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Addition Financial Arena

Coordinates: 28°36′24″N 81°11′51″W / 28.6068°N 81.1976°W / 28.6068; -81.1976
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Addition Financial Arena
"The Dungeon"[1]
Map
Former namesCFE Arena (2013–2019)
UCF Arena (2007–2013)
UCF Convocation Center (planning/construction)
Address12777 Gemini Blvd N
LocationOrlando, Florida, U.S.
Coordinates28°36′24″N 81°11′51″W / 28.6068°N 81.1976°W / 28.6068; -81.1976
Public transitUCF Transit Center, Lynx
OwnerUniversity of Central Florida
OperatorSpectra Experiences[3]
CapacitySports[8]
Basketball: 9,432
MMA/Boxing: 10,000
Concerts[8]
  • General admission: 8,067
  • Half House: 5,195
  • End Stage 180: 7,919
  • End Stage 220: 8,483
  • End Stage 270: 9,322
  • End Stage 360: 9,830
SurfaceMulti-surface
Construction
Broke ground2006
OpenedSeptember 8, 2007 (2007-09-08)[2]
Construction cost$107 million[4]
($162 million in 2023 dollars[5])
ArchitectHOK Sport Venue Event[2][6]
Structural engineerBliss & Nyitray, Inc.
Services engineerSmith Seckman Reid, Inc.[7]
General contractorKUD International[2]
Tenants
UCF Knights (NCAA) (2007–present)
Orlando Fantasy (LFL) (2010)
Orlando Predators (AFL) (2014)
Florida Mutineers (CDL) (2020–2023)
Central Florida Crusaders (NISL) (2022–present)
Orlando Valkyries (PVF) (2024–present)
Website
additionfiarena.com

Addition Financial Arena (formerly known as CFE Arena and UCF Arena) is a sports and entertainment arena located near Orlando in Orange County, Florida, United States, on the main campus of the University of Central Florida. It was constructed beginning in 2006 as a replacement for the original UCF arena, and as a part of Knights Plaza. The arena is home to the UCF Knights men's and women's basketball teams. The arena also hosted the annual Science Olympiad in 2012 and 2014.

The arena is 252,000 square feet (23,000 m2) and boasts a capacity of over 9,400 for basketball, and has 17 luxury suites.[8] As of January 2022, the attendance record for the arena is 10,011, the arena's first and only ever sellout crowd, for a March 22, 2017 NIT Quarterfinals matchup with the Illinois Fighting Illini. The theater can be configured for concerts, family events, musical theatre, commencements, and other stage shows and sporting events. Local high schools often host graduations at the arena. One of UCF's biggest events, Knight-Thon, is also held at the arena. The fundraiser is a dance marathon which raises money for Children's Miracle Network. The Addition Financial Arena is owned by the university, and is managed by Oak View Group.

Original arena

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The arena was originally built in 1991 with a capacity of 5,100 and was home to men's basketball, women's basketball, and volleyball, and was also used for events such as concerts and commencements. It has hosted the Atlantic Sun Conference men's basketball tournament three times, in 1994, 1995, and 2002. The last basketball game played in the original facility was on March 3, 2007, when the UCF men's team beat the East Carolina Pirates, 77–64, in Conference USA play.

While basketball moved into the new arena, the men's and women's volleyball teams continue to play their regular-season games at the Venue.

The Venue's upper deck also serves as the Men's and Woman's basketball teams' practice facility courts.

History

[edit]
The interior of the Addition Financial Arena, UCF's multi-purpose indoor sports arena.

A new arena was built 2007, as part of a larger project to create an athletic village known as Knights Plaza. The new arena, built in the space in front of the original arena, is double the seating capacity of its predecessor, including 7,479 fixed standard seats, 500 club seats, 1,328 retractable seats, 188 disabled seats, 16 luxury suites (seating capacity 192, total capacity 256), two party suites (total capacity 60) and loge box seating for 64. According to the promoters' guide, the new arena has a basketball capacity of 9,465, and can hold up to 10,072 for concert events. The student section has been dubbed the "Knightmare."[2]

The new arena was completed in September 2007 and is the home to both the men's and women's basketball teams. This expansion made the Addition Financial Arena the second largest arena complex in Orlando. Beginning in 2008, the grounds around arena hosted "Light Up UCF", a holiday celebration that features an outdoor ice skating rink. For the event, the arena is decorated with thousands of lights that are synchronized to holiday music.[9]

In October 2008, the Addition Financial Arena was home to one of the largest Presidential Debate Watch Parties ever. On the front lawn of the arena the Presidential Debate was projected onto a large inflatable movie screen while a Lupe Fiasco concert was taking place inside the arena. The Presidential Debate, which was the final debate of the election, was then replayed for the thousands of attendees as they were leaving the concert. Lupe Fiasco actually acknowledged that the debate would be shown after the show and encouraged the attendees to stay and watch it because of the significance of the election.

In 2010, the Legends Football League team Orlando Fantasy played at the arena. In 2014, it served as the home of the Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League.

On May 18–19, 2012, the arena hosted the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2012 Science Olympiad National Tournament.

In addition to its use as a basketball arena, the arena is regularly used to host other events on campus, including career fairs, graduation ceremonies, concerts, and public speakers. Addition Financial Arena has increasingly been used in recent years as an alternative to the much larger Amway Center in downtown Orlando.

Professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling held an episode of their weekly television show AEW Dynamite at the arena on October 23, 2021. AEW would return to the arena to hold three shows in a three day span, March 4, 2022 to March 6, 2022. AEW held an episode of their other weekly show AEW Rampage, a fan fest, and then their PPV AEW Revolution [10] In December 2024 AEW Worlds End will be held at the arena.

Naming

[edit]

UCF expressed interest numerous times in selling the naming rights to the arena. At one point, AirTran Airways was in negotiations to purchase naming rights, but no agreement was ever reached. On May 22, 2013, the UCF Board of Trustees officially announced that the school had entered into a naming rights contract with CFE Federal Credit Union, which has had a long-standing history with UCF.[11] The deal was slated for seven years and was worth $3.95 million, or $564,285.72 per year.[12] The new name took effect on May 23, 2013.

On May 1, 2019, CFE changed its name to Addition Financial and, coinciding with the change, the arena's name changed from CFE Arena to Addition Financial Arena on the same date.[13] The arena's naming rights deal was not affected by the sponsor's name change.

On August 18, 2022, UCF announced that Addition Financial had extended their naming rights for the facility through 2034. The 12-year extension is worth $20 million.[14]

Events

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The arena holds many different types of events every year. This included graduation ceremonies, sports, award ceremonies, concerts, and more. In 2013, the arena hosted 356 events and served 394,121 attendees.[15] The arena hosts the annual FIRST Robotics Competition Orlando Regional every year in March, one of the largest FIRST events outside of their World Finals event. It ranked fifth in university venues in the U.S. in 2014 in terms of gross ticket sales and attendance.[16]

Entertainment

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Addition Financial Arena has hosted concerts by high-profile musicians such as Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Elton John, Drake and more. The arena also served as the venue for the University of Central Florida's series of annual entertainment events for their students like the Homecoming Concert Knight, Comedy Knight, KnightFest or Pegasus Palooza.

List of entertainment events held at Addition Financial Arena
Date Artist Opening act(s) Tour / Concert name Attendance Revenue Notes
September 8, 2007 Reba McEntire Melissa Peterman First show at the venue[17]
November 1, 2007 Fall Out Boy Gym Class Heroes
Cute Is What We Aim For
Plain White T's
Young Wild Things Tour
November 10, 2007 Elton John Rocket Man: Greatest Hits Live 9,921 / 9,921 Venue's first sold-out show and largest concert attendance as of 2017[17]
February 23, 2008 Michael Bublé Naturally 7 Call Me Irresponsible Tour 8,897 / 8,897 $582,636
March 28, 2008 Avenged Sevenfold
Bullet for My Valentine
Atreyu
Blessthefall
Idiot Pilot
D'espairsRay
The Underneath
Mucc
Taste of Chaos Festival Tour 2008 7,765 / 7,765 $284,805
April 29, 2008 Santana The Derek Trucks Band Live Your Light Tour 5,537 / 7,668 $348,169
May 18, 2008 Duran Duran Your Vegas The Red Carpet Massacre Tour
October 18, 2008 Dolly Parton Backwoods Barbie Tour
November 14, 2008 Sarah Brightman The Symphony World Tour Fernando Lima and Mario Frangoulis were the special guests
December 13, 2008 Carrie Underwood Little Big Town Carnival Ride Tour
January 24, 2009 Alan Jackson
Zac Brown Band
5,553 / 6,608 $308,655
February 18, 2009 Slipknot Coheed and Cambria
Trivium
All Hope Is Gone World Tour
March 4, 2009 Mötley Crüe Hinder
Theory of a Deadman
The Last Vegas
Saints of Los Angeles Tour
April 22, 2009 Fall Out Boy Cobra Starship
All Time Low
Metro Station
Hey Monday
Believers Never Die Tour Part Deux
October 1, 2009 The Killers Chairlift Day & Age World Tour
January 3, 2010 Lady Gaga Jason Derulo
Semi Precious Weapons
The Monster Ball Tour 6,753 / 6,785 $283,886
April 21, 2010 Drake k-os
Francis & The Lights
Campus Consciousness Tour 7,947 / 8,000 $79,735
August 28, 2010 Ednita Nazario Soy... El Concierto 3,436 / 4,588 $179,085
September 5, 2010 Paramore Tegan and Sara
New Found Glory
Kadawatha
Honda Civic Tour 7,300 / 8,002 $199,564
October 10, 2010 Bob Dylan Never Ending Tour 2010 3,441 / 6,525 $147,014
March 5, 2011 Kid Rock Born Free Tour[18]
April 20, 2011 Wiz Khalifa Mac Miller Campus Consciousness Green Carpet Tour
May 22, 2011 Luis Miguel Luis Miguel Tour 2,612 / 4,500 $167,496
June 9, 2011 Katy Perry Robyn
DJ Skeet Skeet
California Dreams Tour 7,792 / 7,792 $350,640
August 24, 2011 Chiddy Bang
Big Sean
The Hood Internet Taste of UCF Concert
October 22, 2011 Lupe Fiasco
Panic! At The Disco
Eric Hutchinson
DJ Wizz Kid Black and Gold Revolution Homecoming Concert Knight 823 / 823 $16,460
December 4, 2011 Paul Simon So Beautiful or So What Tour 2,805 / 4,000 $210,140
January 21, 2012 Rise Against A Day to Remember
The Menzingers
Endgame Tour 5,443 / 5,988 $179,007
January 27, 2012 Avicii House for Hunger Tour
February 17, 2012 Celtic Woman Believe Tour 2,219 / 5,159 $109,328
February 4, 2012 Miranda Lambert Chris Young
Jerrod Niemann
On Fire Tour 6,513 / 7,110 $306,376
February 24, 2012 Casting Crowns Matthew West
Royal Tailor
Lindsay McCaul
Come to the Well Tour 5,135 / 7,587 $129,851
September 2, 2012 Meek Mill
Tyga
DJ Demp Back to School Labor Day Concert Lundo, Andrew Floyd, Big Head were the special guests
October 26, 2012 Lynyrd Skynyrd Last of a Dyin' Breed Tour 2,669 / 5,581 $84,650
October 27, 2012 Snoop Dogg UCF Homecoming Concert 2012 3,522 / 7,510 $6,720
November 30, 2012 Wiz Khalifa Juicy J
Chevy Woods
Lola Monroe
Tuki Carter
Berner
The 2050 Tour
April 9, 2013 Kendrick Lamar
Steve Aoki
VERGE Tour
May 15, 2013 Cirque du Soleil Quidam 16,258 $940,000
May 16, 2013
May 17, 2013
May 18, 2013
May 19, 2013
September 19, 2013 fun. Tegan and Sara Most Nights Tour
September 23, 2013 Imagine Dragons Paper Route
The Neighbourhood
Night Visions Tour
October 8, 2013 Sigur Rós Julianna Barwick Sigur Rós World Tour 1,700 / 3,000 $62,989
October 11, 2013 OneRepublic TeamMate truthLIVE Tour
November 5, 2013 Paramore Hellogoodbye
Metric
The Self-Titled Tour
October 14, 2014 Five Finger Death Punch
Volbeat
Nothing More
Hellyeah
Five Finger Death Punch and Volbeat Fall Tour 5,901 / 7,656 $239,867
October 20, 2014 B.o.B Icona Pop No Genre Tour
(UCF Homecoming 2014: Concert Knight)
February 26, 2015 Kid Ink
Hoodie Allen
KnightFest 2015
October 15, 2015 Zedd Dillon Francis
Alex Metric
True Colors Tour
November 7, 2015 Mary J. Blige Tamar Braxton MJB Live!
January 28, 2016 Tool Primus
3Teeth
North American Tour 2016 7,871 / 8,116 $613,421
March 31, 2016 The Chainsmokers Daya KnightFest 2016
April 14, 2016 Pentatonix Us The Duo
AJ Lehrman
Pentatonix World Tour 6,961 / 7,470 $388,055
May 16, 2016 Amy Schumer Spring Stand Up Comedy Tour 2016 4,450 / 4,725 $203,947
June 4, 2016 Ellie Goulding Delirium World Tour 6,308 / 7,660
July 6, 2016 Halsey Bad Suns Badlands Tour
September 18, 2016 Meghan Trainor Hailee Steinfeld The Untouchable Tour 6,230 / 6,515 $258,079
November 10, 2016 Chris Young Dustin Lynch
Cassadee Pope
I'm Comin' Over Tour 4,450 / 4,725 $203,947
March 17, 2017 Casting Crowns Danny Gokey
Unspoken
The Very Next Thing Tour
March 30, 2017 DNCE Knights of the Turn Tables KnightFest 2017
April 25, 2017 Daniel Tosh tosh.show 6,869 / 7,681 $270,665
August 22, 2017 Lil Jon Throttle Pegasus Palooza 2017
August 30, 2017 Bryson Tiller H.E.R.
Metro Boomin
Set It Off Tour
October 12, 2017 Martin Garrix Jacquees UCF Homecoming: Concert Knight 2017
December 31, 2017 Kevin Hart Irresponsible Tour
May 17, 2018 ODESZA 2018 A Moment Apart Tour
August 21, 2018 Metro Boomin Metro Boomin Live at UCF
November 8, 2018 A$AP Ferg Ella Mai UCF Homecoming: Concert Knight 2018
December 7, 2018 Migos Tee Grizzley
BlocBoy JB
La4ss
Migos Live in Concert
January 25, 2019 Bring Me the Horizon Thrice
Fever 333
First Love World Tour 4,514 / 6,395 $189,989
February 10, 2019 Adam Sandler 100% Fresher Tour Rob Schneider was the special guest
April 1, 2019 Why Don't We EBEN 8 Letters Tour
October 12, 2019 for KING & COUNTRY Burn the Ships Tour

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Knights welcome struggling Hatters to UCF Dungeon". Central Florida Future. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d "CFE Arena Bio". UCF Athletics Association. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
  3. ^ "Global Spectrum – University of Central Florida CFE Arena, Orlando, Florida". Global Spectrum. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
  4. ^ "UCF Convocation Center". UCF Athletics Association. Archived from the original on August 17, 2009. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
  5. ^ 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 February 29, 2024.
  6. ^ "University of Central Florida Convocation Center". Populous. Archived from the original on January 19, 2010. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
  7. ^ "UCF Convocation Center Orlando, FL". Randall Mechanical, Inc. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  8. ^ a b c "THE CFE ARENA AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA PROMOTER'S GUIDE" (PDF). UCF Athletics Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 29, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
  9. ^ Light Up UCF information page
  10. ^ Ounpraseuth, Jason (October 23, 2021). "AEW Saturday Night Dynamite Results: Cody Rhodes Vs. Malakai Black III". Wrestling Inc. Archived from the original on October 24, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  11. ^ Zunz, Andy. "UCF announces naming rights deal for Arena". Central Florida Future. Archived from the original on September 7, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
  12. ^ Ordway, Denise-Marie (May 23, 2013). "UCF arena named after CFE Federal Credit Union". Orlando Sentinel. Tribune Company. Archived from the original on October 18, 2013. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  13. ^ "CFE Arena Soon to be Named Addition Financial Arena". University of Central Florida. March 21, 2019. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  14. ^ "Addition Financial, UCF Extend Naming Rights Agreement for Arena". UCFKnights.com. August 18, 2022.
  15. ^ "2013 UCF Arena Annual Report" (PDF). CFE Arena. Archived from the original on May 18, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  16. ^ Vasquez, Luis. "CFE Arena ranks fifth in the nation for university venue ticket sales". Orlando Weekly. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  17. ^ a b "Spectra by Comcast Spectacor Commemorates Tenth Anniversary of CFE Arena with Yearlong Celebration" (PDF). Spectra. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  18. ^ "Kid Rock live in Orlando".
[edit]
Events and tenants
Preceded by
First arena
Home of the
Orlando Fantasy

2010
Succeeded by
Last arena
Preceded by Home of the
Science Olympiad National Tournament

2012
Succeeded by
Preceded by Home of the
Science Olympiad National Tournament

2014
Succeeded by
Preceded by Home of the
Orlando Predators

2014
Succeeded by