Desert Financial Arena | |
Nickname: | The Desert, The Well (Former) |
Address: | 600 E Veterans Way |
Location: | Tempe, Arizona |
Pushpin Map: | Arizona#United States |
Pushpin Relief: | 1 |
Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Arizona##Location in the United States |
Broke Ground: | 1972 |
Opened: | April 29, 1974 |
Owner: | Arizona State University |
Construction Cost: | $8 million |
Architect: | Drover, Welch & Lindlan, Inc.[1] |
General Contractor: | Olson Construction Company |
Former Names: | ASU Activity Center Wells Fargo Arena |
Publictransit: | Veterans Way/College Ave |
Tenants: | Arizona State Sun Devils men's basketball Arizona State Sun Devils women's basketball Arizona State Sun Devils women's volleyball |
Capacity: | 14,198 |
Desert Financial Arena[2] (formerly ASU Activity Center and Wells Fargo Arena) is a 14,198-seat[3] multi-purpose arena located at 600 E Veterans Way in Tempe, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. It sits immediately east of Mountain America Stadium on the northern edge of the Tempe campus of Arizona State University (ASU).
Constructed in the spring of 1974 as the University Activity Center (or the "You-Ack") and at the cost of $8 million, it is the home of men's basketball, women's basketball, and women's volleyball and former home of women's gymnastics and men's wrestling. The facility also plays host to graduation ceremonies and a variety of concerts and shows. The building replaced Sun Devil Gym as the primary arena for the Sun Devils' basketball team.
The former naming rights for the arena were purchased by Wells Fargo & Co. in 1997. The current naming rights to arena were purchased by Desert Financial Credit Union in 2019 for $1.5 million for 5 years.
The structure is long, wide and six stories high. The structure contains offices and locker rooms for men's basketball, women's basketball, women's volleyball, and the men's and women's track and field team, along with a weight room, coaches and film rooms, and an equipment room.
The Eagles played at the facility on October 15, 1976, with the setlist including the first live performance of “Hotel California.”[4] [5]
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band performed at the arena on November 5, 1980 during the River Tour. Video and audio of the show were released in 2015 in conjunction with the band's The Ties That Bind commemorative box set, and their performance of "Badlands" was included on 1986's Live 1975–85 album.
The arena has also hosted the 1st and 2nd rounds of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament in both 2015 and 2016.