October 4, 2005

Time for a quick history lesson. What sports and entertainment venue's grand opening featured the professional debut of future Hall of Fame basketball player Patrick Ewing in 1985? Answer: The George Mason University Patriot Center. Exactly twenty years ago today the New York Knicks were led by rookie Patrick Ewing when they faced the Washington Bullets in a pre-season game at The George Mason University Patriot Center. This year, the Patriot Center is celebrating its 20th Anniversary by kicking off a packed schedule of concerts and events beginning with Beck on October 5th, and announcing a $10 million renovation for the building.

"George Mason University has been proud to have the Patriot Center as part of its landscape these many years. It has enabled us to provide our entire region with a viable and valuable entertainment outlet of high caliber as well as helped maintain the visibility of our institution to people of all ages," says George Mason University President Alan G. Merten. "We congratulate the staff of the Patriot Center for their many achievements and look forward to continuing our strong partnership with them."

“Managing the Patriot Center over the past twenty years for The George Mason University has been a wonderful experience,” says Washington Sports & Entertainment Chairman Abe Pollin. “Our goal is to provide world-class sports and entertainment to the patrons of the DC metropolitan area and the Patriot Center is a perfect venue to accomplish that goal. With a renovation of the building planned for next year and another full schedule of events, we look forward to continuing our partnership with The George Mason University.”

To date the Patriot Center has hosted over 2,290 events and concerts including Sting (four times), Prince (three times), R.E.M. (two times), James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam. The Patriot Center has also brought to the table a variety of family shows on an annual basis including the Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Circus, The Harlem Globetrotters, Sesame Street Live, Disney On Ice and The Wiggles. The Northern Virginia venue doesn’t stop there for entertainment as it solidifies itself as a mecca for concerts this Fall with dates scheduled for Beck, Foo Fighters and Weezer, Audioslave, Kanye West, Gwen Stefani and the Black Eyed Peas, and Willie Nelson.

Highlights from the past twenty years have included a milestone of firsts: hosting the 1990 NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championships, gathering a record crowd of 10,356 people for a Phish concert, selling out four shows for the Australian children’s phenomenon The Wiggles, bringing two icons of the industry to the venue less than a month apart earlier this year - Sting and Bruce Springsteen - with the Boss breaking the record for the highest grossing single performance ($573,885), and crowning the venue as a boxing destination in Northern Virginia as Jimmy Lange from NBC’s The Contender took on Perry Ballard just last month for the World Boxing Empire title.

George Mason University’s Men’s and Women’s basketball teams have also etched in stone some memorable highlights for the building. The Patriots Men’s basketball team kicked off their first game at the Patriot Center on November 26th, 1985 against rival University of Maryland, and hosted the first ever CAA Tournament at the Patriot Center in 1986. With a record of 174-84, the Patriots have made three NCAA appearances (1989, 1999 and 2001) and three NIT appearances (1986, 2002 and 2004 – two games) with the past two taking place at the venue. The Women’s team has made their fair share of contributions with a record of 121-70 and hosting Georgetown in the first ever post-season contest in the WNIT back in 2001. In 2005, the women hosted the CAA Tournament for the first time at the building and will continue the tradition into 2006.

With a record breaking attendance figure of 522,559 in 2005, the Patriot Center is bolstering its attendance record for the past twenty years of over 7.3 million people and plans to jumpstart the next twenty years as it undergoes a $10 million renovation. Plans for the renovations include four brand new concession stands, four new bathrooms, and a new box office. A new façade for the concourse and the entrances will complete the renovation scheduled to begin in July of 2006.

“We’ve taken pride over the past twenty years in providing the local community and student population with quality entertainment ranging from basketball games to family shows to concerts to trade shows,” says Patriot Center General Manager Barry Geisler. “The next twenty years will kick-off with a full schedule of events and a $10 million renovation set to start next summer, providing our patrons with a brand new experience for years to come.”