Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, United States
VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
Entrance to the arena (c.2011)
Former names Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena (2003–19) Address 300 A Philip Randolph Blvd
Jacksonville, FL 32202-2218
Coordinates
30°19′32.77″N 81°38′42.25″W / 30.3257694°N 81.6450694°W / 30.3257694; -81.6450694 Public transit
Jacksonville Skyway at
James Weldon Johnson Park Owner City of Jacksonville Operator
ASM Gobal
Capacity Concerts: 15,000 Basketball: 14,091
[1] Ice Hockey: 13,141
[2] Arena Football: 13,011
[3] Broke ground November 27, 2001 (2001-11-27 ) Opened November 28, 2003 (2003-11-28 ) Construction cost $130 million($215 million in 2022 dollars
[4] ) Architect
HOK Sport Project manager Structural engineer Bliss & Nyitray, Inc. Services engineer Limbach Engineering Smith Seckman Reid, Inc. Bessent, Hammack & Ruckman General contractor
Jacksonville Dolphins (
NCAA ) (2003–2015)
Jacksonville Barracudas (
WHA2 /
SPHL ) (2003–2007)
Jacksonville Giants (
ABA ) (2010–present)
Jacksonville Sharks (
AFL /
NAL /
IFL ) (2010–present)
Jacksonville Bullies (
PLL ) (2012)
Jacksonville Breeze (
LFL ) (2013–2014)
Jacksonville Icemen (
ECHL ) (2017–present)
Venue Website
VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
[5] (originally Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena ) is a multi-purpose
arena located in
Jacksonville ,
Florida . It currently serves as the home arena of the
Jacksonville Icemen of the
ECHL , the
Jacksonville Giants of the
American Basketball Association , and the
Jacksonville Sharks of the
National Arena League .
About
The arena was built in 2003 as part of the
Better Jacksonville Plan to replace the
Jacksonville Coliseum .
[6]
On March 12, 2019, a 19–0 vote led to
VyStar Credit Union becoming a sponsor for the arena.
[7] The 15-year agreement includes an annual contribution to a trust fund to support programs for veterans in the city. It is corporately sponsored despite a city ordinance that on its face prohibits the arena from having such a name. The ordinance does not cover any other venues, which allows for two other venues in Duval County to have corporate sponsors, most notably
TIAA Bank Field .
[8]
Naming history
Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena (November 28, 2003 – March 13, 2019)
VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena (March 14, 2019 – present)
[9]
Events and history
The arena was designed, using state-of-the-art techniques, to have the acoustical characteristics necessary for concerts.
[10] The first artist to hold a concert in the Arena was
Elton John in November 2003. Since that time, dozens of groups, including country, rap, rock, and others, have performed at the arena.
Ice hockey
The arena was home to the
Jacksonville Barracudas
ice hockey team from 2003 to 2007 until they relocated to a smaller hockey arena in the area.[
citation needed ]
Olympics
Sporting events hosted include the
2004 USA Men's Olympic
basketball team in their only game played in the
United States , as well as some early round games of the
NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in
2006 ,
2010 ,
2015 , and
2019 .[
citation needed ]
UFC
The arena held
UFC 249: Ferguson vs. Gaethje ,
UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Teixeira , and
UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Harris ,and three consecutive
Ultimate Fighting Championship events in May 2020, the first major sporting events to be held in the country after restrictions to slow the
COVID-19 pandemic went into effect in March.
[11] In April 2021 it hosted
UFC 261: Usman vs. Masvidal 2 , in front of the largest crowd for an indoor sport in more than a year after Florida lifted their restrictions.
[12] In April 2022, it hosted
UFC 273: Volkanovski vs. The Korean Zombie .
[13] The UFC returned to the arena in June 2023 for
UFC on ABC: Emmett vs. Topuria .
[14]
Professional wrestling
On October 17, 2006, an episode of
ECW on Sci-Fi was held in the arena.
[15] In 2007, the arena held the
WWE pay-per-view event
One Night Stand in
2007 . As of 2024, it is the only WWE pay-per-view the arena hosted. However, the arena still hosts various
Raw and
SmackDown shows.
AFL
The arena found huge success when the arena became the home of the Jacksonville Sharks in 2010 when they were introduced as an expansion team of the Arena Football League. The team was founded by former Orlando Predators executive Jeff Bouchy, who is also the brother of former Orlando Predators owner Brett Bouchy. The Sharks generally have maintained the highest attendance among the arena's regular tenants.[
citation needed ]
ABA
The arena hosted the
2011 ABA All-Star Game , which took place on February 26, 2011.
[16]
PLL
In 2012, the arena was home to the
Jacksonville Bullies of the
Professional Lacrosse League .
[17]
LFL
In 2013 and 2014, it was home to the
Jacksonville Breeze of the
Legends Football League .[
citation needed ]
Concerts
In 2016,
Rihanna opened her
Anti World Tour at the arena, which attracted an audience of 11,000 people.[
citation needed ]
On December 1, 2019
Ariana Grande held a concert at the arena, which was part of her
Sweetener World Tour .
[18]
Monster Jam came to the arena in 2018, and again the following year.
Other events
The arena was scheduled to host days 2-4 of the
2020 Republican National Convention from August 25 to August 27, originally to be held in
Charlotte, North Carolina .
[19] However, these plans were ultimately cancelled to the
COVID-19 pandemic .
[20]
The arena was the host for the
Davis Cup first round tie between the US and Brazil on the weekend of February 1–3, 2013. It has hosted
PBR
Built Ford Tough Series events in the past.[
citation needed ]
Noted performers
References
^ Harry, Chris (October 25, 2016).
"Pregame Stuff: UF vs Eckerd (exhibition), 7 p.m. at Jacksonville" . Official Website of the Florida Gators . University Athletics Association. Retrieved March 26, 2019 .
^
"Jacksonville Icemen Begin Their Season in Florida October 2017" . Official Website of the Jacksonville Icemen (Press release). February 8, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2019 .
^
"Jacksonville Sharks" . National Arena League . Retrieved March 26, 2019 .
^ 1634–1699:
McCusker, J. J. (1997).
How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF) .
American Antiquarian Society . 1700–1799:
McCusker, J. J. (1992).
How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF) .
American Antiquarian Society . 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
"Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved February 29, 2024 .
^ Marbut, Max (March 14, 2019).
"City approves VyStar naming rights agreement" .
Financial News & Daily Record .
Observer Media Group . Retrieved March 31, 2019 .
^ Schoolcraft, Lisa R. (November 27, 2001).
"Construction Begins on Sports Arena" .
Jacksonville Business Journal .
American City Business Journals . Retrieved December 4, 2017 .
^ Bauerlein, David (March 12, 2019).
"City Council Approves Adding VyStar to Arena Name" .
The Florida Times-Union .
GateHouse Media . Retrieved March 16, 2019 .
^ Bauerlein, David (February 7, 2019).
"Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena could soon have VyStar in its name" . The Florida Times-Union . GateHouse Media. Retrieved March 31, 2019 .
^ Bailey, Crystal (March 12, 2019).
"City approves arena name change to Vystar Veteran's Memorial Arena" .
WTLV .
Tegna Inc. Retrieved March 31, 2019 .
^ Sources for construction:
"Jacksonville Arena - Jacksonville, FL" . Limbach, Inc. August 2013. Archived from
the original on August 6, 2013. Retrieved March 20, 2015 .
Broughton, David (December 1, 2003).
"Jacksonville Hockey Team Gets a Record-Setting New Home" . Sports Business Daily .
Advance Publications . Retrieved October 31, 2012 .
"Arenas" . Populous. Retrieved March 20, 2015 .
"Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena" . Bliss & Nyitray, Inc. Retrieved March 20, 2015 .
^ Marc Raimondi and Brett Okamoto (2020-05-23).
"Behind the scenes at UFC Jacksonville: 1,000 tests, 32 fights and one wild ride" .
ESPN.com . Retrieved 2020-08-20 .
^ Campbell, Brian (April 25, 2021).
"UFC 261 results, highlights: Kamaru Usman pounds Jorge Masvidal with vicious knockout to retain title" .
CBS Sports . Retrieved July 24, 2022 .
^ Campbell, Brian (April 10, 2022).
"UFC 273 results, highlights: Alexander Volkanovski retains featherweight title with TKO of Korean Zombie" . CBS Sports . Retrieved July 24, 2022 .
^ Mahjouri, Shakiel (June 24, 2023).
"UFC Fight Night results, highlights: Ilia Topuria batters Josh Emmett for wide decision, calls for title shot" . CBS Sports . Retrieved June 24, 2023 .
^
"ECW on Sci-Fi: October 17, 2006" .
^ Pascucci, Gianni (November 23, 2010).
"2010-2011 ABA All-Star Game Awarded to Jacksonville, Florida" . US Basket . Retrieved March 20, 2015 .
^ Ferry, Jennifer (July 26, 2012).
"Jacksonville's First Professional, Indoor Lacrosse Team to Launch in September" .
Jacksonville Business Journal . Retrieved March 20, 2015 .
^
"Ariana Grande: Sweetener World Tour" . www.vystarveteransarena.com . Retrieved 2022-05-09 .
^ Linskey, Annie (June 11, 2020).
"Republicans announce Trump convention events will move to Jacksonville" .
The Washington Post .
^
"Trump cancels Republican convention as virus soars" .
BBC News . 2020-07-23. Retrieved 2020-07-23 .
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Seasons NCAA Final Four appearance in italics
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Future
Teams Venues Former teams Former venues Seasons