Legacy Arena (formerly known as the BJCC Coliseum and the BJCC Arena) is an arena located at the

Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex The Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex (formerly known as Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center) is an entertainment, sports, and convention complex located in the heart of Birmingham, Alabama's Uptown Entertainment District. The Sheraton Birm ...

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

. The arena seats 17,654 for sporting events, up to 16,250 for

concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

s and 6,000 in a cut-down theater configuration.

Arena information

The arena stands ten stories tall, but it actually measures only 75 feet (23 m) from floor to ceiling and contains an oval-shaped 24,200-square-foot (2,244.5 m²) (110' by 220' (33.5 x 67 m)) arena floor. The arena contains several luxury suites and a press box. The BJCC Arena Club is also located in the arena. It is a lounge that is limited to 500 guests and available for most arena events. Backstage there are 2 locker rooms and 6 dressing rooms as well as a press room and a VIP Reception area. The arena can accommodate 8 trucks backstage—3 on truck docks and room for 5 more. The arena's four-sided center-hung scoreboard, designed by

Daktronics Daktronics, Inc. is an American company based in Brookings, South Dakota, that designs, manufactures, sells, and services video displays, scoreboards, digital billboards, dynamic message signs, sound systems, and related products. It was found ...

, measures 18' by 18' (5.5 x 5.5 m) on each side. Also on each side is a 7.5'-by-8'8" ProStar 16.5 mm video display.

History

The arena opened in 1976 as part of the Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex. The arena was home of the Birmingham Bulls of the WHA from 1976 to 1979; when the WHA folded, a minor league team with the same name called the arena home through 2001. It was there in December 1977 that hockey legend

Gordie Howe Gordon Howe (March 31, 1928 – June 10, 2016) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. From 1946 to 1980, he played 26 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and six seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA); his first 25 seaso ...

, then playing for the WHA's

New England Whalers New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

, scored his 1,000th career goal at the age of 49; his Whalers defeated the Bulls 6–3. The arena was also the home of the UAB men's basketball team before it moved into

Bartow Arena Bartow Arena is an 8,508-seat multi-purpose arena in Birmingham, in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is home to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Blazers men's and women's basketball teams as well as the women's volleyball team. The a ...

in 1988 and was home to the Alabama Steeldogs

arena football Arena football is a variety of gridiron football designed to be played indoors. The game is played on a smaller field than American or Canadian football, designed to fit in the same surface area as a standard North American ice hockey rink, an ...

team of the

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

from 2000 to 2007. On December 17, 2014, the Civic Center board and officials of Legacy Credit Union announced a five-year, $2 million naming rights contract. Beginning January 1, 2015 the arena was officially renamed as Legacy Arena at the BJCC. On October 24, 2018, the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Confere ...

and the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

announced that the Pelicans have acquired the right to own and operate an NBA G League team in Birmingham, Alabama. The team was expected to begin play in Birmingham by the 2022–23 basketball season playing at Legacy Arena following renovations to the arena. In the interim, the team began play for the 2018–19 season in Erie, Pennsylvania, as the Erie BayHawks, while the arena underwent a $123 million expansion and renovation. The renovations were completed in time for the 2021–22 season and the Pelicans chose to move the franchise, now known as the

Birmingham Squadron The Birmingham Squadron are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Birmingham, Alabama, and are affiliated with the New Orleans Pelicans. The Squadron play their home games at Legacy Arena. The team began play in 20 ...

, at that time.

Notable events

Sports

Basketball

Legacy Arena has many regular season men's and women's

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

games as well as 11

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

pre-season games. It has hosted the men's conference tournaments for the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that has been affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football confe ...

, and

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

as well as the women's tournament for Conference USA. It will host the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

men's and women's basketball tournaments in 2026. It has also hosted the NCAA men's college basketball tournament serving as first and second round host in 1984, 1987, 2000, 2003, 2008, and 2023 and as a regional site in 1982, 1985, 1988, 1995 and 1997. It was selected as a first and second round site for the 2028 men's tournament. Legacy Arena hosted the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight for the 2025 NCAA women's college basketball tournament. It also serves as the host for the

Alabama High School Athletic Association The Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA), based in Montgomery, is the governing body for interscholastic athletics and activities programs for public schools in Alabama. The AHSAA is a member National Federation of State High ...

basketball state finals each year.

=Men's College Basketball conference tournaments at Legacy Arena

=Women's College Basketball conference tournaments at Legacy Arena

Tennis

In 2009, the arena hosted the first round tie of the

2009 Davis Cup The 2009 Davis Cup was the 98th edition of the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. Sixteen teams participated in the World Group and more than one hundred other took part in different regional groups. Spain won their ...

between the United States and Switzerland. Several tennis stars participated including

Andy Roddick Andrew Stephen Roddick (born August 30, 1982) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 13 weeks, including as the year-end No. 1 in ...

, James Blake,

Bob and Mike Bryan The Bryan brothers, identical twin brothers Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, are American former professional doubles tennis players. The most successful men's doubles team of all time, they won more professional matches, tournaments and majors than a ...

and

Stanislas Wawrinka Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka (; born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), first achieved on 27 January 2014. Wawrinka has won 16 ATP T ...

. The arena also hosted the

2017 Davis Cup The 2017 Davis Cup was the 106th edition of the Davis Cup, a tournament between national teams in men's tennis. It was sponsored by BNP Paribas. France won their tenth title (their first since 2001), with Lucas Pouille defeating Steve Darcis of ...

on February 3–5, 2017.

The World Games

Birmingham was the host city for the World Games 2022, with many events taking place in venues around the city. Legacy Arena hosted the Latin, standard, and rock'n'roll

dancesport Dancesport is competitive ballroom dancing, as contrasted to social or exhibition dancing. In the case of Para dancesport, at least one of the dancers is in a wheelchair. Dancesport events are sanctioned and regulated by dancesport organizat ...

competitions as well as the aerobatic, acrobatic, rhythmic, trampoline and tumbling

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

competitions.

Professional wrestling

Legacy Arena has hosted professional wrestling events for several decades, with regular appearances from promotions including

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

,(formerly WWF) and WCW, On December 10, 2000, the arena hosted

Armageddon (2000) The 2000 Armageddon was the second Armageddon professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on December 10, 2000, at the Birmingham–Jefferson Civic Center in Birmingham ...

, a pay-per-view event notable for featuring a six-man Hell in a Cell match for the WWF Championship. The event drew approximately 14,920 attendees.

References

External links

Official website
{{UAB Blazers men's basketball navbox Alabama Steeldogs Erie BayHawks (2019–2021) Event venues established in 1976 Ice hockey venues in Alabama NBA G League venues Sports venues in Birmingham, Alabama Tennis venues in the United States Tourist attractions in Birmingham, Alabama UAB Blazers basketball venues World Hockey Association venues 1976 establishments in Alabama