BYU Announces Three Major Upgrades to Marriott Center

Brigham Young University announced three major changes to its Marriott Center, home to its men’s and women’s basketball teams.

The three enhancements include the construction of a 38,000 square foot practice facility, a lower bowl reconstruction to upgrade the yellow chairs to prime seating, and the installation of state-of-the-art video boards around the court.

Practice Facility (Marriott Center annex)

The practice facility is being labeled as the Marriott Center’s annex and will be added onto the east side of the building. The annex will replace the road that currently separates the arena from the BYU Broadcasting Building.

Athletic Director Tom Holmoe believes that the addition of this state-of-the-art facility will enhance the school’s basketball programs. On BYU basketball’s website, Holmoe says,

[pull_quote_center]This is an exciting day for BYU basketball. Both our men’s and women’s teams have been very successful, and this new facility will certainly enhance both programs.[/pull_quote_center]

The court floors in the annex will mimic the floors in the Marriott Center and also feature shooting areas on each end of the court. Other features to the practice facility include a strength and conditioning center, a training room with hydrotherapy, office suites for men’s and women’s basketball and a basketball “hall of honor” that will recognize the traditions and history of BYU basketball. The athletes will also be provided with study areas and a team lounge.

This portion of the project is funded by generous private donations which should also cover future facility maintenance.

September 2016 is the expected time of completion for the Marriott Center annex.

New Lower Bowl Seating

During the summer of 2012, the north side of the arena underwent a seat upgrade where all of the hard yellow chairs were replaced with prime seating. This summer, the remaining seats in the lower bowl will also be upgraded to the blue prime seats. There are no current plans for updating the bleachers located in the upper-bowl. With the lower-bowl seat renovation, the Marriott Center will loose about 1,900 seats, bringing the total occupancy down to 19,000.

The prime seating features padded chairs and wider aisles for more leg room. The reconfiguration of the rows requires the reseating of basketball season ticket holders. The student section will remain on the west side of the arena.

For more details on how the reseating of season tickets will take place, visit the Season Tickets tab on the BYU Basketball website.

The renovation is set to begin around May 1 and is expected to be completed by late summer.

Video Boards

The last major change to the arena features a new LED video board. The four new screens of the video board are approximately 24-feet wide by 18-feet high and will face the north, east, south and west sides of the arena.

The video board will also include two underbelly screens, running at 13-feet wide by 7.5-feet high, and will be visible from the lower arena seats and press seating. These underbelly boards will face the north and south sides of the Marriott Center. In addition, new LED video boards will also be installed above the portals in the arena. It is expected that these new boards will greatly enhance all of the events that are held in the Marriott Center year-round, not just sporting events.

Larry Duffin, BYU Special Events director stated,

[pull_quote_center]The new LED boards and improved seating comfort throughout the lower bowl are part of BYU’s ongoing efforts to ensure that the Marriott Center remains a vital part of campus for years to come.[/pull_quote_center]

The video board upgrade should begin around the same time as the seat renovation begins, May 1, and should be completed by late summer 2015.