Fresno State Athletics
The Save Mart Center is recognized around the nation as being one of the finest on-campus college arenas, and has been named the No. 2 top collegiate venue by Pollstar, the leading trade publication for the concert and entertainment industry.
With its size, scope, unique architectural features, and video, sound and telecom systems, the Save Mart Center serves as a major provider of entertainment and sporting events for the state of California, especially the San Joaquin Valley.
Seating capacity for the arena ranges from 3,333 to 18,000 seats, with 15,596 listed as the official number for basketball, 3,333 for volleyball and wrestling competing in multiple configurations.
The Save Mart Center is a premier entertainment destination for headline events and tours. Designed by Sink Combs Dethlefs (Denver, Colo.), the Save Mart Center is approximately 450,000 square feet and contains 32 private suites, 1,000 Arena Builder seats (commonly referred to as "club seats"), a club level concourse, team locker rooms, and athletics training facilities. The entire facility is approximately 48 acres and located off Shaw Avenue adjacent to Highway 168.
The total project value exceeded $100 million and represented the largest privately funded project in the history of the California State University system. The Save Mart Center was financed through revenue from corporate sponsorships, private gifts, leasing of luxury suites, sale of Arena Builder and personal seat licenses as well as revenue from advertising and signage agreements.
Next to the Save Mart Center is the West Complex, a $17.6 million, two-story, 92,000-square-foot building which features the Student Recreation Center, the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the high-tech Leon and Pete Peters Educational Research Center.
Men's & Women's Basketball
The Save Mart Center has been the home for the Fresno State men's and women's basketball programs since 2003 and has already hosted four major collegiate sporting championships, which most recently came in March 2012 when Fresno State hosted a NCAA women's basketball championship regional for the second time.
In March 2004, the facility served as the host site for the McCaffrey Western Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament. The following year, the Save Mart Center was the venue for the first and second rounds of the 2005 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.
In 2007 and 2012, Fresno State was one of four schools that hosted the regional semifinals and championship game for the NCAA women's basketball tournament.
Volleyball
The Bulldog volleyball team has called the Save Mart Center its home since 2006, as they played the majority of the season there in the first year and in 2007 competed in their first complete season at the arena.
In 2008, a new configuration was unveiled and a new floor built to create a new intimate environment for the student-athletes and fans.
The new court was designed to look similar to the court the team played on the previous two seasons at the Save Mart Center and the court that the Fresno State men's and women's basketball teams currently play its games.
The new floor however, is a volleyball specific court and was made by Horner Flooring out of Dollar Bay, Mich., the same company that designed the previous court.
Made out of sugar maple wood, the floor is 5,400 square feet and took three-and-a-half to four weeks to build, said Doug Hamar of Horner Flooring. Hamar went on to discuss the amount of paint, about 18-20 gallons used for the red endzones and the Bulldog in the center of the court. The court is pieced together in 126 smaller panels.
Bulldog Volleyball began competition in 1965 playing in the North Gym, originally known as the Fresno State College Gym which opened in Jan. 1953. The $1 million dollar facility wasn't officially occupied until the fall semester of that same year. It was the first gymnasium in the history of Fresno State and originally served as the home court for men's basketball.
In 1995, the North Gym underwent a $2 million facelift that saw significant improvement for everyone involved with the facility. The changes included installation of more than 350 chairback seats, air conditioning in the gymnasium, two electronic digital scoreboards and the construction of the North Gym Annex, located on the north side of the gym. The annex was completed in 1995 and boasts the women's locker rooms for volleyball, softball, basketball, tennis and track and field. It also includes a coaches locker room and a multi-purpose/conference room.
