Yuengling Center (formerly the USF Sun Dome) is an indoor arena on the main campus of the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF i ...

(USF) in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough ...

. Construction began in November 1977, and it opened on November 29, 1980. It is located in USF's Athletics District on the southeast side of campus, and is home to the South Florida Bulls men's and

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...

and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

teams, as well as USF's commencement ceremonies and other school and local events. With 10,411 seats, it is the fourth-largest basketball arena by capacity in the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

History

Before the Yuengling Center, USF's basketball teams played at various locations on and off campus. The basketball teams first played at

Curtis Hixon Hall Curtis Hixon Hall was an indoor sports arena, convention center, concert venue, and special events center which was located at 600 Ashley Drive along the Hillsborough River in downtown Tampa, Florida. It opened in 1965, and was the primary conc ...

in downtown Tampa, and later split their home schedule between Curtis Hixon Hall, the

Bayfront Center Bayfront Center was an indoor arena located in St. Petersburg, Florida that hosted many concerts, sporting and other events. Depending on the configuration, it could hold up to 8,600 people. The arena was opened in 1965 and demolished in 2004. It ...

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Expo Hall Expo Hall is an indoor arena located at the Florida State Fairgrounds in East Lake-Orient Park, Florida. It is used primarily as an exhibition hall during the Florida State Fair, but has also hosted concerts and sporting events. The South Flori ...

at the

Florida State Fairgrounds The Florida State Fairgrounds is located in East Lake-Orient Park, Florida. In addition to holding the annual Florida State Fair, the fairgrounds also host a wide variety of other events throughout the year. The 2022 Florida State Fair took plac ...

, and the USF Gymnasium on campus, among others. By 1975, both the University of South Florida and the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in Gainesville had decided to build new on-campus indoor sports facilities. The two schools pooled their resources and shared the cost of a basic arena design to stretch limited state funding. The "core unit" of the Sun Dome and UF's

O'Connell Center The Stephen C. O'Connell Center, also known as the O'Dome, is a 10,500-seat multi-purpose arena located on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Florida. The facility is named for the sixth president of the university, Stephen C. O' ...

were nearly identical, and they each featured a flexible, inflatable roof made of

Teflon Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene that has numerous applications. It is one of the best-known and widely applied PFAS. The commonly known brand name of PTFE-based composition is Teflon by Chemo ...

and supported by a system of blowers. However, the O'Connell Center included facilities for other sports (namely gymnastics, volleyball, swimming and diving) around the main arena, while the Sun Dome as originally built did not, though it later added The Corral for the women's volleyball team after a renovation in 1995. The $12 million Sun Dome broke ground in November 1977 on formerly open land on the southeast side of campus near Fowler Avenue. Construction was slowed on both the Sun Dome and the O'Connell Center when cracks appeared in

precast concrete Precast concrete is a construction product produced by casting concrete in a reusable mold or "form" which is then cured in a controlled environment, transported to the construction site and maneuvered into place; examples include precast b ...

support beams. The problems were eventually fixed, and the sister facilities were completed within a few weeks of each other in late 1980 – the Sun Dome in November and the O'Connell Center in December.Walbolt, Dan (Interviewee) and Huse, Andrew T. (Interviewer)
''Dan Walbolt oral history interview by Andrew Huse, July 13, 2004''
(2004).Digital Collection - USF Historical Archives Oral Histories. Paper 194. The first two events at the new arena were a USF men's basketball game against

Florida A&M Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a public historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida. Founded in 1887, It is the third largest historically black university in the Un ...

and a concert by

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guilloti ...

. In 2000, the original inflatable roof was replaced with a more conventional hard dome and additional facilities for USF indoor sports programs were added around the main arena at a cost of about $8 million (about $ in dollars). In 2011, USF began a major renovation of the Yuengling Center at a cost of $35.6 million. Among other interior improvements, this renovation reconfigured the seating area to make the facility ADA compliant and

LEED Silver Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...

certified. It also added a larger center hung scoreboard, a larger team store, a new concourse level with concessions and restrooms, and a new, athletes-only dining hall. On the outside, original exterior concrete was repaired, bricks were added to some portions of the facade, and the entrance gates were improved. This project was completed in April 2012. In 2017, USF announced that the Sun Dome's management would be taken over by

Jeff Vinik Jeffrey N. Vinik (born March 22, 1959) is the current owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning and a minority owner of the Boston Red Sox. He served on the board of directors for Liverpool Football Club of the Premier League from 2010–2013. Early life ...

, owner of the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play ...

, via Tampa Bay Entertainment Properties, LLC. On June 12, 2018, USF announced a 10-year naming rights deal with brewer

Yuengling D. G. Yuengling & Son, established in 1829, is the oldest operating brewing company in the United States. In 2018, by volume of sales, it was the largest craft brewery, sixth largest overall brewery and largest wholly American-owned brewery in t ...

, effective July 1, 2018. In April 2021, WWE began a long-term residency at Yuengling Center, broadcasting its shows from a behind closed doors set called the

WWE ThunderDome The WWE ThunderDome was a bio-secure bubble created by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, in partnership with the full-service fan experience company, The Famous Group. It was launched in August 2020 as a way for professional wrest ...

, which lasted until July 2021.

The Corral

The Corral opened in 1995 as the home to the Bulls volleyball team. The Corral spans 11,500 square feet on the west side of the arena with a capacity of up to 1,000 fans. Prior to the opening of The Corral, the volleyball team played in the USF Gymnasium, now called the Campus Recreation Center.

Events

In addition to USF sporting events, the Yuengling Center hosts USF's commencement ceremonies along with many concerts, shows, and special events.

Concert history

The first concert held at the Yuengling Center (then the USF Sun Dome) was

, on July 25, 1981. The

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, country, jazz, bluegrass, blues, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, world music, ...

played at the venue on October 26, 1985, as one of the stops on their 20th anniversary tour. Other acts hosted at the Yuengling Center prior to the renovations completed in 2012 include

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American musician who was the lead vocalist and guitarist of the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976. He previously led the band Mudcrutch, was a member of the la ...

, and U2. On September 14, 2012,

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

performed the first concert held in the renovated building. On September 22, 2017,

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core mem ...

performed at the venue, marking their first time performing in Tampa; fellow Canadian

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produ ...

band

Wolf Parade Wolf Parade is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 2003 in Montreal. The band released three full-length albums before taking a five-year hiatus in 2011. They announced their return in 2016, releasing a self-titled EP in May of that year, and ...

served as the concert's

opening act A opening act, also known as a warm-up act, support act, or supporting act, is an entertainment act (musical, comedic, or otherwise), that performs at a concert before the featured act, or "headliner". Rarely, an opening act may perform again a ...

. The Swedish band

Ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to re ...

performed at the Yuengling Center on September 6, 2022, as part of their Imperatour concert tour, with

Spiritbox Spiritbox is a Canadian heavy metal band from Victoria, British Columbia. Husband and wife duo guitarist Mike Stringer and vocalist Courtney LaPlante established Spiritbox in 2017. The band's full lineup comprises LaPlante, Stringer and drummer ...

and

Mastodon A mastodon ( 'breast' + 'tooth') is any proboscidean belonging to the extinct genus ''Mammut'' (family Mammutidae). Mastodons inhabited North and Central America during the late Miocene or late Pliocene up to their extinction at the end of the ...

serving as their openers.

Combat sports

WWE has hosted several

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

events at the Sun Dome; it hosted '' Saturday Night's Main Event'' for the first time in 1985, and hosted the

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program g ...

Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming List of WWE pay-per-view and WWE Network events, event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named afte ...

in 1995 (which notably saw

Shawn Michaels Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative. Widely regarded as one ...

become the first person entering at number 1 to win the titular

Royal Rumble match The Royal Rumble match is a professional wrestling match based on the classic Battle Royal match in which a number of wrestlers (traditionally 30) aim at eliminating their competitors by tossing them over the top rope, with both feet touching the ...

by outlasting all 29 of the other participants). On March 24, 2021, WWE announced that it would move its ThunderDome residency—a

bio-secure bubble A bio-secure bubble, also known as a bubble, or hub city, was a hosting arrangement for sporting events that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, under which events were held at a centralized site, often behind closed doors, with strict quara ...

used to film the company's weekly programs '' Raw'', ''

SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes sim ...

'', and ''

Main Event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

'', as well as those shows' associated pay-per-views, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

—to Yuengling Center beginning with the April 12 episode of ''Raw'', following

WrestleMania 37 WrestleMania 37 was the 37th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place as a two-night ...

(which was held at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium). The ThunderDome was relocated from

Tropicana Field Tropicana Field (commonly known as the Trop) is a multi-purpose domed stadium located in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. The stadium has been the home of the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB) since the team's inaugural sea ...

due to the start of the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

' 2021 season; as before, programs produced at the arena were held behind closed doors with no in-person audience. During their residency at the Yuengling Center, WWE held two pay-per-view events,

WrestleMania Backlash WWE Backlash, known as WrestleMania Backlash since 2021, is a professional wrestling event that is produced by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. It is broadcast live and available only through pay-per-view (PPV) and ...

and

Hell in a Cell Hell in a Cell is a professional wrestling steel cage-based match which originated in 1997 in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It features a large cell structure, a five-sided cuboid made from open-weave steel mesh chain-link fen ...

. WWE resumed live touring on July 16, thus ending the ThunderDome productions. The company finished tapings at the Yuengling Center on July 9; the final show to air featuring the ThunderDome at the Yuengling Center was the July 15 episode of ''Main Event''.

Creator Clash Creator Clash is a charity boxing event between content creators. The inaugural event took place on May 14, 2022, at the Yuengling Center on the campus of the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. The headlining fight of this event was ...

was hosted at the Yuengling Center in 2022. UFC hosted UFC Fight Night: Lauzon vs Stephens at the Sun Dome on February 7, 2009. The Sun Dome also hosted Bellator 72 and 94 in 2012 and 2013 respectively.

References

External links

Yuengling Center
{{Authority control Basketball venues in Florida College basketball venues in the United States Boxing venues in the United States Gymnastics venues in the United States Mixed martial arts venues in Florida South Florida Bulls basketball Sports venues in Tampa, Florida Music venues in Florida Music of Tampa, Florida 1980 establishments in Florida Sports venues completed in 1980 South Florida Bulls sports venues Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified buildings Tampa, Florida