The Cintas Center is a 10,250-seat multi-purpose
arena
An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectato ...
and conference center at
Xavier University
Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 stud ...
in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...
,
Ohio
Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
. The arena officially opened in 2000 and was constructed through private donations as part of Xavier University's Century Campaign. It is home to the
Xavier University
Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 stud ...
Musketeers
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
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 Summ ...
team
A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal.
As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to infor ...
s. It is named for the uniform company
Cintas.
Facility
In the spring of 2009, Cintas Center was voted the 3rd "Toughest Place to Play" in a poll conducted by
EA Sports
EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network ...
.
Cintas Center hosted the
Atlantic 10 (A10) Women's Basketball Championship in 2007 and 1st & 2nd Round games of the 2010 and 2011
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...
Women's Division I Basketball Championship. Cintas Center also hosted the A10 Women's Volleyball Championship in 2010 and is a perennial site for
OHSAA boys' basketball state tournament games. It has also hosted
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...
preseason games since 2014.
On November 2, 2014, Xavier gave nearby
Mount St. Joseph University free use of the arena for
the school's women's basketball game with
Hiram College
Hiram College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Hiram, Ohio. It was founded in 1850 as the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute by Amos Sutton Hayden and other members of the Disciples of Christ Church. The college is nonsectarian and coe ...
. The game had been rescheduled, with NCAA approval, to allow terminally ill Mount St. Joseph player
Lauren Hill to play in a college game. The game also served as a charity fundraiser for research into
diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, the brain cancer from which Hill was suffering. On April 13, 2015, the arena hosted a public memorial service for Hill following her death three days earlier. Later that year, the two schools launched the Lauren Hill Tipoff Classic, an annual season-opening event featuring both schools' women's teams, at the arena.

Within the main arena are 22 luxury boxes as well as the Joseph Club, a VIP bar overlooking the court. A practice facility, the Kohlhepp Family Auxiliary Gym, is attached to the arena and is used by the athletic teams, as well as being used as additional event space when needed. There are also state-of-the-art weight and training rooms as well as 4 large locker rooms. There is a media room that is used as a work room and for press conferences. The 2014-15 season saw a new design for the basketball floor to include the Cincinnati skyline. The arena saw a multimillion-dollar technology upgrade during the summer of 2010. A new, 10mm centerhung Mitsubishi DiamondVision video board was installed along with 16.5mm LSI/SACO scoring panels, a 360° ring and almost 600' of LED fascia ribbon board. An auxiliary scoreboard was also installed on the north wall of the arena. The luxury suites and Joseph Club were also renovated. Following the 2016 season, the basketball floor was updated to remove the skyline.

As a
concert
A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variet ...
venue Cintas Center can seat as few as 2,000 or as many as 10,000. The arena features of space. It also is used for trade shows, conventions, and corporate meetings, among other events. Cintas Center also hosts upwards of 30 graduations each year.
Xavier Men's Basketball
The main tenant of Cintas Center is the Xavier University Men's basketball team.
As of March 2019 the Musketeers have compiled a 258–41 (.863) record since moving to its on-campus home for the 2000-01 season. Xavier enjoyed a 15–0 mark at home during the 2009–10, its only perfect record for a season at Cintas Center. During the 2017-2018 season, the Musketeers set a Cintas Center record with 17 home victories. Cintas Center continues to be one of the best home-court advantages in the NCAA and was named the #3 Toughest Place to Play on EA Sports' NCAA Basketball '10.
Through the 2018-2019 season, Cintas Center has hosted 3,011,308 fans for Xavier home games and the Musketeers have averaged 10,071 fans (better than 98% capacity) per game during that time. The 2017-2018 season marked the highest average attendance in Cintas Center history with an average 10,475 (over 102% capacity) Musketeer fans at each home game.
Concerts, Performers & Speakers at Cintas Center
*
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
*
Jimmy Fallon
James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an American comedian, television host, actor, and writer. He is known for his work in television as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' and as the host of the late-night talk show ''The Ton ...
*
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism.
Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ...
*
Dave Chappelle
David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for his satirical comedy sketch series '' Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006), which he starred in until quitting in the middle of ...
*
Trey Anastasio
*
Cornel West
*
Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He earned recognition early on through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with ...
*
Guster
Guster is an American alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Founding members Adam Gardner, Ryan Miller, and Brian Rosenworcel began practice sessions while attending Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, and ...
*
Anberlin
*
Chuck D
Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D helped crea ...
*
Paul Rusesabagina
* Sr.
Helen Prejean
Helen Prejean ( ; born April 21, 1939) is a Catholic religious sister and a leading American advocate for the abolition of the death penalty.
She is known for her best-selling book, '' Dead Man Walking'' (1993), based on her experiences with ...
*
Ben Folds
Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and composer, who is the first artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., since May 2017. Folds was ...
*
Andrew Bird
*
O.A.R.
*
The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decade ...
*
Jane Goodall
Dame Jane Morris Goodall (; born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall on 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English primatologist and anthropologist. Seen as the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best kn ...
*
Paula Deen
Paula Ann Hiers Deen (born January 19, 1947) is an American chef, cookbook author, and TV personality. Deen resides in Savannah, Georgia, where she owns and operates The Lady & Sons restaurant and Paula Deen's Creek House with her sons, Jamie ...
*
John Boehner
*
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
*
Demetri Martin
*
Ann Coulter
Ann Hart Coulter (; born December 8, 1961) is an American conservative media pundit, author, syndicated columnist, and lawyer. She became known as a media pundit in the late 1990s, appearing in print and on cable news as an outspoken critic ...
*
fun.
*
Jack's Mannequin
Jack's Mannequin was an American rock band formed in 2004, hailing from Orange County, California. The band originally began as a solo project for Andrew McMahon, the frontman of Something Corporate.
The band was signed to Maverick Records an ...
*
Dane Cook
*
Aaron Feuerstein
*
Jason Mraz
Jason Thomas Mraz (; born June 23, 1977) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He rose to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, ''Waiting for My Rocket to Come'' (2002), which spawned the single "The Remedy (I Won't W ...
*
Sarah Brightman
Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano singer, actress and dancer.
Brightman began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 19 ...
*
The Wiggles
The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. The group are currently composed of Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce and Tsehay Hawkins, as well as supporting members Evie Ferris, John Pearce, ...
*
Dave Ramsey
David Lawrence Ramsey III (born September 3, 1960) is an American personal finance personality, radio show host, author, and businessman. An evangelical Christian, he hosts the nationally syndicated radio program '' The Ramsey Show''. Ramsey ha ...
*
Blessid Union of Souls
Blessid Union of Souls (sometimes abbreviated to Blessid Union or BUOS) is an American alternative rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio, that was formed in 1990 by friends Jeff Pence and Eliot Sloan.
The band's first studio album, ''Home'', had s ...
*
Sean Hannity
Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American talk show host, conservative political commentator, and author. He is the host of '' The Sean Hannity Show'', a nationally syndicated talk radio show, and has also hosted a commenta ...
*
Jim Rome
*
The Wreckers
*
Taking Back Sunday
Taking Back Sunday is an American rock band from Long Island, New York. The band was formed by guitarist Eddie Reyes and bassist Jesse Lacey in 1999. The band's members currently are Adam Lazzara (lead vocals), John Nolan (lead guitar, key ...
* Fr.
John Corapi
John Anthony Corapi (born May 20, 1947), formerly known as Fr. John Corapi, is an inactive Catholic priest of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (S.O.L.T.) in the United States. He was popular in the early 2000s for his regular app ...
*
Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel (, born Eliezer Wiesel ''Eliezer Vizel''; September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored 57 books, written mostly in Fr ...
* Filming location for the 2011 movie
The Ides of March
*
Neon Trees
Neon Trees is an American rock band from Provo, Utah. The band received nationwide exposure in late 2008 when they opened several North American tour dates for the band The Killers. Not long after, the band was signed by Mercury Records. Thei ...
*
Owl City
Owl City is an American electronic music project created in 2007 in Owatonna, Minnesota. It is one of several projects by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young, who created the project while experimenting with music in his pa ...
Schiff Family Conference Center and Duff Banquet Center
The Schiff Family Conference Center has of meeting space spread across 5 conference rooms and 1 executive board room. One floor below is the James & Caroline Duff Banquet Center.
See also
*
List of NCAA Division I basketball arenas
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby uni ...
References
External links
Cintas CenterXavier UniversityGoXavier.com - Home of Xavier Athletics
{{Xavier University
2000 establishments in Ohio
Basketball venues in Ohio
College basketball venues in the United States
College volleyball venues in the United States
Convention centers in Ohio
Sports venues completed in 2000
Sports venues in Cincinnati
Xavier Musketeers basketball venues