The Paul J. Meyer Arena, which is part of the Ferrell Center, is an

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 ...

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and Interstate 35, I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin, Texas, Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 popul ...

. Built in 1988 and located adjacent to the

Brazos River The Brazos River ( , ), called the ''Río de los Brazos de Dios'' (translated as "The River of the Arms of God") by early Spanish explorers, is the 14th-longest river in the United States at from its headwater source at the head of Blackwater ...

, it is home to the

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

Bears volleyball, acrobatics, and tumbling teams. It is named for Charles R. Ferrell, a Baylor student and legacy who died in 1967, and whose family's estate was a major benefactor of the arena. The building replaced the Heart O' Texas Coliseum as the school's primary indoor athletic facility. The men's and women's basketball teams relocated to the newly-constructed Foster Pavilion in 2024.

Dimensions and layout

The brick and concrete building is capped by a round, gold-plated dome across and above the playing surface at its apex. It contains 41 rows of seats, seven of which can be retracted for other events. The dome weighs approximately 175 tons and is constructed of structural aluminum beams covered with anodized gold panels with 4" of vinyl faced insulation on the back (in) side on the panel. The dome is fastened together with Huck fasteners, which are manufactured in Waco. Temcor is the manufacturer of the roof. The surface area of aluminum panels is approximately . During erection, the dome was suspended by 32 cables on a 220' tall tower. The tower was stabilized during erection with 7 guy cables. Concrete poured to date . Structural steel is approximately 500 tons. General description of construction: Drilled piers with concrete support beams for seating bowl. Slab on grade, slabs and structural pan deck slab (over sub-concourse). Precast concrete construction for seating bowl. Exterior facade is architectural precast with white concrete and 5/8" thick brickettes cast into the panels. The panels are attached to a steel structure. Within the center is the Paul J. Meyer Arena which seats 10,284 for basketball, 6,000 for volleyball, 8,000 for concerts, and can seat up to 1,000 for banquets. During the summer of 2010, the Ferrell Center received a brand new, HD center-hung scoreboard. This consists of 4 new HD video screens, and 2 LED 360 degree rings on top and bottom, supplying fans with stats, replays, and more. Along the 4 corners, there are 4 side panels, also providing additional stats. With the addition of the new basketball playing floor the Bears and Lady Bears have the opportunity to be on the hardwood more days out of the year with less conversions time between events and games or practice times. In addition a basketball practice facility was constructed in 2006 on the north west side of the building. It contains 2 full practice courts, a strength and conditioning center, and new offices for the men and women's basketball staff.

Notable events

The inaugural event held in the area was a political rally for then US president

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

on September 22, 1988. Through the years, the arena has hosted many famous acts on its stage including:

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait has sold over 120 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He holds ...

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American Country music, country singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him his immense popularity, particularly in the United States, ...

Keith Urban Keith Lionel Urban ( né Urbahn; 26 October 1967) is an Australian and American country singer, songwriter and guitarist. Recognised with four Grammy Awards, he has also received 15 Academy of Country Music Awards, including the Jim Reeves Int ...

, Hootie and the Blowfish,

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling musicians of all time. He has written and ...

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

Steven Curtis Chapman Steven Curtis Chapman (born November 21, 1962) is an American contemporary Christian music singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, author, and social activist. Chapman began his career in the late 1980s as a songwriter and performer of cont ...

Michael W. Smith Michael Whitaker Smith (born October 7, 1957) is an American musician who has charted in both contemporary Christian music, contemporary Christian and mainstream charts. His biggest success in mainstream music was in 1991 when "Place in This Worl ...

Amy Grant Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She began her music career in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the mid-1980s. Grant has been referred to as "Honorific ...

, the

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 ...

, and many more. Many world leaders have also spent time on the stage including

Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; – ) was an Americans, American diplomat, and army officer who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th National Security ...

, Archbishop

Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop ...

, and former president

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and first lady

Barbara Bush Barbara Bush (; June 8, 1925 – April 17, 2018) was the first lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, as the wife of the 41st president of the United States, George H. W. Bush. She was previously second lady of the United States fr ...

, all part of the President's Forum Lecture Series. Fans have also seen the best of college basketball on the court including major upsets over former conference foe

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

in the early 1990s and more recently with the Bears defeating #4-ranked

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

in 2001, and the Lady Bears knocking off top-ten ranked

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...

the same year. Since the start of the 2010–11 season through the end of the 2019–20 season, the Men's team is a combined 128–34 at home while the Women's team is a combined 167–3 in the same span, making the Ferrell Center one of the toughest places to play in the

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

. The Baylor and Waco communities have made the Ferrell Center a tough place to play basketball with record crowds in attendance since the arrival of

Kim Mulkey Kimberly Duane Mulkey (born May 17, 1962) is an American college basketball coach and former player. Since 2021, she has been the head coach for Louisiana State University's LSU Tigers women's basketball, women's basketball team. A Pan-American ...

, including a facility record crowd of 10,550 while winning the 2005 women's

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

regular season title. Following the record crowd, Mulkey led the Lady Bears to a first ever

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. ...

Women's National Championship, marking the first national championship for the Big 12 in women's basketball. The arena also plays home to Baylor Volleyball. The last game of the Men's Basketball Team at the Ferrell Center was a 107–48 Blowout against Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils on December 22, 2023.

References

External links

Ferrell Center Official Website

{{Baylor Lady Bears basketball navbox Baylor Bears basketball venues Sports venues in Waco, Texas Volleyball venues in Texas 1988 establishments in Texas Sports venues completed in 1988 College volleyball venues in the United States

Dimensions and layout

Notable events

See also

References

External links