The Kohl Center is a multi-purpose arena located at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

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. The arena opened in 1998 and is the home of the university's men's

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and

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

teams, and the women's basketball team. The Kohl Center has the fourth largest seating capacity in the

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with 17,287 for basketball and 15,539 for hockey. It is the second largest indoor venue in

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after Fiserv Forum in

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and is located at the intersection of West Dayton and North Frances Streets. The arena is named after former United States Senator, former

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owner, and alumnus Herb Kohl, who donated $25 million of his Kohl's fortune to the project.

Naming

In 1995 Herb Kohl donated $25 million to support the construction of the yet-unnamed arena. At the time it was the largest single donation in University of Wisconsin System history. Because of the donor's first name, it is sometimes locally referred to as the "Herb Garden". Former

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

basketball player Albert Nicholas and his wife donated $10 million toward the project, with the adjoining practice pavilion named the Nicholas-Johnson Pavilion and Plaza; the basketball floor itself was renamed in his honor after he died in 2017. Jack F. Kellner and his sons donated an additional $2.5 million to the project. Wisconsin-based Hammes Company developed the arena for UW–Madison in 1993. The Boldt Company was the project's general contractor. The Kohl Center boasts the nation's highest attendance in men's and women's college hockey.

Student section

Originally known as "Mr. Bennett's Neighborhood" (for then-coach Dick Bennett) the student section of the Kohl Center adopted the name "Grateful Red" in 2002. The name was a reference to the rock group, the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

, and members wore tie-dyed T-shirts as their pseudo-uniforms. ''

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'' ranked the section the #1 college basketball student section in February 2007. In 2018, the university renamed all student sections ”AreaRED”. The student section holds 2,100 students and extends from the floor to the roof of the Kohl Center, a span of three decks. Under former coach Bo Ryan, the men's basketball team achieved a record of 133–10 at home and held a 24-game home winning streak through the 2006–07 season.

Court Storming Games

The Kohl Center has hosted a number of big games where a Badger victory led to fans storming the court: *November 15, 2024: Wisconsin 103, (9) Arizona 88 *December 2, 2023: Wisconsin 75, (3) Marquette 64 *March 1, 2022: (10) Wisconsin 70, (8) Purdue 67 *January 19, 2019: Wisconsin 64, (2) Michigan 54 *December 2, 2009: Wisconsin 73, (6) Duke 69 *March 5, 2003: (24) Wisconsin 60, (14) Illinois 59 *February 27, 2002: Wisconsin 74, Michigan 54 *March 5, 2000: Wisconsin 56, (14) Indiana 53

History

Prior to the Kohl Center, the basketball teams played at the Wisconsin Field House, while ice hockey was played at the Dane County Coliseum. The hockey teams still may play there if there is an event conflict, because basketball has scheduling priority. Originally, the overhead

scoreboard A scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score (sport), score in a game. Most levels of sport from high school and above use at least one scoreboard for keeping score, measuring time, and displaying statistics. Scoreboards i ...

from the UW Field House was installed in the Kohl Center because the cost of a new scoreboard unit wasn't included in the figure for the new arena. The old scoreboard remained in the Kohl Center for seven years, and after the money was raised, a new and modern circular unit was bought and installed before the 2004–2005 winter sports season. At the same time a LED ribbon board was installed, which surrounds the arena below the second balcony, displaying advertising, messages, and scores. The design of the Kohl Center is modeled somewhat after that of the Field House with cantilevered balconies instead of a setback style. This was done to intimidate opponents and bring all fans close to the action. A bar and restaurant was added to the second level in 2005. The area is for pre-game gatherings of boosters who have made donations to the athletic department. In 2006 a second student-athlete academic center was built on the lower level of the Kohl Center to provide student athletes easier access to academic services. Prior to the 2006

men'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 ...

season, the UW Athletic Department sold 48 courtside seats, at a price of $10,000 to $12,500 each. The available seats sold out, and a waiting list was created for the sale of seats that become available in the future. Space for the seats was created by eliminating part of the courtside seating for media. The addition of these seats has increased maximum capacity for men's basketball from 17,142 to 17,190. Prior to the 2008–2009 season some of the seating in the upper deck was also reconfigured, adding more seating to the arena to bring capacity for men's basketball to 17,230. The athletic department's master plan included adding a practice rink for ice hockey after construction of the Kohl Center. One configuration under consideration placed the rink next to the Nicholas Johnson Pavilion, where it would serve as an alternative practice facility for the men's hockey team and a game and practice facility for the women's hockey team. This was realized as LaBahn Arena, which opened in 2012. The front entrance lobby features a wall sculpture from glass sculptor Dale Chihuly called "Mendota Wall".

Other events

Other events are held at the Kohl Center, including commencement ceremonies for the UW, concerts, ice skating shows, career fairs, political gatherings, and conventions. The Kohl Center is the site of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) high school Boys' basketball and individual wrestling championships. It has also hosted an NCAA women's

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 ...

national championship (Dec. 17–19, 1998), an NCAA men's basketball regional championship (March 22–24, 2002), and an NCAA men's hockey regional championship (March 28–30, 2008). The Kohl Center also hosts the annual Varsity Band Spring Concert, an event that began in March 1975 and has grown into a three-night affair with professional staging, lighting, sound and pyrotechnics. The concert averages 25,000 attendees every year. On February 12, 2008, Democratic presidential candidate

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

spoke before a crowd of over 17,000 prior to the Wisconsin primary. The 2008 Jeopardy! College Championship was taped on May 5 May 16 at the Kohl Center. The Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2011 Science Olympiad National Tournament were held at the Kohl Center on May 20 and 21, 2011. On October 8, 2016, the Milwaukee Bucks hosted a preseason game vs. the Dallas Mavericks at the Kohl Center. On October 30, 2017,

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (; born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ and record producer. Originally a Miami-based radio personality, Khaled has since become known for enlisting high-profile music industry ar ...

hosted a concert at the Kohl Center after UW Student Sam Jeschke handed out 43,000 bottles of Mentos Gum. Metallica kicked off their North American WorldWired Arena Tour on September 2, 2018, at the Kohl Center.

References

External links

Kohl CenterUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison Athletic Department Collection
{{Authority control College ice hockey venues in Wisconsin Wisconsin Badgers basketball venues Buildings and structures in Madison, Wisconsin Tourist attractions in Madison, Wisconsin Sports venues completed in 1998 1998 establishments in Wisconsin