U.S. Bank Arena

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Image:Cincinnati-us-bank-arena.jpg

U.S. Bank Arena (originally known as the Riverfront Coliseum and later known as The Crown and the Firstar Center) is an indoor arena located in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio near the Ohio River next to the Great American Ball Park. Completed in 1975, the arena seats 12,823 for ice hockey. It was the home of the Cincinnati Stingers of the WHA from 1975-1979. Since then, the arena has hosted other minor-league hockey teams and various concerts, political rallies, and other events. The facility's longest-serving tenant was the men's basketball program of the University of Cincinnati, which used the arena from its completion until 1989, when UC built an on-campus facility now known as Fifth Third Arena. The building was heavily renovated in 1997, and is still in use. The current main tenant is the Cincinnati Marshals of the National Indoor Football League.

The venue hosted the part of the 1981 and all of the 1992 Horizon League men's basketball conference tournament. The 2002 and 2004 Conference USA men's basketball tournaments were held there; the Atlantic Ten Conference also held its tourney there in 2005 and did so again in 2006. The 1996 NCAA Frozen Fourwas also staged at the facility. It is also slated to host the first WWE Cyber Sunday pay-per-view in 2006. It was site of the last WCW/NWO Souled Out event, in 2000.

December 1979 Tragedy

On December 3, 1979, the arena was the site of one of the worst rock concert tragedies in United States history. Eleven fans were killed and several dozen others injured in the rush for seating at the opening of a sold-out concert by The Who. The concert was using "festival seating" (also known as "general seating" or "stadium seating"), where the best seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis. When the crowds waiting outside heard the band performing a soundcheck, they thought the concert was beginning and tried to rush into the still-closed doors, trampling those at the front of the crowd.

Several factors contributed to the tragedy, including poor crowd control, but for the most part, it was a breakdown in decision-making of arena and city management. Due to the festival seating, many fans arrived much earlier than arena management expected. The extremely cold temperatures in Cincinnati that night created a crowd overly anxious to enter the facility. The gates opened behind schedule, and too few doors were opened to deal with the huge crowd. Management was reluctant to open more doors due to union restrictions on arena employees. However, on the far side of the building, lines were significantly shorter. Crowding around the doors ensued, and several people died from trampling or suffocation by the crowd. The concert went on as scheduled, with most patrons unaware of the tragedy.

As a result, concert venues across North America switched to assigned seating or changed their rules about festival seating. Cincinnati immediately outlawed festival seating at concerts, although it overturned the ban on August 4, 2004, since the ban was making it difficult for Cincinnati to book concerts. (Many music acts prefer festival seating because it allows the most enthusiastic fans to get near the stage and generate excitement for the rest of the crowd. Some performers and bands insist on a festival seating area near the stage, so the ban was hindering Cincinnati's ability to book concerts. In 2002, the city had made a one-time exception to the ban, allowing festival seating for a Bruce Springsteen concert.) Cincinnati was the only city in the U.S. to outlaw festival seating altogether.

External links

• U.S. Bank Arena
• The Who Concert Tragedy Task Force Report