Neville Arena, formerly Auburn Arena also known as The Jungle, is a 9,121-seat multi-purpose

arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

in Auburn,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, on the campus of

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

. Built in 2010 to replace Beard–Eaves–Memorial Coliseum, the $86 million facility is the home of the

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) a ...

men's and

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

, women's gymnastics, and women's volleyball teams. It is located on the west side of the Auburn campus, near Wire Road between Thach Avenue and Heisman Drive. Aside from the main court, the arena also contains two practice courts, a weight room, 12 suites, coaches offices, the Auburn Ticket Office, and the Lovelace Athletic Museum. The outside of the arena features a large monument to the Auburn Creed and a statue of former Auburn men's basketball player

Charles Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on NBA on TNT, TNT and CBS Sports. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "the Bread Truck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", ...

History

On June 29, 2007,

announced plans to build a new $92.5 million (eventually completed under budget at $86 million) basketball arena and practice facilities to replace Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum. Auburn held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new facility 13 months later on August 29, 2008. Auburn held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Auburn Arena on October 15, 2010. That night Auburn held the official grand opening for the new arena. Many celebrities were in attendance, including former Auburn men's basketball player

. The event concluded with a

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters is an American Exhibition game, exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, entertainment, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 ...

game. The Auburn men's and women's basketball teams played their first competitive games in Auburn Arena in a doubleheader on November 12, 2010. The women's team defeated

Mercer Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (automobile), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City, US * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or tra ...

79–61, and the men's team lost to UNC Asheville 70–69 in overtime. The men's first win in Auburn Arena came three games later in a 68–66 win over

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the state's capital an ...

. On October 22, 2016, Auburn announced that it plans to build a statue of former men's basketball player Charles Barkley to be displayed outside of Auburn Arena. The statue was unveiled on November 25, 2017, on the morning of the 2017

Iron Bowl The Alabama–Auburn football rivalry, better known as the Iron Bowl, is an American college football rivalry game between the University of Alabama Crimson Tide and the Auburn University Tigers, both charter members of the Southeastern Conf ...

. On February 8, 2022, the Auburn Athletics Department announced that Auburn Arena's name would be changed to Neville Arena in recognition of the single largest gift in Auburn Athletics history by donors Bill and Connie Neville. The dedication for the official name change took place on March 4, 2022. In addition, Auburn initiated plans for construction of a new practice gym and renovation of the existing practice gym at the Arena.

Auburn basketball

Notable games

* November 12, 2010 - UNC Asheville 70, Auburn 69 (OT): UNC Asheville defeated Auburn in the first ever men's basketball game played in Auburn Arena. * November 21, 2010 - Auburn 68, Middle Tennessee 66: Auburn defeated

for their first ever win in Auburn Arena. * February 6, 2013 - Auburn 49, Alabama 37: Auburn defeated rival

for the first time in Auburn Arena. Former Auburn quarterback

Cam Newton Cameron Jerrell Newton (born May 11, 1989) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, primarily with the Carolina Panthers. He is the NFL le ...

cheered on the Tigers from the front row of The Jungle during the game. * January 16, 2016 - Auburn 75, Kentucky 70: Auburn defeated #14

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, snapping Auburn's 18-game losing streak against the Wildcats. The Auburn students stormed the court for the first time in Auburn Arena at the end of the game. * March 3, 2018 - Auburn 79, South Carolina 70: #19 Auburn defeated

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

in the last regular season game of the year, clinching a share of the 2018 SEC regular season championship. *February 1, 2020 - Auburn 75, Kentucky 66: ESPN's College GameDay visited Auburn for the first time ever, where #17 Auburn defeated #13 Kentucky. *February 8, 2020 - Auburn 91, LSU 90 (OT): Despite trailing #18

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

by 8 points with a little over a minute left in regulation, #11 Auburn came back to tie the game and send it into overtime. Auburn took an early lead in overtime, but LSU scored with 9 seconds left to take the lead back. Auburn's J'von McCormick drove the length of the floor and hit the game-winning shot with 0.1 seconds to go. *January 22, 2022 - Auburn 80, Kentucky 71: In anticipation of an early Saturday matchup between #2 Auburn and #12 Kentucky, Auburn students camped out in sub-freezing temperatures starting day before in order to get into the game. Auburn defeated Kentucky en route to earning their first ever #1 ranking in the next AP poll. After the game, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl dubbed the student campout "Pearlville." Students would camp out in Pearlville for other home games later in the season. *March 5, 2022 - Auburn 82, South Carolina 71: #5 Auburn defeated South Carolina in the last regular season game of the year, clinching the 2022 SEC regular season championship outright. This was also the first men's basketball game played in the arena after it was renamed Neville Arena.

Average attendance by season

Events

Non-Auburn sporting events

Auburn Arena hosted games for the first and second rounds of the

2011 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2011 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 19, 2011, and concluded on April 5, 2011. The Texas A&M Aggies won the championship, defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 76–70 in the final held at Conseco Fieldhouse i ...

Concerts

Since it opened in 2010, Neville Arena has hosted concerts featuring many artists across many different genres. The following is a list of all artists that have performed in Neville Arena. *

The Avett Brothers The Avett Brothers are an American folk rock band from Concord, North Carolina. The band is made up of two brothers, Scott Avett (banjo, lead vocals, guitar, piano, kick-drum) and Seth Avett (guitar, lead vocals, piano, hi-hat) along with Bob Cr ...

* B.o.B *

The Band Perry The Band Perry are an American band composed of siblings Kimberly Perry (lead vocals, guitar), Reid Perry (bass guitar, background vocals), and Neil Perry (mandolin, bouzouki, background vocals). They signed to Republic Nashville in August 2 ...

Ben Rector Benjamin Evans Rector (born November 6, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer based in Nashville, Tennessee. He is an independent artist, and releases music under his own label OK Kid Recordings. Rector's career has with ...

Cole Swindell Colden Rainey Swindell (born June 30, 1983) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He has written singles for Craig Campbell (singer), Craig Campbell, Thomas Rhett, Scotty McCreery, and Luke Bryan, and has released four albums for W ...

* Girl Talk * Green River Ordinance * Hot Chelle Rae *

Ludacris Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, spoken as "ludicrous" in American English), is an American rapper and songwriter. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludacris moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at age ...

Lupe Fiasco Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco ( ), is an American rapper, record producer and Music education, music educator. Born and raised in Chicago, he gained mainstream recognition for his gue ...

Needtobreathe Needtobreathe (stylized as NEEDTOBREATHE) is an American rock band from Seneca, South Carolina. The group first gained fame for their Christian themes, eventually reaching crossover success. The band is composed of Bear Rinehart (lead vocals, ...

The Neighbourhood The Neighbourhood (abbreviated as the nbhd) is an American alternative rock band formed in Newbury Park, California, in 2011. The band is composed of vocalist Jesse Rutherford, guitarists Jeremy Freedman and Zach Abels, and bassist Mikey Marg ...

Train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

Young the Giant Young the Giant is an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Irvine, California, in 2004. The band's line-up consists of Sameer Gadhia (lead vocals), Jacob Tilley (guitar), Eric Cannata (guitar), Payam Doostzadeh (bass guitar), and Franc ...

References

External links

Auburn ArenaAuburn Arena Private Events
{{Music venues of Alabama Auburn Tigers basketball venues College gymnastics venues in the United States 2010 establishments in Alabama Sports venues completed in 2010 Gymnastics venues in Alabama