Marriott Center

History

The Marriott Center was named in honor of benefactor and hotel tycoon J. Willard Marriott, founder of the Marriott Corporation. When the arena opened in 1971, it passed the University of Minnesota's Williams Arena as the largest college basketball arena in the nation. It was also the largest venue in the nation built for basketball, larger than any NBA (or ABA) arena at that time. It lost both distinctions when the University of Kentucky opened Rupp Arena in 1976 but remained as the largest basketball-specific facility on a U.S. college campus until 1987, when the University of Tennessee opened Thompson–Boling Arena.

Prior to 1971, the Cougars played basketball games at the Smith Fieldhouse, which remains the primary venue for volleyball and gymnastics. The court was replaced in 2003 with a permanent floor.

The Marriott Center has hosted the West Regionals of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament four times (1972, 1977, 1979, 1982), and the Western Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament in 1988.

On February 7, 1993, Cody Judy threatened Howard W. Hunter, president of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), with a supposed bomb in front of a crowd of 15,000–17,000 onlookers in the Marriott Center.

A devotional gathering featuring Gordon B. Hinckley, the LDS Church's president, on October 17, 1995, drew the largest crowd to ever attend an activity at the arena: 25,875 people.

In 1999, the Marriott Center set an NCAA record for highest attendance for a men's volleyball match: 14,156 volleyball enthusiasts watched BYU defeat Long Beach State on February 19, shattering the previous record of 10,225 (held by Hawaii).

Renovations

In April 2012, BYU announced renovations to the Marriott Center. The lower bench seating on the north side was replaced with prime chair seating. A new sound system was installed, and the men's and women's locker rooms were renovated. The changes in the lower seating lowered the Marriott Center’s capacity from 22,700 to 20,951.

The remaining lower bench seating was replaced after the 2015 season, lowering seating capacity to around 19,000. The new renovation also installed new video boards in the arena and added the Marriott Center Annex building, where practice sessions take place for both BYU's men's and women's basketball teams. The Marriott Center Annex was placed between the Marriott Center and the BYU Broadcasting Building.

Seating was updated again in 2022, lowering the capacity to 17,978.

The Marriott Center has the largest seating capacity of any basketball arena in the Big 12 Conference. As of October 2021, it had the eighth largest seating capacity of on-campus basketball arenas in the United States.

References

References

1. "California Man Threatens President Hunter, Fireside Audience With Fake Bomb" by Gail Sinnott and Carri P. Jenkins, ''BYU Magazine'', February 1993, pages 15–16
2. [http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/57824 Daily Universe covers fireside threat on Pres. Hunter] {{webarchive. link. (2010-01-30 , by Alicia Barney, BYU ''Daily Universe'', 8 December 2005)
3. "Y Magazine: For the Record Books",[https://magazine.byu.edu/article/for-the-record-books/]
4. [http://archives.starbulletin.com/1999/02/20/sports/story6.html Honolulu Star-Bulletin Sports: UH falls to BYU]
5. [http://universe.byu.edu/2012/04/13/byu-marriott-center-upgrades-seating/ BYU Marriott Center Upgrades Seating], by [[The Universe (student newspaper). Digital Universe]] ''universe.byu.edu'', 13 April 2012
6. [http://universe.byu.edu/tag/marriott-center-renovations/ Marriott Center renovations], by ''[[The Universe (student newspaper). Digital Universe]]'', 7 July 2015
7. (8 November 2022). "Marriott Center finalizes seating upgrades".
8. "Basketball Facilities". BYU Cougars.
9. (10 September 2021). "What BYU brings to the table for the Big 12 Conference".
10. (12 October 2021). "BYU Basketball: 50th Anniversary Logo For Marriott Center Unveiled".