Heritage Bank Center

Heritage Bank Center is an indoor arena located in downtown Cincinnati, next to the Great American Ball Park. It was completed in September 1975 and named Riverfront Coliseum because of its placement next to Riverfront Stadium. In 1997, the facility became known as The Crown, and in 1999, it changed its name again to Firstar Center after Firstar Bank assumed naming rights. In 2002, following Firstar's merger with U.S. Bank, the arena took on the name U.S. Bank Arena and kept that name until 2019.

Heritage Bank Center
Heritage Bank Center is located in Ohio
Heritage Bank Center
Heritage Bank Center
Location in Ohio
Heritage Bank Center is located in the United States
Heritage Bank Center
Heritage Bank Center
Location in the United States
Former namesRiverfront Coliseum (1975–1997)
The Crown (1997–1999)
Firstar Center (1999–2002)
U.S. Bank Arena (2002–2019)
Address100 Broadway Street
LocationCincinnati, Ohio
Coordinates39°5′52″N 84°30′16″W
OwnerNederlander Entertainment and Anschutz Entertainment Group
OperatorNederlander Entertainment
CapacityConcert: 17,556
Basketball: 17,000
Ice hockey: 14,453
Construction
Broke groundNovember 12, 1973[1]
OpenedSeptember 9, 1975
Construction cost$20 million[2]
($109 million in 2022 dollars[3])
ArchitectPattee Architects, Inc.[4]
Structural engineerClark Engineering Corporation[4]
General contractorUniversal Contracting Corp.[4]
Tenants
Cincinnati Stingers (WHA) (1975–1979)
Cincinnati Bearcats (NCAA) (1976–1987)
Cincinnati Kids (MISL) (1978–1979)
Cincinnati Tigers (CHL) (1981–1982)
Cincinnati Rockers (AFL) (1992–1993)
Cincinnati Silverbacks (NPSL) (1997–1998)
Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL) (1997–2004, 2006–present)
Cincinnati Stuff (IBL) (1999–2001)
Cincinnati Swarm (AF2) (2003)
Cincinnati Marshals (NIFL) (2005–2006)
Cincinnati Jungle Kats (AF2) (2007)

The arena seats 17,556 people and is the largest indoor arena in the Greater Cincinnati region with 346,100 square feet (32,150 m2) of space. The arena underwent a $14 million renovation project in 1997. The current main tenant is the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL.

History

The arena was the home of the Cincinnati Stingers of the World Hockey Association from 1975 to 1979. Since then, the arena has hosted two minor league hockey teams and various concerts, political rallies, tennis tournaments, figure skating, professional wrestling, traveling circus and rodeo shows, and other events. The facility's longest-serving tenant was the Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball program of the University of Cincinnati, who used the arena from its construction until 1987, when the team moved to Cincinnati Gardens and eventually to the on-campus Fifth Third Arena.

Until the opening of Fifth Third Arena at the University of Cincinnati and BB&T Arena at Northern Kentucky University, commencement ceremonies for both schools were held at Heritage Bank Center. On occasion, there have been local pushes for the attraction of another major sports franchise to occupy the arena, possibly a National Basketball Association (NBA) or National Hockey League (NHL) franchise.[5] The Cincinnati Royals moved to Kansas City – Omaha in 1972, and were the last NBA team to call Cincinnati home. The NBA Cleveland Cavaliers have played preseason games at Heritage Bank Center.[6]

In August 2019, it was announced that U.S. Bank would not be renewing its naming rights sponsorship of the arena, which had been in effect since 2002.[7] Kentucky-based Heritage Bank assumed naming rights of the arena on November 4, 2019.[8]

Owners

Renovations

The arena was renovated in 1997 as part of the facility's purchase that year by a group headed by Doug Kirchhofer, owner of the Cincinnati Cyclones. The renovation cost $14 million and included new seating, improved concourses and restrooms, expanded concession areas, and a new center-hanging video board. As part of the renovation, the building was renamed "The Crown" and the Cyclones, who then played in the International Hockey League, moved from the Cincinnati Gardens.[13][14]

A $200 million renovation was proposed in 2015 by arena owners Nederlander Entertainment and AEG Facilities. The renovations would include both upgrades to the seating and expansion to increase capacity to 18,500 seats, additional luxury suites and other premium seating, a new exterior facade, new video boards, and a renovation of the exterior concourse.[15] The push for extensive renovations and upgrades came in 2014 after the city ran a bid for the 2016 Republican National Convention, which was unsuccessful due to the lack of adequate hotel rooms and infrastructure in the proximity of the Arena.[16][17]

In 2017, Nederlander Entertainment announced its intention to tear down and replace the arena if a deal could be made with taxpayers, citing inadequate space and dated '70s aesthetics.[18] This plan came after the Arena was awarded to be a site for the 2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, contingent upon updates to the venue. However, after little progress was made the NCAA decided in late 2019 to move the site of the games to Indianapolis.[19]

Sporting events

Basketball

The Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association played 14 games at the newly opened arena for their 1975–1976 season before the team folded due to the ABA–NBA merger following the season.[20]

Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball utilized Riverfront Coliseum as their home court from 1976 to 1987. During the Bearcats' tenancy the venue hosted the 1978 and 1983 Metro Conference men's basketball tournament.

Additional conference tournaments hosted here was the finals of the 1981 and the entire 1992 Midwestern Collegiate Conference men's basketball tournament as well as the 2005 and 2006 Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament. In these instances, Xavier served as the host for the conference tournaments.

The 2002 and 2004 Conference USA men's basketball tournament were also hosted at the venue, in these instances with Cincinnati serving as the host for the conference tournaments.

The arena was the site of the Regional of the 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and 1987 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, as well as a first and second round site for the 1988 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and the 1992 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. The arena was also host to the 1997 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament Final Four.

In the aftermath of the 2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl, Cincinnati and Xavier agreed to move the Crosstown Shootout to the arena for the next two seasons. After the 2013 game, the Shootout returned to being played on campus.

Regular season college basketball games

This table does not include regular season games played by Cincinnati, when the team utilized Riverfront Coliseum as their home court from 1976 to 1987.

List of college basketball games at the arena
DateHome TeamOpponentScoreAttendance
January 17, 1980 Xavier Marquette 62–76 --
February 20, 1980 Xavier No. 10 Notre Dame 72–85 --
December 13, 1980 Xavier Miami (OH) 73–74 --
January 10, 1981 Xavier Dayton 72–74 3,602
January 26, 1981 Xavier Marquette 59–78 --
January 28, 1981 Xavier Oral Roberts 73–69 --
February 14, 1981 Xavier Loyola 90–89 --
December 30, 1981 Xavier Texas 71–97 --
January 20, 1982 Xavier Marquette 50–63 --
January 15, 1983 Xavier Evansville 85–65 --
February 5, 1983 Xavier Saint Louis 60–79 --
February 19, 1983 Xavier Detroit 69–61 --
November 22, 1985 Miami (OH) Louisville 65–81 --
November 22, 1985 Dayton Tulsa 60–63OT 10,416
November 24, 1985 Louisville Tulsa 80–74 --
November 18, 1988 Xavier No. 4 Louisville 85–83 --
December 23, 1991 Kentucky Ohio 73–63 15,390
February 8, 1992 Xavier Louisville 73–86 --
December 17, 1994 No. 6 Kentucky Texas Tech 83–68 17,153
January 16, 1997 No. 14 Xavier Tulane 85–87 --
January 16, 1997 No. 4 Cincinnati Temple 55–70 --
January 22, 1997 No. 3 Kentucky Vanderbilt 58–46 17,121
November 23, 1998 Kentucky Wright State 97–75 16,845
December 5, 1998 No. 23 Xavier No. 14 Purdue 57–71 --
November 29, 1999 Kentucky Dayton 66–68 17,232
November 21, 2000 Kentucky Jacksonville State 91–48 10,140
November 28, 2001 No. 13 Kentucky Kent State 82–68 10,352
December 28, 2002 Miami (OH) Cincinnati 66–54 14,276
January 4, 2003 No. 20 Kentucky Ohio 83–75 14,506
December 1, 2003 No. 10 Kentucky Marshall 89–76 13,913
December 27, 2003 No. 14 Cincinnati Miami (OH) 83–63 14,873
November 23, 2004 No. 8 Kentucky Ball State 73–53 15,563
December 27, 2004 No. 22 Cincinnati Miami (OH) 77–53 15,486
December 28, 2005 Cincinnati Miami (OH) 77–65 11,786
December 30, 2005 No. 19 Kentucky Ohio 71–63 16,043
November 24, 2006 Dayton Louisville 68–64 8,250
December 27, 2006 Cincinnati Miami (OH) 60–52 9,256
December 29, 2006 Xavier Illinois 65–59 13,256
January 3, 2007 Xavier Kansas State 76–66 --
December 29, 2007 Cincinnati Miami (OH) 56–50 --
December 31, 2007 Xavier Kansas State 103–77 5,233
December 18, 2008 Cincinnati Mississippi State 75–63 --
December 18, 2008 No. 9 Louisville Ole Miss 77–68 5,922
February 4, 2009 Cincinnati Notre Dame 93–83 7,692
December 10, 2009 No. 19 Cincinnati Miami (OH) 63–59 6,280
November 27, 2010 Cincinnati Dayton 68–34 6,016
December 29, 2011 Cincinnati Oklahoma 56–55 4,439
December 19, 2012 No. 11 Cincinnati Xavier 60–45 14,528
December 14, 2013 Xavier Cincinnati 64–47 10,250

Source[21][22][23][24][25][26]

Hockey
Cincinnati Cyclones vs. Evansville IceMen on March 30, 2013

The first tenant of the arena was the Cincinnati Stingers franchise, which existed from 1975 to 1979 as an expansion team of the World Hockey Association. Despite moderate success, the Stingers did not survive the NHL–WHA merger in 1979 and the team ceased operations. A handful of minor league hockey franchises have called the arena home, with the most successful and longest standing being the Cincinnati Cyclones. As of 2020, the Cyclones are the only active tenant of the venue.

The arena has played host to a handful of college hockey events, including the 1996 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament Frozen Four, which was won by Michigan. The site also hosted the regional games for the 2014, 2016, and 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. In each instance, Miami (OH) served as the host for the regional games.

Concerts

The first entertainment event (opening night) to be staged at the facility was a rock concert by The Allman Brothers Band and special guest Muddy Waters on the Win, Lose Or Draw Tour on September 9, 1975, attended by 16,721 persons.[27][28]

On June 25, 1977, Elvis Presley gave his second-to-last concert in the Riverfront Coliseum; 17,140 persons attended the concert.

In 1979, The Bee Gees played two sold-out shows there during their Spirits Having Flown Tour.

On March 28, 2010, then country star Taylor Swift performed a sold out show in this venue during her Fearless Tour.

On October 22, 2019, musical duo Twenty One Pilots performed as part of their Bandito Fall Tour 2019.[29]

On October 24, 2019, Canadian singer Celine Dion performed as part of her Courage World Tour. She had performed there previously when the facility was named "The Crown" as part of her Let's Talk About Love Tour on 9/19/1998. [30]

Other shows there have included The Eagles, Elton John, Gospel performing artist Ron Kenoly and several performances of Handel's Messiah.

1979 The Who concert deaths
Main article: The Who concert disaster

On December 3, 1979, 11 teenagers and young adults were killed by compressive asphyxia and 26 other people were injured in a rush for seating at the opening of a sold-out rock concert by the English rock band The Who.[31][32][33][34][35][36] On that evening, there were a total of 18,348 ticketed fans attending, which included 14,770 in general admission seats. The concert was using festival seating, where seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis.[37] When the waiting fans outside the Coliseum heard the band performing a late sound check, they thought that the concert was beginning and tried to rush into the still-closed doors. Some at the front of the crowd were either trampled or squeezed to death standing up as those pushing from behind were unaware that the doors were still closed. Only a few doors were in operation that night, and there are reports that management did not open more doors due to union restrictions and the concern of people gate-crashing the ticket turnstiles.[38][39]

As a result, the remaining concerts of 1979, Blue Öyster Cult on December 14 and Aerosmith on December 21, were canceled[40] and concert venues across North America switched to reserved seating or changed their rules about festival seating. Cincinnati immediately outlawed festival seating at concerts. After establishment of a crowd control task force by Cincinnati mayor Ken Blackwell, the first concert held at the facility after the tragedy was ZZ Top with the Rockets on March 21, 1980, on ZZ Top's Expect No Quarter Tour.[41]

On August 4, 2004, the Cincinnati City Council unanimously overturned the ban because it placed the city at a disadvantage for booking concerts.[42] Many music acts prefer festival seating because it can allow the most enthusiastic fans to get near the stage and generate excitement for the rest of the crowd. The city had previously made a one-time exception to the ban, allowing festival seating for a Bruce Springsteen concert on November 12, 2002. Cincinnati was, for a time, the only city in the United States to outlaw festival seating altogether.

Other events

In 1987, the facility hosted the World Figure Skating Championships.

The arena hosted two major professional wrestling pay-per-view events: WCW's Souled Out in 2000 and WWE's Cyber Sunday in 2006.

UFC 77 was held at the arena on October 20, 2007, and was headlined by local fighter Rich Franklin. The UFC returned to the arena for the second time on May 10, 2014, with UFC Fight Night: Brown vs. Silva. The Strikeforce World Grand Prix: Barnett vs. Kharitonov event was held at the arena on September 10, 2011.[43]

The arena hosted the opening and closing ceremonies to the 2012 World Choir Games that were held in Cincinnati.[44][45]

In 2016, the arena hosted the Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions.[46]

On August 1, 2019, the arena was the location of a rally held by then-President Donald Trump.[47]

See also
  • WKRP in Cincinnati February 11, 1980, episode "In Concert"

References
  1. "Cincinnati Begins Huge Sports Coliseum". Middlesboro Daily News. November 13, 1973.
  2. Frutig, Judith (August 10, 1975). "Cincinnati: One of America's 'Best-Kept Secrets'". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
  3. 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  4. "U.S. Bank Arena". Emporis.com. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
  5. Jefferson, Don (June 6, 2007). "CityBeat Letters: Any Hope for NBA in Cincinnati?". CityBeat. Retrieved November 27, 2008.
  6. "Cavaliers Announce 2013–14 Preseason Schedule". National Basketball Association. July 9, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  7. Watkins, Steve (August 15, 2019). "U.S. Bank Arena is getting a new name". Cincinnati Business Courier. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  8. Cincinnati Riverfront Venue U.S. Bank Arena Has A New Name
  9. "Local – The Enquirer – September 28, 1997". enquirer.com. September 28, 1997. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
  10. "Arena needs financial help". enquirer.com. September 14, 2000. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
  11. "Firstar Center sold to ex-owner". enquirer.com. June 16, 2001. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
  12. "AEG, Nederlander partner to own U.S. Bank Arena, Cyclones". The Business Journals. Cincinnati Business Courier. March 24, 2011. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
  13. Hobson, Geoff (February 11, 1997). "Cyclones group buys Coliseum". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  14. May, Lucy (May 18, 1997). "Banking on the river". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  15. Hussein, Fatima; Tweh, Bowdeya (July 28, 2015). "Renderings of proposed U.S. Bank renovations". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  16. Coolidge, Sharon; Shesgreen, Deirdre (May 23, 2014). "U.S. Bank Arena blamed for losing convention". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  17. "A New Vision". USBankArena.com. July 28, 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  18. "US Bank Arena may be torn down, rebuilt but not without help from tax payers". April 19, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
  19. Watkins, Steve (December 11, 2019). "Here's why NCAA tournament games won't be played in Cincinnati after all". bizjournals.com. Cincinnati Business Courier. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  20. "Kentucky Colonels – Sports Ecyclopedia".
  21. "Kentucky's Riverfront Coliseum Record".
  22. "2019-20 Cincinnati Men's Basketball Media Guide". issuu.com. UC Athletics. October 17, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  23. "2018-19 Xavier Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). amazonaws.com. Xavier Athletics. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  24. "2018-19 Dayton Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). amazonaws.com. Dayton Athletics. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  25. "2017-18 Louisville Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). amazonaws.com. Louisville Athletics. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  26. "2020-21 Miami Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). amazonaws.com. Miami Redhawks Athletics. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  27. "Opening Night at Riverfront Coliseum". The Cincinnati Enquirer. September 10, 1975. p. A1.
  28. "In It's [sic] Debut, Coliseum Turns into Huge Smoke-Filled Room". The Cincinnati Enquirer. September 10, 1975. p. B9.
  29. "Twenty Øne Piløts -Banditø Tour".
  30. "In Concert | CelineDion.com".
  31. "Stampede Kills 11 Persons at Coliseum Rock Concert". The Cincinnati Enquirer. December 4, 1979. p. A1.
  32. "Too Few Doors, Angry Crowd; 11 Die in Coliseum Stampede". The Cincinnati Post. December 4, 1979. p. 1.
  33. "Rock & Roll Tragedy – Why Eleven Died in Cincinnati". Rolling Stone. No. 309. January 24, 1980. p. 1.
  34. "National Affairs – Cincinnati Stampede". Newsweek. December 17, 1979. pp. 52–53.
  35. "The Stampede to Tragedy". Time. December 17, 1979. pp. 88–89.
  36. "The Who And Pete Townshend Face A Tour And Face Their Fears After Cincinnati". People. 13 (19): 97–102. May 12, 1980.
  37. "General Admission 'A Way of Life'". The Cincinnati Enquirer. December 5, 1979. p. B3.
  38. Chertkoff, JM; Kushigian, RH (1999). Don't Panic: The Psychology of Emergency Egress and Ingress. Praeger. pp. 79–83. ISBN 0-275-96268-7.
  39. Johnson, Norris R. (October 1987). "Panic at 'The Who Concert Stampede': An Empirical Assessment". Social Problems. 34 (4): 362–373. doi:10.1525/sp.1987.34.4.03a00040.
  40. "Concert Promoters Cancel Two Events Set For December". The Cincinnati Enquirer. December 5, 1979. p. B1.
  41. "Concert Crackdown: 130 Arrested; Security Strong, Crowd Happy at Rock's Return". The Cincinnati Post. March 22, 1980. p. 1A.
  42. Kemme, Steve (August 5, 2004). "Festival Seating Unanimously OK'd – Council Reassured Who Tragedy Won't Be Repeated". The Cincinnati Enquirer. pp. C1, 8. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  43. "Barnett vs. Kharitonov". Strikeforce. September 10, 2011. Retrieved February 13, 2012.
  44. Gelfand, Janelle (July 4, 2012). "City Shines in Welcoming World Choir Games". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Archived from the original on July 11, 2012. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  45. Gelfand, Janelle (June 5, 2012). "Idina Menzel to Headline 2012 World Choir Games Closing Ceremony". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  46. "2016 Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions takes center stage beginning Sept. 15". usagym.org. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
  47. "WATCH: Trump denounces Democrats at rally, plays down race". PBS. August 2019.
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