Liberty Arena Part of Flames’ $1B Campus Upgrade
Liberty Arena, as of November 2020, is the new official home of Liberty University’s men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and women’s volleyball programs. The 4,000-seat arena, located adjacent to the 10,000-seat Vines Center, offers a “wow” factor with an intimate atmosphere inside its 125,000-square feet of space.“It’s very rare with a building project that the final product is even better than you dreamed about,” Liberty Director of Athletics Ian McCaw said. “That’s the case with Liberty Arena. We thought this was going to be a tremendous facility, but when you are here, it’s just eye-popping. We are so excited and so grateful.”
Among the amenities is a spectacular, state-of-the-art video board along with accompanying ribbon boards.
“There’s a tremendous lighting and sound system to go along with that and all of that will come together to create one of the best home-court advantages in all of college athletics,” McCaw said. “We can’t wait to get our games underway beginning next week and we are so thankful to everybody who had a role in making this come to reality.”
“We are blessed and have a great spirit of gratitude to be a part of this united effort,” men’s basketball head coach Ritchie McKay said. “This to me is a reflection of … Liberty’s pursuit of excellence in everything that we do, and a commitment to our student-athletes to heighten their experience. Our guys have been in awe when we have walked into this place.”
Ground broke on the project in March 2018 and was part of the university’s campus rebuilding project that included several new academic, athletic, and house facilities with a grand total nearing $1 billion. The facility is also the operations center for the volleyball program, with expanded locker rooms and office space.
“This place is just phenomenal in terms of a home-court advantage and just getting fans close to the floor,” women’s volleyball head coach Trevor Johnson added. “Our new Teraflex Flooring is state-of-the-art. It is just going to really enhance the experience for our fans.”
The 4,000-seat arena — complete with bleacher, club, and loge seating options — provides an intimate atmosphere for Flames fans to get closer to the action on the court. The bleacher seating can be retracted to allow for more floor space. During camps or practices, for example, two basketball courts — or three volleyball courts — can be set up at the same time.
The location was chosen because of its proximity to existing basketball offices, practice courts, and locker rooms at the Vines Center, and because it is close to where the students are — near residence halls and the center of campus. By strategically choosing this specific location on campus, Liberty also avoided expensive landscaping and hardscaping.
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McCaw said the facility’s grand opening was the culmination of a tremendous amount of work and the continued fulfillment of a vision cast by Dr. Jerry Falwell, Liberty’s founder, supported by its Board of Trustees and senior leadership.
“We are especially excited to be able to turn it over to our volleyball and basketball programs and the coaches and student-athletes,” McCaw said. “You can hear how excited the coaches are about this venue. It is going to be a game-changer and will have a dramatic impact on our programs.”
