EagleBank Arena (originally the Patriot Center) is a 10,000-seat arena in the

eastern United States The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital. As of 2011, the Eastern ...

, on the campus of

George Mason University George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...

in Fairfax,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, a suburb southwest of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Opened in 1985, it is the home of Patriot men's & women's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and is a venue for concerts and family shows, with of space. EagleBank Arena has attracted 9.6 million people to over 2,958 events to GMU, which has over 30,000 students. In 2010, the EagleBank Arena was ranked seventh nationwide and twelfth worldwide according to ticket sales for venues with capacities between 10,001 and 15,000 by trade publication ''Venues Today''. Also in 2010, the Patriot Center was ranked No. 8 nationwide and No. 18 worldwide according to top grossing venues with a capacity between 10,001 and 15,000 by ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine. In July 2015, it was renamed the EagleBank Arena. The arena is owned and operated by

Monumental Sports & Entertainment Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE) is an American sports management, sports and venue management company founded by Ted Leonsis in June 2010. Monumental owns and operates the NHL team Washington Capitals, the NBA team Washington Wizards, t ...

History

Financing for the construction of the Patriot Center was part of GMU's revenue bond package approved by the Virginia General Assembly in 1982. It replaced a 3,000-seat gymnasium. The first use of the Patriot Center was GMU's graduation ceremonies in May 1985. The official opening of the arena was five months later on October 4, when the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

hosted the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

in an

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 game, which was the professional debut of future

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center

Patrick Ewing Patrick Aloysius Ewing Sr. (born August 5, 1962) is a Jamaican-American basketball coach and former professional player who is a basketball ambassador for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he played most o ...

, the first overall selection of the

1985 NBA draft The 1985–86 NBA season, 1985 NBA draft took place on June 18, 1985. It was also the first NBA draft of the "NBA draft lottery, lottery" era. It was also around this time where the league decreased the amount of rounds the draft spent, with the ...

out of nearby

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

. The

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

men's volleyball tournament was held at the Patriot Center in May

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

. It hosted its first

Colonial Athletic Association The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly the ECAC South Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA' ...

(CAA) men's basketball tournament in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

and its first women's tournament in 2005. The Patriots have amassed an overall record of at the Patriot Center and are also in the Patriot Center against CAA opponents. During the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, GMU amassed a perfect 13–0 home record, which was the second time that occurred in three seasons. The arena underwent a $10 million renovation, completed in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, that added new concession stands, hospitality area, locker rooms and bathrooms, and an improved main concourse.

Management history

From its opening, the Patriot Center was managed by

Abe Pollin Abraham J. Pollin (December 3, 1923 – November 24, 2009) was a real estate developer, professional sports team owner, and philanthropist in the Washington metropolitan area. He owned the Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League (N ...

's Washington Sports, later renamed to Washington Sports & Entertainment. In May 1999, Pollin sold 40% of Washington Sports to a partnership led by

Ted Leonsis Theodore John Leonsis (born January 8, 1957) is an American businessman. He is a former senior executive with America Online (AOL) and the founder, chairman, and CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns the NHL's Washington Capitals, ...

as part of a $200 million deal that also saw Leonsis purchase the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...

hockey team. Leonsis' group increased their ownership of Washington Sports to 44% when they bought out minority owner Arnold Heft in January 2000. Following Pollin's death in 2009, Leonsis purchased the rest of WSE from Pollin's heirs in 2010, and consolidated Washington Sports & Entertainment with his own Lincoln Holdings company to form

. Management of the Patriot Center passed to this successor company.

Renovations and recent events

On February 4,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, GMU men's basketball debuted a new center court scoreboard and set an attendance record against

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (ODU) is a Public university, public research university in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Established in 1930 as the two-year Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary, it began by educating people with fewer ...

on homecoming, which then was reached again against

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public university, public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1908, the institution was renamed in 1938 in honor of the fourth president of the ...

; both games were won by double digits. The Patriot Center is the graduation venue for many students of nearby

Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several County (United States), counties and independent city (United States), independent cities in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. ...

high schools in addition to hosting Commencement for

Northern Virginia Community College Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC and, informally, NOVA) is a public community college with six campuses and four centers in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. It is the third-largest multi-campus community college in t ...

. The Patriot Center hosted the sold-out UFC Fight Night: Maynard vs. Diaz on January 11, 2010. That was the first time that the

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

had staged an event in the state of Virginia. The arena also hosted a couple of games for the 2018 JBA season, despite not having a team representing the state of Virginia. Due to renovations at Capital One Arena the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team was ...

played Game 3 of the

2018 WNBA Finals The 2018 WNBA Finals, officially the WNBA Finals 2018 presented by YouTube TV for sponsorship reasons, was the best-of-five championship series for the 2018 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). It featured the top-seede ...

at EagleBank Arena. The

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team was founded by Gi ...

won and it was the final game of the

2018 WNBA season The 2018 WNBA season was the 22nd season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Minnesota Lynx are the defending champions. The regular season began on May 18, with the Phoenix Mercury hosting the Dallas Wings. The season ende ...

Records

* Men's Basketball Game Attendance – 9,900 on February 4, 2012, vs

* Concert Attendance –

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, drummer Jon Fishman, and keyboardist Page McConnell, all of whom perform vocals, with Anastasio being the ...

– 10,356 * Grossing Concert – RBD Soy Rebelde - in 2023, $1.9 million * Grossing Family Show – Disney On Ice in 2022, $2.46 million * Most Points Scored in Arena (Basketball) – 53 by Bobby Aguirre of

Macalester College Macalester College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate institution with an enrollment of 2,142 students in the fall of 2023. The college ha ...

in 1995

References

External links