Jersey Mike's Arena

Jersey Mike's Arena
The RAC; The Trapezoid of Terror
	Exterior view of the arena in 2010
Former names	Rutgers Athletic Center (1977–1986, 2019-21); Louis Brown Athletic Center (1986-2019)
Location	83 Rockafeller Road; Piscataway, New Jersey 08854
Coordinates	40°31′31″N 74°26′28″W / 40.52528°N 74.44111°W
Owner	Rutgers University
Operator	Rutgers University
Capacity	8,000
Surface	Hardwood
Construction
Broke ground	1975
Opened	November 30, 1977; 47 years ago
Construction cost	$8 million
Architect	Robert Hillier
Tenants
	Rutgers Scarlet Knights (NCAA) teams:; Men's basketball (1977–present); Women's basketball (1977–present); Professional teams; New Jersey Nets (NBA) (1977–1981);
Website
	scarletknights.com/jersey-mikes-arena

Jersey Mike's Arena, commonly known as the RAC (Rutgers Athletic Center), is an 8,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Piscataway, New Jersey on Rutgers University's Livingston Campus. The building is shaped like a truncated tent with trapezoidal sides on the north and south ends, and is home to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's and women's basketball teams, as well as the wrestling and gymnastics teams.

History

Rutgers reached the NCAA Final Four in 1976 and was still playing at the badly outdated "Barn" on College Avenue. There had been plans in the 1970s for a 13,000 seat arena in downtown New Brunswick, which turned out to be unfeasible. Instead, the university made plans for an arena on Livingston Campus, which would host 11,000 seats for basketball, ice hockey, and aquatics. One administrator opposed larger plans, hoping the university would not become "a basketball or a football factory".^[1]

The Rutgers Athletic Center was ultimately designed by architect Robert Hillier. Originally, he proposed a larger structure with modern amenities, however, the budget was limited to $8 million. Working with the cheapest structural materials he could source, the arena would have four massive support columns, and provide for 8000 seats, yielding a trapezoidal design.^[1] The arena opened on November 30, 1977, with a win against rival Seton Hall.^{[citation needed]}

The fans liked the then-new arena as an upgrade from "the Barn". It soon became apparent that the acoustics of the design made the venue very loud when it was full. Hillier credited the steep seating arrangement and materials used for amplifying the sound.^[1]

The National Basketball Association's New Jersey Nets played at the arena from 1977 to 1981, in between their time at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, and the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey.^[2]

The arena was known as the Rutgers Athletic Center until 1986, when it was renamed for Louis Brown, a Rutgers graduate and former member of the varsity golf team, who made a large bequest to the university in his will. Despite this, it was usually referred to as "the RAC" by students, alumni, fans, and players.^{[citation needed]} The arena also hosted the 1985 and 1989 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball tournaments. The arena is also the site for the girls and boys Middlesex County high school basketball tournament finals, and various boys and girls New Jersey high school basketball state playoff games. A Professional Bowlers Association tournament was broadcast live from the arena on ABC in 1996, the Johnny Petraglia Open.^{[citation needed]}

The arena was upgraded with air conditioning for the first time in 2016.^[1]

All references to Louis Brown were removed from the arena and all university websites in 2019, which resumed using the arena's original name, "The Rutgers Athletic Center."^{[citation needed]} The arena was renamed Jersey Mike's Arena in 2021, after the university sold its naming rights.^[3]

Acoustics

Jersey Mike's Arena is renowned for being one of the loudest arenas in college basketball at maximum capacity. The trapezoidal design of the building allows the crowd noise to resonate, creating a deafening environment. The RAC has even been described as being "louder than a 747 at Newark Airport."^[4]

ESPN's Jay Bilas has lauded the arena, saying, "The Scarlet Knights play great there, and the crowd is right on top of you and intimidating."^[4] Many visiting players have also extolled the RAC's atmosphere. Former UConn shooting guard Ben Gordon said that "it is very difficult at the RAC...the gym is shaped, it seems like everybody is on top of you. At times, if you're not focused, you can get lost in the game just by how intense the crowd is."^[4] Former Syracuse power forward Hakim Warrick noted that "the way the gym is made, it's just made to keep the noise in. It's loud and crazy down there."^[4]

Non-sporting events

Concerts

Styx brought their Grand Illusion Tour to the RAC on October 24, 1979. Linda Ronstadt also played here on her "Living in the USA" tour and sang with a terrible sore throat. She returned again on April 11, 1980, for her "Mad Love" tour. Frank Zappa played a show at the RAC on April 25, 1980. The Grateful Dead played at the Rutgers Athletic Center on May 15, 1981. R.E.M. played the RAC with 10,000 Maniacs opening on October 22, 1987.^{[citation needed]} Rutgersfest, an annual concert, was held in the arena in 2007 due to rain, and featured The Roots, Hawthorne Heights, and Everclear. Due to limited seating, only 5,000 tickets were given out, angering the approximately 15,000 other students who were then unable to attend.^[5]

The RAC hosted SpringBlaze 2008, a concert featuring Christian rock bands, with a special appearance by Rutgers Football head coach Greg Schiano.

Other events

Visions-Innervisions Productions, a local nonprofit, hosted a fundraiser for Head Start and other community services in 1983 at the RAC beginning with the annual university Step-Show, viewing the debut of Michael Jackson's Thriller on 20' screens, one above each hoop, followed by a live performance from D Train.

The arena is used every June as a graduation hall for J. P. Stevens High School, Edison High School, Piscataway Township High School, and North Brunswick Township High School, as well as for other high schools in surrounding cities.

Rutgers University Dance Marathon has been held at the RAC since 2014, having moved from the College Avenue Gym.^[6]

Possible expansion

The Star-Ledger and The Daily Targum reported in 2010 that former Rutgers Athletic Director Tim Pernetti planned to expand the arena to include more practice facilities, more concourse space, and a seating expansion to accommodate 12,500 fans (including club seating), and premium restaurants. Pernetti also stated that he wanted to book more concerts at the arena and at nearby Rutgers Stadium.^[7]

When the Scarlet Knights joined the Big Ten Conference in 2014, the RAC was the smallest arena in conference, with slightly smaller capacity than Northwestern's 8,117-seat Welsh–Ryan Arena provided at the time. However, after renovations of Welsh-Ryan Arena during the 2017–18 season, which decreased its capacity, the RAC became the second-smallest arena in the conference.^[8] The other 16 Big Ten schools' arenas all seat at least 10,000.

Rutgers athletic director Patrick E. Hobbs wanted to upgrade the RAC during his tenure, replacing office space with a lounge, and converting the media center into a bar.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Politi, Steve (February 11, 2020). "Why is the Rutgers Athletic Center shaped like a trapezoid? An investigation". nj.com. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
^ "NETS: New Jersey Nets History". New Jersey Nets. Archived from the original on August 19, 2010. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
^ "Jersey Mike's Subs signs multi-million dollar contract for naming rights to Rutgers Athletic Center".
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Louis Brown Athletic Center". The Official Site of Rutgers Athletics. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
^ Huang, Michael (April 26, 2007). "Rutgersfest held indoors due to rain". The Daily Targum. New Brunswick, NJ. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
^ "Rutgers Dance Marathon". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 2022-02-26.
^ Luicci, Tom (January 4, 2010). "Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti reveals plans for major overhaul of Rutgers Athletic Center". The Star-Ledger. Newark. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
^ Greenstein, Teddy (13 June 2016). "Northwestern's Welsh-Ryan Arena to receive long-overdue overhaul". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 20 May 2017.

External links

Official website

Preceded by Nassau Coliseum	Home of the New Jersey Nets 1977 – 1981	Succeeded by Meadowlands Arena

[politi-1] Politi, Steve (February 11, 2020). "Why is the Rutgers Athletic Center shaped like a trapezoid? An investigation". nj.com. Retrieved November 21, 2022.

[nets-2] "NETS: New Jersey Nets History". New Jersey Nets. Archived from the original on August 19, 2010. Retrieved May 11, 2009.

[3] "Jersey Mike's Subs signs multi-million dollar contract for naming rights to Rutgers Athletic Center".

[rac-4] "Louis Brown Athletic Center". The Official Site of Rutgers Athletics. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved May 11, 2009.

[rutgersfest-5] Huang, Michael (April 26, 2007). "Rutgersfest held indoors due to rain". The Daily Targum. New Brunswick, NJ. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011. Retrieved May 11, 2009.

[6] "Rutgers Dance Marathon". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 2022-02-26.

[expansion-7] Luicci, Tom (January 4, 2010). "Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti reveals plans for major overhaul of Rutgers Athletic Center". The Star-Ledger. Newark. Retrieved May 11, 2009.

[8] Greenstein, Teddy (13 June 2016). "Northwestern's Welsh-Ryan Arena to receive long-overdue overhaul". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 20 May 2017.

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v t e Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball
Venues	Original College Avenue Gymnasium (1906–1931) College Avenue Gymnasium (1931–1977) Jersey Mike's Arena (1977–present)
Rivalries	Princeton Seton Hall
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–13 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
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

v t e Rutgers Scarlet Knights women's basketball
Venues	College Avenue Gymnasium (1974–1977) Jersey Mike's Arena (1977–present)
Rivalries	Princeton UConn
Culture & lore	History
People	Head coaches
Seasons	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
AIAW and NCAA national championships in bold; AIAW and NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e NCAA Division I college basketball venues in New Jersey
America East	Wellness and Events Center (NJIT)
Big East	Prudential Center (Seton Hall men) Walsh Gymnasium (Seton Hall women)
Big Ten	Jersey Mike's Arena (Rutgers)
CAA	OceanFirst Bank Center (Monmouth)
Ivy	Jadwin Gymnasium (Princeton)
MAAC	Alumni Gymnasium (Rider) Run Baby Run Arena (Saint Peter's)
NEC	Rothman Center (Fairleigh Dickinson)

v t e Brooklyn Nets
Founded in 1967 Formerly the New Jersey Americans (1967–1968); played in New York (1968–1977) and New Jersey (1977–2012) Based in Brooklyn, New York
Franchise	History ABA–NBA merger All-time roster Draft history Records Head coaches Seasons Current season
Arenas	Teaneck Armory Long Island Arena Island Garden Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Rutgers Athletic Center Meadowlands Arena Prudential Center Barclays Center
Personnel	Owner(s) Joseph Tsai General manager Sean Marks Head coach Jordi Fernández
G League affiliate	Long Island Nets
Retired numbers	3 5 15 23 25 32 52
ABA championships	1974 1976
Rivalries	New York Knicks
Culture and lore	Broadcasters Just Wright BrooklyKnight Marv Albert Erving for $6 million Forest City Enterprises
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