The Sacramento State Hornets this week unveiled their new home basketball venue they hope will bring a new level of interest and fan engagement to campus.
“We’re trying to turn this into the Duke arena,” said first-year head coach and Sacramento Kings legend Mike Bibby. “To where it’s a little smaller, to have our fans get rowdy and corrupt in there.”
Bibby was speaking after the Hornets won their first game in the Well and Hornet Pavilion against Division II Dominican of the Bay Area on Tuesday. The game was listed as a sellout, with an attendance of 2,312 with every fixed seat full.
And while it was well below their projected capacity of 3,000 including standing room, the new Hornet Pavilion should more than double the attendance of the program’s former home court — the Nest, which sat just over 1,000 fans — and features more modern amenities.
Tuesday’s win marked the second basketball game held in the new venue that cost roughly $10 million to outfit into a home court.
It’s been a winning week for the Hornets: Sacramento State held a ribbon-cutting event Monday, followed by a record-setting 124-39 win by the women’s team that evening over NAIA-level Stanton; the men’s 103-79 win over Dominican on Tuesday night; and the women defeating Nevada 65-45 in a Wednesday matinee.
The men’s team has another game Friday night, 7 p.m. against William Jessup.
“The renovated facility at the Well, Hornet Pavilion, has been tremendous,” Sac State athletic director Mark Orr said in a phone interview. “I couldn’t be happier with how our students and our alumni and our student athletes and our fans have just had a very positive experience. … It’s been great.”
The Sacramento State Hornets and the Dominican Penguins stand for the national anthem Tuesday before the first men’s basketball game at the Hornet Pavilion. PAUL KITAGAKI JR. [email protected]
What fans should know about the new arena
The Well is the student fitness facility on campus sitting just north of Hornet Stadium, the current home to the football team.
Hornet Pavilion is the portion of it that’s been turned into the home venue of the basketball programs. It was converted from the “Gym Box,” which included rec basketball, volleyball, badminton and pickleball courts. There remains an indoor running track on the second flor that serves as a balcony behind each basket for standing room and VIP areas during basketball games.
Fans wanting to go to games will enter from Gate 2 on the north side of the football stadium and will go through security screenings there before entering the arena on the south side of the building.
What about bathrooms and concessions?
Fortunately for Sac State and those attending the game, the weather Tuesday was far more pleasant than Wednesday when it was raining and windy. All the bathrooms for patrons are outside the building, in temporary trailers.
The outdoor area also serves as a large concourse, of sorts, with plenty of space for vendors and local food trucks.
Having bathrooms outside only appears as a problem in inclement weather. There are more bathrooms inside the Well, but they are closed off to fans attending basketball games and reserved for those using the student facilities, which remain open during basketball games. Otherwise, the outdoor bathroom situation is similar to going to a football game.
“I think it’s important to note that the facility is not only serving Sacramento State men’s and women’s basketball, it serves all of our students,” Orr said. “So during basketball games the entire facility is open for student recreation. … All the activities that take place in the Well recreation space are still being programmed and going on when the basketball game is going on.”
Orr said Sac State is “pretty far along” in creating contingencies for inclement weather to make sure fans can get to the bathrooms, and wait in bathroom lines, while staying protected from the weather.
“That can be anything from providing coverage or tent structures or those kinds of things to get folks out of weather,” Orr said. “Or potentially finding solutions inside the venue to accommodate during those times. Again, some of that depends on the usage of remaining (side) of The Well for our students, which is obviously our first priority.”
There are also four stations set up inside the arena in the corners alongside the main seating areas that sell drinks, hot dogs, popcorn and other snacks for those who don’t want to go outside.
Fortunately, there is no rain expected Friday night, though temperatures are expected to cool from the low 60s to high 50s during the game against William Jessup.
Hornets at home
Sac State men’s basketball follows Friday’s matchup against William Jessup with a Tuesday showdown against UC Santa Barbara. Then it’s onto the Causeway Classic next Friday, Nov. 14, hosted this year by the UC Davis Aggies in Davis.
After one more home game Nov. 25, vs. San Francisco State, the men’s team won’t play at Hornet Pavilion again until Jan. 15 following a seven-game road trip.
Sac State’s women’s team plays its next home game Nov. 21 and will then host the Aggies on Nov. 24 at Hornet Pavilion. They’ll return to Sacramento for a Dec. 15 matchup with Simpson.
Related Stories from Sacramento Bee
Chris Biderman
The Sacramento Bee
Chris Biderman covered the 49ers from 2013 to 2021 and started with The Sacramento Bee in August 2018. He previously spent time with the Associated Press and USA Today Sports Media Group. A Santa Rosa native, he graduated with a degree in journalism from the Ohio State University.
Support my work with a digital subscription
