Thompson-Boling Arena

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Thompson-Boling Arena
"The House That Pat Built"
Location	1600 Phillip Fulmer Way Knoxville, TN 37996
Opened	December 3, 1987
Owner	University of Tennessee
Operator	University of Tennessee
Tenants
Tennessee Volunteers (men's basketball) Tennessee Lady Vols (women's basketball)
Seats
24,535

Thompson-Boling Arena is a 24,535-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The arena opened in 1987. It is home to the Tennessee Volunteers (men) and Lady Vols (women) basketball teams. It is named after B. Ray Thompson and former university president Dr. Edward J. Boling. The basketball court is named "The Summitt" after Lady Vols basketball coach Pat Summitt. It replaced the Stokely Athletic Center. The mammoth octagonal building lies just northwest of the Tennessee River, and just southwest of Neyland Stadium. As an echo to its neighbor, the endzones of the court are now painted in the familiar orange-and-white checkerboard pattern.

In terms of seating capacity, Thompson-Boling is the largest facility ever built specifically for basketball in the United States. It is believed by some (mainly in Kentucky), though never proven, that Tennessee built an arena of that size to one-up the University of Kentucky, the traditional men's basketball superpower in the Southeastern Conference, which had moved into the 23,000-capacity Rupp Arena a little more than a decade earlier.

Historically, the arena has rarely been filled, although both the Volunteers and Lady Vols frequently draw crowds of over 20,000. The men's record crowd was 25,610 for a game against Kentucky on January 21, 1989, which is also the SEC record for a regular-season game. The Lady Vols record crowd of 24,653, set at their win over archrival UConn on January 7, 2006, is also the all-time record for an NCAA regular-season women's game.

The facility hosted the 1989 Southeastern Conference men's basketball tournament. It hosted games of the NCAA men's basketball tournament in 1994 and 1999, and the 1990 NCAA Women's Final Four.

It is also a concert venue, holding up to 25,000 for many concerts.

In August of 2006, ground was broken for the Pratt Pavilion, a basketball practice facility to be located adjacent to the arena.

On November 30, 2006, plans were announced at utsports.com to add new renovations to Thompson-Boling Arena. Renovations include more seats, a center hung scoreboard and concourse refurbishments, such as graphics and other amenities. Also to be added are luxury suites and loge seating. Construction begins in March 2007, more than likely during the NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments. Phase I is expected to be finished in November 2007. Phase II is scheduled to include a new lighting system, new ticket kiosks and new food courts.