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Magness Arena

Multi-purpose sports arena in Denver, Colorado

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Source updated August 30, 2026

Magness Arena is a multi-purpose collegiate sports arena in Denver, Colorado. It was built from 1997 to 1999 as part of the Daniel L. Ritchie Center, the sports complex at the University of Denver. It is home to the Denver Pioneers ice hockey team and secondary home to the basketball teams. It replaces the former University of Denver Arena which was razed in 1997 to make way for the Ritchie Center. Magness Arena opened September 1999, one month before the Pepsi Center. The arena was voted, "Best New Sports Venue" by Westword in 2000.

01About the arena

The arena is named after cable television pioneer Bob Magness, who donated $10 million towards construction costs. It features padded individual seating, two members-only club seating areas, a four-sided video scoreboard, and a concourse with glassed-in views of the adjoining Hamilton Gymnasium and El Pomar Natatorium. The arena can be identified around the city by the attached 215-foot-tall (66 m), gold-spired Williams Tower, which contains a 65-bell carillon.

The largest hockey crowd in arena history was a game between Denver and Colorado College on March 9, 2024, with an attendance of 7,033. The largest non-hockey event in the arena was a 2008 presidential campaign rally for Barack Obama, where about 10,000 people attended. Magness Arena hosted the first of three 2012 U.S. Presidential Debates on October 3, 2012.

02Concerts

List of Concerts

Jethro Tull, September 24, 1999
Garbage, October 20, 1999, with Lit
The Moody Blues, October 30, 1999
Counting Crows, December 2, 1999, with The Gigolo Aunts and December 4, 2002
Def Leppard, December 9, 1999, December 17, 2002 and November 1, 2005, with Cheap Trick
Tracy Chapman, April 14, 2000
Beck, April 24, 2000, with DJ Swamp
Luis Miguel, April 25, 2000, April 9, 2002, October 22, 2003 and October 4, 2005
Brian Wilson, September 16, 2000
Christina Aguilera, October 5, 2000, with Destiny's Child
Matchbox 20, October 16, 2000
The Stone Temple Pilots, November 2, 2000, with Godsmack and Disturbed
Sarah Brightman, November 8, 2000 and March 7, 2004
The Roots, November 14, 2000
The Trans-Siberian Orchestra, December 8, 2000, December 5, 2001 and December 2, 2002
Prince & The New Power Generation, April 24, 2001, with Milenia and The Fonky Bald Heads
The Irish Tenors, June 13, 2001
Neil Sedaka & Dionne Warwick, June 24, 2001, with The Colorado Symphony Orchestra
The Cult, June 26, 2001, with Stabbing Westward and Monster Magnet
Aaron Carter, June 27, 2001, with Leslie Carter and A-Teens
Jane's Addiction, October 31, 2001
Sting, December 10, 2001, with Howie Day and April 12, 2005, with Phantom Planet
Styx, March 22, 2002, with REO Speedwagon
Bad Religion, March 23, 2002, with Less Than Jake and Hot Water Music
Kid Rock & Twisted Brown Trucker, April 11, 2002, with Lit and Saliva
Alanis Morissette, May 11, 2002, with Ryan Adams
Maná, September 29, 2002
American Idol Live!, November 12, 2002
Tori Amos, December 5, 2002
Scorpions, February 25, 2003, with Whitesnake and Dokken and October 27, 2004, with Tesla
Good Charlotte, November 13, 2003, with Goldfinger and Eve 6
KoЯn, November 15, 2003, with Limp Bizkit and DROID and March 8, 2006, with Mudvayne and 10 Years
A Perfect Circle, March 20, 2004, with The Mars Volta
The Pixies, September 30, 2004, with The Thrills
Duran Duran, March 16, 2005
Snoop Dogg, April 17, 2005, with Game
Slipknot, April 20, 2005, with Lamb of God, Shadows Fall and The Dillinger Escape Plan
Cake, April 25, 2005, with Gomez
Velvet Revolver, April 26, 2005, with Hoobastank
Gwen Stefani, October 26, 2005, with The Black Eyed Peas
Depeche Mode, November 11, 2005, with The Bravery
Fall Out Boy, April 12, 2006, with The All-American Rejects, Hawthorne Heights, From First to Last and The Hush Sound and November 23, 2007, with Gym Class Heroes, The Plain White T's, Cute Is What We Aim For and Doug
Avenged Sevenfold, April 21, 2006, with Coheed and Cambria and Head Automatica
Flogging Molly, October 3, 2006, with ZOX and Bedouin Soundclash
Paul Simon, October 10, 2006, with The Jerry Douglas Band
Dashboard Confessional, October 24, 2008, with Brand New
James Blunt, October 28, 2006, with Starsailor
The Barenaked Ladies, November 21, 2006, with Mike Doughty's Band
Panic! at the Disco, November 28, 2006, with Jack's Mannequin, The Bloc Party and The Plain White T's
The Taste of Chaos Tour, February 27, 2007, with Thirty Seconds to Mars and The Used
My Chemical Romance, March 4, 2007, with Rise Against
Evanescence, November 25, 2007, with Julien-K
Juanes, April 25, 2008
The Killers, January 17, 2009, with M83
Neil Young, April 27, 2009, with The Neville Brothers and Everest
Bob Dylan, October 21, 2009
Rob Thomas, October 27, 2009, with OneRepublic and Carolina Liar
KTCL 93.3's Not So Silent Night, December 6, 2009
Slayer, August 25, 2010, with Megadeth and Testament
The Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, November 3, 2011
A Hot Summer's Night 2, August 25 and September 8, 2012
DUPB MusicFest, May 25, 2013
KJHM Jammin' 101.5's Winter Wonder Jam, December 7, 2013

Watch videos about Magness ArenaExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Magness Arena”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

Magness Arena looking northwest.jpg by DenverLawGuy, CC BY-SA 4.0
Magness Arena pregame.jpg by DenverLawGuy, CC BY-SA 4.0
Magness Arena Exterior.jpg by Jared Winkler, CC BY-SA 4.0

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Magness Arena

01About the arena

02Concerts

Sources and credits

Related topics

List of NCAA Division I basketball arenas