Desert Financial Arena

The Desert, The Well (Former)
	2014
	Desert Financial Arena Location in Arizona Desert Financial Arena Location in the United States
Former names	ASU Activity Center (1974–97); Wells Fargo Arena (1997–2019)
Address	600 E Veterans Way
Location	Tempe, Arizona, United States
Coordinates	33°25′28″N 111°55′51″W / 33.424524°N 111.930948°W
Public transit	Veterans Way/College Ave
Owner	Arizona State University
Capacity	14,198
Construction
Broke ground	1972
Opened	April 29, 1974
Construction cost	$8 million; ($60.1 million in 2024 dollars)
Architect	Drover, Welch & Lindlan, Inc.
General contractor	Olson Construction Company
Tenants
	Arizona State Sun Devils men's basketball (NCAA) (1974–present); Arizona State Sun Devils women's basketball; Arizona State Sun Devils women's volleyball
	Show more

Desert Financial Arena^[3] (formerly ASU Activity Center and Wells Fargo Arena) is a 14,198-seat^[4] multi-purpose arena located at 600 E Veterans Way in Tempe, Arizona, United States, in the Phoenix metropolitan area. It sits immediately east of Mountain America Stadium on the northern edge of the Tempe campus of Arizona State University (ASU).

Constructed in the spring of 1974 as the University Activity Center (or the "You-Ack") and at the cost of $8 million, it is the home of men's basketball, women's basketball, and women's volleyball and former home of women's gymnastics and men's wrestling. The facility also plays host to graduation ceremonies and a variety of concerts and shows. The building replaced Sun Devil Gym as the primary arena for the Sun Devils' basketball team.

The former naming rights for the arena were purchased by Wells Fargo & Co. in 1997. The current naming rights for the arena were purchased by Desert Financial Credit Union in 2019 for $1.5 million for 5 years.

Design

The structure is 403 feet (123 m) long, 340 feet (100 m) wide and six stories high. The structure contains offices and locker rooms for men's basketball, women's basketball, women's volleyball, and the men's and women's track and field team, along with a weight room, coaches and film rooms, and an equipment room.

In 2010, a temporary wall was placed on the upper bowl, reducing the arena's capacity from 13,947 to 10,754 due to the lack of fans attending games.^[5] In 2018, due to the success of the men's basketball team, the wall was removed, increasing the capacity to 14,100.^[6]^[7]

Events

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band performed at the arena on November 5, 1980 during the River Tour. Video and audio of the show were released in 2015 in conjunction with the band's The Ties That Bind commemorative box set, and their performance of "Badlands" was included on 1986's Live 1975–85 album.

The arena hosted the 1st and 2nd rounds of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament in both 2015 and 2016.

References

^ 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.
^ ^a ^b ^c "ASU Tempe Campus Buildings Survey, 1960-2007" (PDF). Arizona State University. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 13, 2013. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
^ Staff, Arizona's Family Digital News. "ASU's Wells Fargo Arena getting new name". AZFamily. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
^ "Thesundevils.com". Phoenix. December 4, 2010. Retrieved December 15, 2010.
^ Joseph, Andrew (February 15, 2018). "How Bobby Hurley finally changed the culture at Arizona State". USA Today. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
^ Kaye, Jordan. "Arizona State tears down wall within Wells Fargo Arena to increase capacity". House of Sparky. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
^ Haller, Doug (2018, June 07). "ASU AD says arena wall 'not going back up while I'm here'. Arizona Republic". Retrieved 1 February 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

External links

Desert Financial Arena on the ASU virtual tour

[inflation-US-1] 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.

[archcon-2] "ASU Tempe Campus Buildings Survey, 1960-2007" (PDF). Arizona State University. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 13, 2013. Retrieved November 6, 2013.

[azfamily.com-3] Staff, Arizona's Family Digital News. "ASU's Wells Fargo Arena getting new name". AZFamily. Retrieved 2019-10-15.

[4] "Thesundevils.com". Phoenix. December 4, 2010. Retrieved December 15, 2010.

[5] Joseph, Andrew (February 15, 2018). "How Bobby Hurley finally changed the culture at Arizona State". USA Today. Retrieved 1 February 2025.

[6] Kaye, Jordan. "Arizona State tears down wall within Wells Fargo Arena to increase capacity". House of Sparky. Retrieved 1 February 2025.

[7] Haller, Doug (2018, June 07). "ASU AD says arena wall 'not going back up while I'm here'. Arizona Republic". Retrieved 1 February 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

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v t e Arizona State Sun Devils men's basketball
Venues	College Gym Mesa Civic Center Sun Devil Gym (1953–1974) Desert Financial Arena (1974–present)
Rivalries	Arizona
Culture & lore	Sparky the Sun Devil "Maroon & Gold" Marching Band
People	Head coaches NBA draftees NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26

v t e Arizona State Sun Devils women's basketball
Venues	Desert Financial Arena (1975–present)
Culture & lore	Sparky the Sun Devil "Maroon & Gold"
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26

v t e NCAA Division I college basketball venues in Arizona
Big 12	McKale Center (Arizona Wildcats) Desert Financial Arena (Arizona State Sun Devils)
Big Sky	Walkup Skydome (Northern Arizona Lumberjacks)
MW	Global Credit Union Arena (Grand Canyon Antelopes)

v t e Music venues of Arizona
Outdoor venues	Ak-Chin Pavilion Anselmo Valencia Tori Amphitheater Chase Field Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium Mesa Amphitheatre The Pool at Talking Stick Salt River Fields State Farm Stadium Sun Bowl Amphitheatre Sun Devil Stadium
Theaters and clubs	Arizona Federal Theatre Celebrity Theatre Chandler Center for the Arts Club Congress Fox Tucson Theatre Gammage Memorial Auditorium Marquee Theatre The Mason Jar Mesa Arts Center Orpheum Theater Orpheum Theatre Phoenix Symphony Hall Rialto Theatre Rhythm Room Safford Center for the Arts The Showroom at Talking Stick Skrappys Trunk Space Tempe Center for the Arts Tucson Music Hall The Van Buren
Arenas	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum Desert Diamond Arena Desert Financial Arena Findlay Toyota Center Global Credit Union Arena Mojave Crossing Mortgage Matchup Center Tucson Arena Walkup Skydome
Historic venues	Compton Terrace Graham Central Station Long Wong's Phoenix Show Palace

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