CFE Arena

Coordinates: 28°36′24″N 81°11′51″W / 28.6068°N 81.1976°W / 28.6068; -81.1976

CFE Arena
"The Dungeon"[1]
Full name CFE Federal Credit Union Arena
Former names UCF Convocation Center (planning/construction)
UCF Arena (2007–13)
Location 12777 Gemini Boulevard N.
Orlando, FL 32816
United States
Public transit UCF Transit Center,
Owner University of Central Florida
Operator Global Spectrum[2]
Capacity 9,465 (basketball)[3]
9,993 (MMA)[3]
10,072 (concert)[3]
Surface Multi-surface
Construction
Broke ground 2006
Opened September 8, 2007 (2007-09-08)
(9 years, 340 days ago)[4]
Construction cost $107 million[5]
($124 million in 2016 dollars[6])
Architect Populous (company)[4][7]
Structural engineer Bliss & Nyitray, Inc.
Services engineer Smith Seckman Reid, Inc.[8]
General contractor KUD International[4]
Tenants
UCF Knights (NCAA) (2007–present)
Orlando Fantasy (LFL) (2010)
Orlando Predators (AFL) (2014)
Website
www.cfearena.com

CFE Arena, officially the CFE Federal Credit Union Arena and formerly known as UCF Arena, is a sports and entertainment arena located in Orlando, Florida, United States on the main campus of the University of Central Florida. It was constructed beginning in 2006 as a replacement for the original UCF arena, and as a part of Knights Plaza. The arena is home to the UCF Knights men's and women's basketball teams. In 2010, the Legends Football League team Orlando Fantasy played at the arena. The Arena also hosted the annual Science Olympiad in 2012 and 2014. For the 2014 season only, it served as the home of the Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League.

The arena is 325,000 square feet (30,000 m2), and boasts a capacity of over 10,000, and 17 luxury suites.[3] As of March 2017, the attendance record for the arena is 10,011, the arena's first ever sellout crowd, for a March 22, 2017 NIT Quarterfinals matchup with the Illinois Fighting Illini. The theater can be configured for concerts, family events, musical theatre, commencements, and other stage shows and sporting events. The CFE Arena is owned by the university, and is managed by Global Spectrum, a subsidiary of Philadelphia-based Comcast Spectacor.

Original arena

The arena was originally built in 1991 with a capacity of 5,100 and was home to men's basketball, women's basketball, and volleyball, and was also used for events such as concerts and commencements. It has hosted the Atlantic Sun Conference men's basketball tournament three times, in 1994, 1995, and 2002. The last basketball game played in the original facility was on March 3, 2007, when the UCF men's team beat the East Carolina Pirates, 77–64, in Conference USA play.

History

The interior of the CFE Arena, UCF's multi-purpose indoor sports arena.

A new arena was built 2007, as part of a larger project to create an athletic village known as Knights Plaza. The new arena, built in the space in front of the original arena, is double the seating capacity of its predecessor, including 7,479 fixed standard seats, 500 club seats, 1,328 retractable seats, 188 disabled seats, 16 luxury suites (seating capacity 192, total capacity 256), two party suites (total capacity 60) and loge box seating for 64. According to the promoters' guide, the new arena has a basketball capacity of 9,465, and can hold up to 10,072 for concert events. The student section has been dubbed the "Knightmare."[4]

The new arena was completed in September 2007 and is the home to both the men's and women's basketball teams. This expansion made the CFE Arena the second largest arena complex in Orlando. Beginning in 2008, the grounds around arena hosted "Light Up UCF", a holiday celebration that features an outdoor ice skating rink. For the event, the arena is decorated with thousands of lights that are synchronized to holiday music.[9]

In October 2008, the CFE Arena was home to one of the largest Presidential Debate Watch Parties ever. On the front lawn of the arena the Presidential Debate was projected onto a large inflatable movie screen while a Lupe Fiasco concert was taking place inside the arena. The Presidential Debate, which was the final debate of the election, was then replayed for the thousands of attendees as they were leaving the concert. Lupe Fiasco actually acknowledged that the debate would be shown after the show and encouraged the attendees to stay and watch it because of the significance of the election.

On May 18–19, 2012, the arena hosted the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2012 Science Olympiad National Tournament.

In addition to its use as a basketball arena, the arena is regularly used to host other events on campus, including career fairs, graduation ceremonies, concerts, and public speakers. CFE Arena has increasingly been used in recent years as an alternative to the much larger Amway Center in downtown Orlando.

Naming

UCF expressed interest numerous times in selling the naming rights to the arena. At one point, AirTran Airways was in negotiations to purchase naming rights, but no agreement was ever reached. On May 22, 2013, the UCF Board of Trustees officially announced that the school had entered into a naming rights contract with CFE Federal Credit Union, which has had a long-standing history with UCF.[10] The deal is slated for seven years and is worth $3.95 million, or around $564,286 per year.[11] The new name took effect on May 23, 2013.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Knights welcome struggling Hatters to UCF Dungeon". Central Florida Future. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Global Spectrum – University of Central Florida CFE Arena, Orlando, Florida". Global Spectrum. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "CFE Arena Promoters Guide" (PDF). UCF Athletics Association. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "CFE Arena Bio". UCF Athletics Association. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
  5. ↑ "UCF Convocation Center". UCF Athletics Association. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
  6. ↑ Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Community Development Project. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  7. ↑ "University of Central Florida Convocation Center". Populous. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
  8. ↑ "UCF Convocation Center Orlando, FL". Randall Mechanical, Inc. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  9. ↑ Light Up UCF information page
  10. ↑ Zunz, Andy. "UCF announces naming rights deal for Arena". Central Florida Future. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
  11. ↑ Ordway, Denise-Marie (May 23, 2013). "UCF arena named after CFE Federal Credit Union". Orlando Sentinel. Tribune Company. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
Events and tenants
Preceded by
First arena		 Home of the
Orlando Fantasy
2010 		Succeeded by
Last arena
Preceded by
Kohl Center		 Home of the
Science Olympiad National Tournament
2012 		Succeeded by
Nutter Center
Preceded by
Nutter Center		 Home of the
Science Olympiad National Tournament
2014 		Succeeded by
Bob Devaney Sports Center
Preceded by
Amway Center		 Home of the
Orlando Predators
2014 		Succeeded by
Current arena
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