Addition Financial Arena


Addition Financial Arena is a sports and entertainment arena located in Orlando, 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, and boasts a capacity of over 10,000, and 17 luxury suites. As of March 2017, the attendance record for the arena is 10,011, the arena's first 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 event, Knighthon, 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 Global Spectrum, a subsidiary of Philadelphia-based Comcast Spectacor.

Original arena

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.

History

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, two party suites 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."
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.
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.

Naming

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. The deal is slated for seven years and is worth $3.95 million, or around $564,286 per year. 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. The arena's naming rights deal was not affected by the sponsor's name change.

Events

The arena holds different types of events every year. In 2013, the arena hosted 356 events and served 394,121 attendees. It ranked fifth in university venues in the U.S. in 2014 in terms of gross ticket sales and attendance.

Entertainment

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.
DateArtistOpening actTour / Concert nameAttendanceRevenueNotes
September 8, 2007Reba McEntireMelissa PetermanFirst show at the venue
November 1, 2007Fall Out BoyGym Class Heroes
Cute Is What We Aim For
Plain White T's		Young Wild Things Tour
November 10, 2007Elton John—9,921 / 9,921Venue's first sold-out show and largest concert attendance as of 2017
February 23, 2008Michael BubléNaturally 7Call Me Irresponsible Tour8,897 / 8,897$582,636
March 28, 2008Avenged Sevenfold
Bullet for My Valentine
Atreyu
Blessthefall
Idiot Pilot		D'espairsRay
The Underneath
Mucc		Taste of Chaos Festival Tour 20087,765 / 7,765$284,805
April 29, 2008SantanaThe Derek Trucks BandLive Your Light Tour5,537 / 7,668$348,169
May 18, 2008Duran DuranYour VegasThe Red Carpet Massacre Tour
October 18, 2008Dolly Parton—Backwoods Barbie Tour
November 14, 2008Sarah Brightman—The Symphony World TourFernando Lima and Mario Frangoulis were the special guests
December 13, 2008Carrie UnderwoodLittle Big TownCarnival Ride Tour
January 24, 2009Alan Jackson
Zac Brown Band		—5,553 / 6,608$308,655
February 18, 2009SlipknotCoheed and Cambria
Trivium		All Hope Is Gone World Tour
March 4, 2009Mötley CrüeHinder
Theory of a Deadman
The Last Vegas		Saints of Los Angeles Tour
April 22, 2009Fall Out BoyCobra Starship
All Time Low
Metro Station
Hey Monday		Believers Never Die Tour Part Deux
October 1, 2009The KillersChairliftDay & Age World Tour
January 3, 2010Lady GagaJason Derulo
Semi Precious Weapons		The Monster Ball Tour6,753 / 6,785$283,886
April 21, 2010Drakek-os
Francis & The Lights		Campus Consciousness Tour7,947 / 8,000$79,735
August 28, 2010Ednita Nazario—Soy... El Concierto3,436 / 4,588$179,085
September 5, 2010ParamoreTegan and Sara
New Found Glory
Kadawatha		Honda Civic Tour7,300 / 8,002$199,564
October 10, 2010Bob Dylan—Never Ending Tour 20103,441 / 6,525$147,014
April 20, 2011Wiz KhalifaMac MillerCampus Consciousness Green Carpet Tour
May 22, 2011Luis Miguel—Luis Miguel Tour2,612 / 4,500$167,496
June 9, 2011Katy PerryRobyn
DJ Skeet Skeet		California Dreams Tour7,792 / 7,792$350,640
August 24, 2011Chiddy Bang
Big Sean		The Hood InternetTaste of UCF Concert
October 22, 2011Lupe Fiasco
Panic! At The Disco
Eric Hutchinson		DJ Wizz KidBlack and Gold Revolution Homecoming Concert Knight823 / 823$16,460
December 4, 2011Paul Simon—So Beautiful or So What Tour2,805 / 4,000$210,140
January 21, 2012Rise AgainstA Day to Remember
The Menzingers		Endgame Tour5,443 / 5,988$179,007
January 27, 2012Avicii—House for Hunger Tour
February 17, 2012Celtic Woman—Believe Tour2,219 / 5,159$109,328
February 4, 2012Miranda LambertChris Young
Jerrod Niemann		On Fire Tour6,513 / 7,110$306,376
February 24, 2012Casting CrownsMatthew West
Royal Tailor
Lindsay McCaul		Come to the Well Tour5,135 / 7,587$129,851
September 2, 2012Meek Mill
Tyga		DJ DempBack to School Labor Day ConcertLundo, Andrew Floyd, Big Head were the special guests
October 26, 2012Lynyrd Skynyrd—Last of a Dyin' Breed Tour2,669 / 5,581$84,650
October 27, 2012Snoop Dogg—UCF Homecoming Concert 20123,522 / 7,510$6,720
November 30, 2012Wiz KhalifaJuicy J
Chevy Woods
Lola Monroe
Tuki Carter
Berner		The 2050 Tour
April 9, 2013Kendrick Lamar
Steve Aoki		—VERGE Tour
May 15, 2013Cirque de Soleil—Quidam16,258$940,000
May 16, 2013Cirque de Soleil—Quidam16,258$940,000
May 17, 2013Cirque de Soleil—Quidam16,258$940,000
May 18, 2013Cirque de Soleil—Quidam16,258$940,000
May 19, 2013Cirque de Soleil—Quidam16,258$940,000
September 19, 2013fun.Tegan and SaraMost Nights Tour
September 23, 2013Imagine DragonsPaper Route
The Neighbourhood		Night Visions Tour
October 8, 2013Sigur RósJulianna BarwickSigur Rós World Tour1,700 / 3,000$62,989
October 11, 2013OneRepublicTeamMatetruthLIVE Tour
November 5, 2013ParamoreHellogoodbye
Metric		The Self-Titled Tour
October 14, 2014Five Finger Death Punch
Volbeat		Nothing More
Hellyeah		Five Finger Death Punch and Volbeat Fall Tour5,901 / 7,656$239,867
October 20, 2014B.o.BIcona PopNo Genre Tour
February 26, 2015Kid Ink
Hoodie Allen		—KnightFest 2015
October 15, 2015ZeddDillon Francis
Alex Metric		True Colors Tour
November 7, 2015Mary J. BligeTamar BraxtonMJB Live!
January 28, 2016ToolPrimus
3Teeth		North American Tour 20167,871 / 8,116$613,421
March 31, 2016The ChainsmokersDayaKnightFest 2016
April 14, 2016PentatonixUs The Duo
AJ Lehrman		Pentatonix World Tour6,961 / 7,470$388,055
May 16, 2016Amy Schumer—Spring Stand Up Comedy Tour 20164,450 / 4,725$203,947
June 4, 2016Ellie Goulding—Delirium World Tour6,308 / 7,660
July 6, 2016HalseyBad SunsBadlands Tour
September 18, 2016Meghan TrainorHailee SteinfeldThe Untouchable Tour6,230 / 6,515$258,079
November 10, 2016Chris YoungDustin Lynch
Cassadee Pope		I'm Comin' Over Tour4,450 / 4,725$203,947
March 17, 2017Casting CrownsDanny Gokey
Unspoken		The Very Next Thing Tour
March 30, 2017DNCEKnights of the Turn TablesKnightFest 2017
April 25, 2017Daniel Tosh—tosh.show6,869 / 7,681$270,665
August 22, 2017Lil JonThrottlePegasus Palooza 2017
August 30, 2017Bryson TillerH.E.R.
Metro Boomin		Set It Off Tour
October 12, 2017Martin GarrixJacqueesUCF Homecoming: Concert Knight 2017
December 31, 2017Kevin Hart—Irresponsible Tour
May 17, 2018ODESZA—2018 A Moment Apart Tour
August 21, 2018Metro Boomin—Metro Boomin Live at UCF
November 8, 2018A$AP FergElla MaiUCF Homecoming: Concert Knight 2018
December 7, 2018MigosTee Grizzley
BlocBoy JB
La4ss		Migos Live in Concert
January 25, 2019Bring Me the HorizonThrice
Fever 333		First Love World Tour4,514 / 6,395$189,989
February 10, 2019Adam Sandler—100% Fresher TourRob Schneider was the special guest
April 1, 2019Why Don't WeEBEN8 Letters Tour