year-old arena in the same ranks with other household names as Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium, Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse, North Carolina’s Dean Smith Center and Kentucky’s Rupp Arena.
“UD Arena is one of the cathedrals in college basketball,” said Matt Farrell, a member of the local organizing committee, The Big Hoopla. “What we have in Dayton shouldn’t be taken for granted.”
Farrell, who served as UD’s director of basketball operations from 2007-2011, has been to those venues and others around the country. What sets UD Arena apart, he believes, is the fans.
“All those places are awesome for basketball, but our fans are America’s most passionate,” Farrell said. “From a pure numbers standpoint, they can’t touch the attendance.”
Tuesday’s attendance was 12,124, while Wednesday’s games — which featured a thrilling 56-55 UD win over Boise State in the nightcap — drew a First Four record crowd of 12,592. During the Flyers’ perfect 16-0 regular season at home, the average attendance was 12,726, with four sellouts.
Built for basketball
Adam Tschuor, UD assistant director of athletics for ticketing and sales, said what works in UD Arena’s favor is that the venue was built specifically for basketball, not as a multi-purpose facility or convocation center.
“It’s an extremely well-designed facility in terms of a basketball viewing experience,” Tschuor said. “There’s a reason why we’ve hosted more NCAA Tournament games than any other venue in the country, and we’ll keep widening the gap.”
For NCAA tournament games, UD Arena’s seating capacity is 12,404 for the general public, compared to 13,455 for a regular-season game. Since UD Arena opened in 1969, Dayton has been in the NCAA’s top 35 in attendance every season.
The NCAA tournament has kicked off at UD Arena for the last 15 years, starting with the play-in game in 2001. The First Four, which debuted in 2011, will be played at UD Arena at least through 2018.
“Year after year, we have great people working here,” said Scott DeBolt, who was hired as UD senior associate director of athletics and director of UD Arena in December 2013. “The NCAA knows it can call upon us. We host a first-rate event, and that’s a big ease for the NCAA. UD Arena was built to play basketball, and we do a pretty good job of hosting it here.”
Ray Copeland has been a UD season-ticket holder since the arena opened in 1969. His late two older brothers had season tickets when the Flyers played at the Fieldhouse, and when they moved into the arena, they had four seats in the 400 level.
Now, Copeland and his sister, Nellie Miller, have seats in section 310.
“We just enjoy the basketball and going to the games there,” Copeland said. “The city itself has supported them and (the Flyers) have been good to the community.”
Two-month attraction
Over a 21-day span going back to the end of February, UD Arena hosted 28 college and high school games, and in a 10-day span, there were 21 games played there.
Earlier this month, capacity crowds filled UD Arena twice for boys high school basketball games, primarily to watch Franklin’s Luke Kennard, a McDonald’s All-American who’s headed to Duke University.
UD Arena again hosted Kennard and his teammates Thursday night in the Division II regional semifinals in what was expected to be another sellout, according to the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
The regional semifinals were originally scheduled to be played at Kettering Fairmont’s 4,000-seat Trent Arena, but were moved to UD Arena to accommodate the larger crowd, said Tim Stried, OHSAA spokesman.
Prior to Thursday’s games, OHSAA officials were still discussing the site location for Saturday’s regional final, also originally scheduled at Trent Arena. DeBolt said he has told the OHSAA that UD Arena is available Saturday.
Stried said anticipated attendance and geography are the two biggest factors when selecting tournament sites.
“In either case, when the OHSAA moves a tournament site, it can be a delicate situation because the original site was planning on hosting that tournament contest and the OHSAA is asking to break a contract with that site,” Stried said. “We are so fortunate to have great partners at Kettering Fairmont and the University of Dayton who understand this move will allow thousands more fans to see the game.”
Economic draw
Jacquelyn Powell, president and CEO of the Dayton/Montgomery County Convention & Visitors Bureau, said UD Arena hosts two of the larger events in the area in terms of economic impact.
The First Four generates $4.5 million annually, while the Winter Guard International World Championships — held next month over two weekends — has an impact of about $15 million.
“There are many events that have occurred in our community throughout the years that had it not been for UD Arena and the fine staff over there, our region would not have been able to experience them,” Powell said. “They’ve been a great community partner to work with.”
DeBolt said a $3 million project to renovate the Donoher Basketball Center is scheduled to begin in late April and be completed in the fall in time for the start of basketball season. The men’s and women’s locker room areas, the training room, hallways and entrances will be upgraded, he said.
UD officials also are evaluating the next phase to improve UD Arena, DeBolt said. Improvements could include seats, equipment, scoreboards, wireless internet capabilities and air conditioning for the arena bowl.
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