BB&T Arena

BB&T Arena
	BB&T Arena also referred to as "The Bank"
Former names	The Bank of Kentucky Center (2008–2015)
Location	500 Nunn Drive; Highland Heights, Kentucky 41099
Coordinates	39.032273°N 84.458864°W
Owner	Northern Kentucky University
Operator	SMG
Capacity	9,400 (Basketball); 7–8,000 (Concerts)
Construction
Broke ground	May 20, 2006
Opened	May 10, 2008
Construction cost	$64 million; ($76 million in 2019 dollars[1])
Architect	360 Architecture; GBBN Architects
Structural engineer	THP Limited Inc.[2]
General contractor	Turner Construction[3]
Tenants
	Northern Kentucky Norse (NCAA) (2008–present); Northern Kentucky River Monsters (UIFL/CIFL) (2011, 2014); Black-n-Bluegrass Roller Girls (WFTDA) (2012–present); Cincinnati Bearcats (NCAA) (2017–2018)

BB&T Arena, formerly The Bank of Kentucky Center, is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Highland Heights, Kentucky, on the campus of Northern Kentucky University. The arena was topped off on June 21, 2007, and the first event held there was NKU's graduation ceremony on May 10, 2008. A grand opening ceremony was held on September 22, 2008.

The NKU men's and women's basketball teams are the main tenants, [4] but many outside events are booked at the center. Among the first were country music star Carrie Underwood, comedian Jeff Dunham, and the cast of the reality television show So You Think You Can Dance as well as Cirque du Soleil, and the Walking With Dinosaurs live production. It hosted the Elite Eight of the NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Tournament in 2012.[5] It was again set to host the Division II 2013 Elite Eight,[5] but the NCAA moved the event to Freedom Hall in Louisville as NKU joined Division I (the NCAA would later go further by only holding the Elite Eight and Final Four matchups in Louisville; the Division II championship game was moved to Atlanta, Georgia's State Farm Arena with the Division III championship game as part of the celebration of 75 years of the men's Division I tournament, the Final Four of which was held in the Georgia Dome).[6] On May 10, 2011, The Bank of Kentucky Center hosted WWE live. Other artists/performers that have visited the arena include Alan Jackson with Jana Kramer, Barry Manilow, Bill Engvall, Jeff Foxworthy, and Larry The Cable Guy, Blake Shelton, Bob Dylan, Dane Cook, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Martina McBride, Trace Adkins, Jay-Z, REO Speedwagon, and Styx among others.

The first basketball event at the arena saw the NKU men's and women's basketball teams play Louisville on November 8, 2008.[7]

The arena hosted the KHSAA Girls' Sweet Sixteen in high school basketball from 2016 through 2018, after which the event moved to Rupp Arena in Lexington.[8][9]

Sponsorship

The Bank of Kentucky agreed to cover 10% of the cost of the arena, up to $6 million, in exchange for naming rights. It will also get a luxury suite, access to premium tickets and free use of the facility rent free for one special event each year.[10]

In 2015, the name of the arena was changed to the BB&T Arena after BB&T Corp. bought out The Bank of Kentucky. BB&T, in 2020, was bought up by Truist.

Tenants

Beginning in spring of 2011, BB&T Arena was home to the Northern Kentucky River Monsters of the Ultimate Indoor Football League. After the season, the River Monsters agreed to part ways with the UIFL. The UIFL still had rights to place a team in the arena, so there will be an expansion team placed there, the Kentucky Monsters.

BB&T Arena has also played host to the Black-n-Bluegrass Roller Girls since 2012.[11] The home dates for the league in 2012 were: May 19, June 16, July 21, August 18, September 22, and October 20.

The Cincinnati Bearcats from the University of Cincinnati played their home games at BB&T Arena during the 2017–18 season while Fifth Third Arena underwent renovations.[12]

References

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved January 1, 2020.
"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-09-09. Retrieved 2012-01-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-12-25. Retrieved 2012-01-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
"NKY.com". Retrieved 2007-07-11.
"NCAA selects NKU as host for 2012 and 2013 Division II Elite Eight for men's basketball" (Press release). Northern Kentucky University Athletics. June 11, 2010. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
"Division II Elite Eight to be played at Louisville's Freedom Hall in 2013" (Press release). NCAA. August 23, 2012. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
"NKU ticket information". Archived from the original on 2008-07-31.
"Board of Control Approves Future Championship Sites, Football Alignment" (Press release). Kentucky High School Athletic Association. May 12, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
"Board of Control Addresses Championship Sites for Football, Girls' Basketball, Dance" (Press release). Kentucky High School Athletic Association. May 10, 2017. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
Hassert, Dan (2005-02-19). "Battles over taxes on several fronts". The Kentucky Post. E. W. Scripps Company. Archived from the original on 2006-02-28.
Erpenbeck, Kevin (7 December 2011). "Roller derby takes over BOKC – The Northerner". www.thenortherner.com. The Northerner. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
"Bearcats to play at BB&T Arena in 2017-18 season". 10 February 2017.

External links

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[inflation-US-1] Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved January 1, 2020.

[2] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-09-09. Retrieved 2012-01-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[3] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-12-25. Retrieved 2012-01-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[4] "NKY.com". Retrieved 2007-07-11.

[NCAA-5] "NCAA selects NKU as host for 2012 and 2013 Division II Elite Eight for men's basketball" (Press release). Northern Kentucky University Athletics. June 11, 2010. Retrieved July 21, 2010.

[2013_NCAA-6] "Division II Elite Eight to be played at Louisville's Freedom Hall in 2013" (Press release). NCAA. August 23, 2012. Retrieved November 2, 2012.

[7] "NKU ticket information". Archived from the original on 2008-07-31.

[8] "Board of Control Approves Future Championship Sites, Football Alignment" (Press release). Kentucky High School Athletic Association. May 12, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2014.

[9] "Board of Control Addresses Championship Sites for Football, Girls' Basketball, Dance" (Press release). Kentucky High School Athletic Association. May 10, 2017. Retrieved May 10, 2017.

[10] Hassert, Dan (2005-02-19). "Battles over taxes on several fronts". The Kentucky Post. E. W. Scripps Company. Archived from the original on 2006-02-28.

[bnbr-11] Erpenbeck, Kevin (7 December 2011). "Roller derby takes over BOKC – The Northerner". www.thenortherner.com. The Northerner. Retrieved 13 September 2017.

[12] "Bearcats to play at BB&T Arena in 2017-18 season". 10 February 2017.

Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball
Venues	Regents Hall (1973–2008) BB&T Arena (2008–present)
Culture & lore	Victor E. Viking
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21

Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
Venues	Schmidlapp Gymnasium (1901–1954) Cincinnati Gardens (1949–1954; 1987–1989) Armory Fieldhouse (1954–1976) Riverfront Coliseum (1976–1987) Fifth Third Arena (1989–2017; 2018–present) BB&T Arena (2017–2018)
Rivalries	Louisville Memphis Xavier
Culture & lore	Bearcat "Cheer Cincinnati" 2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl Longest game in Division I history UC Pep Band
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

BB&T Arena

Sponsorship

Tenants

See also

References

External links