I've always been obsessed with basketball arenas. In particular, smaller arenas, or gyms. Growing up in Oklahoma City, I loved the big, fancy, new downtown arena, the Myriad. But my favorite place to watch a basketball game was Frederickson Fieldhouse, the 3,400 seat home of the Oklahoma City University Chiefs. The Fieldhouse was old and intimate, a cozy place to take in hoops on a cold winter evening.
Recently, I set about the task of compiling a list of our largest basketball arenas in the Dallas-Ft Worth Metroplex. I've also always had a strange fascination with seating capacities, not only for basketball venues, but for all sports edifices. We all know that the American Airlines Center is the largest basketball arena in town (FYI: I don't count the Deathstar as a basketball venue, even though it's hosted a Final Four and NBA All-Star game), but I wondered what the rest of the list would look like. I was surprised that such a list didn't exist on the internet, but now it does, thanks to the hard work of this reporter. If I've left an arena/gym off this list, please let me know--this will be an ever-changing list with new info, new arenas, or arenas being torn down.
I'm using seating capacity for basketball. The listed capacity may vary by a few seats, but these numbers are as close to the official numbers as I could find. And, of course, the capacity will fluctuate for hockey or concerts or rodeo. I hope you enjoy this early Christmas present.
American Airlines Center, Dallas -- 20,000
Ft Worth Convention Center Arena -- 13,500
Super Pit, UNT, Denton -- 10,032
Ed & Rae Schollmaier Arena, TCU, Ft Worth -- 8,500
Fair Park Coliseum, Dallas -- 8,500
Loos Fieldhouse, Addison -- 7,500
Curtis Cullwell Center, Garland -- 7,500
Ellis Davis Fieldhouse, Dallas -- 7,500
Dallas Convention Center Arena -- 7,400
Moody Coliseum, SMU, Dallas -- 7,000
College Park Center, UTA, Arlington -- 7,000
Dr Pepper Arena, Frisco -- 7,000
Allen Events Center -- 6,200
Will Rogers Coliseum, Ft Worth -- 6,000
Mesquite Arena -- 5,500
Wilkerson/Greines Center, Ft Worth -- 5,000
Pan Am Arena, Fair Park, Dallas -- 4,000
Billingsley Fieldhouse, Ft Worth -- 3,500
Activity Center, UTD, Richardson -- 3,200
Birdville Coliseum, Haltom City -- 3,000
Coppell High School Arena -- 2,600
Sandra Meadows Arena, Duncanville -- 2,000
Kitty Magee Arena, TWU, Denton -- 1,800
Burg Center, Dallas Baptist University -- 1,600
Sid Richardson Center, Texas Wesleyan, Ft Worth -- 1,500
Norris Auditorium, Arlington Baptist University -- 950
Maher Center, University of Dallas -- 812
