University of California, Santa Barbara Events Center
| The Thunderdome | |
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| Full name | UC Santa Barbara Events Center |
|---|---|
| Former names | Campus Events Center |
| Location | Santa Barbara, California |
| Coordinates | 34°24′49.65″N 119°51′4.13″W / 34.4137917°N 119.8511472°WCoordinates: 34°24′49.65″N 119°51′4.13″W / 34.4137917°N 119.8511472°W |
| Owner | University of California, Santa Barbara |
| Executive suites | None |
| Capacity | 5,600 (for basketball) 5,814 (maximum) |
| Record attendance | 6,512 on December 18, 1991 for Men's Basketball vs. Ohio State |
| Scoreboard | Yes |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1979 |
| Tenants | |
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UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball UC Santa Barbara Gauchos women's basketball UC Santa Barbara Gauchos women's volleyball |
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UC Santa Barbara Events Center, previously known as the Campus Events Center, also known as The Thunderdome, is a 5,600-seat, indoor multi-purpose stadium on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara, California.
The Thunderdome was built in 1979, originally under the name of Campus Events Center. Along with Harder Stadium, it has since become one of the most patronized venues at UC Santa Barbara. After a naming contest and vote among students and faculty (which included some tongue in cheek nominations such as "Yankee Stadium", the Jerry Brown Arena, the Corrugated Fortress), it was eventually given the generic name "Campus Events Center". Eventually, the name was unofficially shorted to the "ECen" (much like UCSB's University Center being called the "UCen").
For basketball, the stadium seats 5,600. Other configurations result in differing capacities, most notably 5,814 as a maximum (for boxing or wrestling) or 3,584 to 4,848 for concerts. Currently, the 5,600 seat stadium is the third largest arena in the Big West Conference, behind the 10,200-seat Stan Sheriff Center at the University of Hawaii and the 8,000-seat UC Davis Pavilion. The floor of the Thunderdome was named by Bleacher Report as the 11th best court design in college basketball.
At first, crowds were small, but with the hiring of Jerry Pimm in 1983, the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball program began to experience greater success. As the size of crowds began to increase (often exceeding the stated capacity), the Events Center gained a reputation as one of the loudest and most hostile venues in college basketball, creating significant problems for opposing teams.
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