From football, baseball and basketball to soccer, hockey and motor sports, millions of spectators are drawn annually to Utah's sporting events. However, casual observers may not have attended home games for Utah's many sports teams. The Deseret Morning News will be running an ongoing series of reports looking at many of the state's major sporting events, summarizing the spectator experience as to venue, atmosphere and cost.
PROVO — The BYU men's basketball team has turned from dominant home force to congenial host this season.
Coming into the 2004-2005 season, the Cougars had amassed a 57-1 record in home games the previous three seasons at the Marriott Center, including a string of 44 straight victories through late January 2003. Coming into the new year, BYU also boasted a then-current 40-game winning streak against opponents outside the Mountain West Conference.
What a difference a struggling year makes.
This year, the Cougars find themselves a game under .500 in Marriott Center contests — at 6-7 with a home finale next month still remaining. The nonconference streak soon ended after the start of the year, and several opponents have posted their first victories over fairly lengthy stretches at the Marriott Center, where BYU had enjoyed a .774 winning percentage before this season.
Like victories, attendance this season has tailed off at the Marriott Center. BYU has ranked in the top 25 nationally in paid attendance every year during its Marriott Center era, including 19 times in the top five and three times as the national leader.
With one game remaining, the Cougars are averaging 10,549 a game — all but a lock to become the Marriott Center lowest, well under the 12,207 average of the 1997-98 season. Still that is third-best in the Mountain West, trailing the conference-reported averages through Feb. 13 games for New Mexico (13,806) and UNLV (11,828) and slightly ahead of Utah (10,132).
The Marriott Center is the third-largest on-campus arena in the county, trailing the 33,000-seat Carrier Dome at Syracuse and Tennessee's 24,525-seat Thompson-Boling Arena.
When it first opened opened on Dec. 3, 1971, it was called the Marriott Activities Center. Given the university's propensity for acronyms and the fact that the facility quickly became known as "the Big MAC" — sounding more like an homage to a certain hamburger chain rather than the name of the Marriott hotel magnate — it was quickly shorted to the Marriott Center.
TEAM: BYU men's basketball
WEBSITE:www.byucougars.com
VENUE: Marriott Center, 500 E. University Parkway, Provo. Seating capacity of 22,700, including 10,100 chair seats.
In addition to the BYU men's basketball team, the Marriott Center is also home to the Cougar women's basketball team, numerous BYU gymnastics meets, occasional men's volleyball matches (a BYU-Hawaii match in 1999 drew an NCAA record 14,156) and other university- and community-sponsored events ranging from religious devotionals and commencement exercises to cultural-arts performances and educational conferences.
REMAINING GAMES: BYU's final home game: March 5, 7 p.m., vs. UNLV
ADMISSION: Single-game tickets range from $16 for the prime and lower-level chair seats, $12 for the upper-level chair seats and $5 for the upper-level bench seats.
Tickets can be purchased in person at the Marriott Center Ticket office, by phone at 422-BYU1 or 1-800-322-BYU1 or online at www.byutickets.com.
ARRIVING: Located a half-dozen blocks east of Provo's University Avenue, those arriving from the south can take the University Avenue exit off I-15, while those coming from the north can take Orem's University Parkway exit and drive directly to the arena. Those from Heber City and Wasatch and Summit counties can take US 189 down Provo Canyon to University Avenue.
PARKING: Some reserved/paid lots located are the ones located nearest to the Marriott Center. However, free parking is a block or two away — at the football stadium lots or the campus lots to the south.
FAMILIAR FOODSTUFF: From the arena concessions stands — hot dog, $2.50; popcorn, $2.50-$3.50; pretzel, $2; nachos, $3; soft drink, $2.50-$3; beer, not available; bottled water, $2. Other concessions items available include polish dog, barbecue sandwich, sub sandwich, pizza, ice cream, candy.
EXPANDED MENU: Additional offerings include smoothies, shaved ice, Oriental fast foods, almonds.
SOUVENIRS: T-shirts, $19; replica jerseys, $50; sweatshirts, $60; caps, $10-$20; miniball, $3-$8; pennant, $6; program, $1; media guide, $5.
E-mail: taylor@desnews.com