In recent years, Desert Financial Arena has become known more for what it lacked – premium seating, handrails – than what it offered.
That’s about to change.
The arena, home to the Arizona State men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, gymnastics and wrestling teams, is set to undergo a proposed multiyear, multiphase renovation, costing an estimated $100 million.
The construction is expected to be finished by the end of the decade, with an anticipated completion date of December 2029.
“We've been thinking about it for a long time,” said Joe Lisiewski, ASU assistant vice president and university architect. “Now with the momentum of sports and athletics and some of the deterioration of the building, it's time to do it.”
With the building more than 50 years old, renovations had to happen to keep pace with other athletic programs.
“It's the momentum that's going on with sports with (football coach Kenny) Dillingham and (men’s basketball coach Bobby) Hurley, I think there's a lot of excitement in athletics here right now,” Lisiewski said.
The proposed renovation, which still requires approval from the Arizona Board of Regents, is expected to include many updates to the beloved arena including new loge boxes, club-level seating and premium floor seats and a brand new court, among other updates.
“We’re building a game day experience that matches the passion and pride of our fans while giving our Sun Devil teams a true home court advantage,” ASU athletics director Graham Rossini said in a press release. “The renovation of Desert Financial Arena is about more than updating a building – it’s about creating a space that energizes our entire ASU community.”
With construction expected to begin in May 2026, the first phase will include the replacement of the court and the swapping of 729 seats in the lower bowl for padded seats, which will include cupholders.
Arnie Brenner, a former ASU basketball season-ticket holder for decades, had been waiting for these upgrades for a long time, before finally giving up his season tickets in 2024.
“We were paying a premium,” Brenner said. “We should get premium treatment.”
An additional 200 “premium” seats that will be wider and include more leg room, as well as four “Hollywood” courtside seats, providing state of the art views, between the home bench and scorer’s table, will be added.
Phase 2, expected to begin in summer 2027, will include the renovation of existing restrooms, the construction of two new men’s and women’s bathrooms and a brand new sound system.
Multiple loge boxes, seating a total of 120 people, are planned for the concourse above the lower bowl, reducing the current capacity of the arena from 14,198 to a yet to be determined number.
“Theater boxes” with wider, padded seats that would include cupholders are set to be built on the bottom of the upper bowl.
Phase 3 will begin soon after and will include a court-level club for premium ticket holders, upgraded concession stands and locker rooms and a new video board above center court.
“The food court could benefit from some real restaurant chains,” Brenner said.
The project, should it be approved, would also include upgrades to the cooling and heating systems, elevators and accessible stairs with handrails to ensure ADA compliance. This was high on the priority list for ASU.
“Life safety is No. 1 and accessibility is No. 2,” Lisiewski said. “There's no elevator in the building, so we've had graduations when students would have to navigate a ramp that's not to code to get down to graduation level, so we'll be addressing that. We'll be addressing restrooms. We'll be addressing the fan experience.”
The majority of the renovations for this project would take place between April to October, ensuring that the teams housed by DFA will not be displaced.
A refreshed building would mark a major shift in ASU athletics that will change the fan experience and make the facility more attractive to prospective athletes.
“Having great facilities attracts recruits,” said Scott Bordow, a longtime Valley sportswriter who is now a senior writer for ASU News. “It just does. And having up-to-date facilities and really cool facilities attracts 18-, 19-, 20-, 21-year-old kids. They want to go to places that have great basketball arenas, great football stadiums, great practice facilities, great weight rooms, all the things they can get.”
While the university could benefit by attracting better recruits, it all comes back to the fans.
“The investment in the fan experience is crucial, because they're the ones that are coming to the games,” Bordow said. “They're the ones that are buying tickets. They're the ones that are buying merchandise and following your team and have that passion in your university sports.
So I think it's vital for a university to reach out to its fan base and really let them know they're important.”
This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
-
The department is highlighting a self-exclusion program that allows Arizona residents to ban themselves from gambling establishments, event wagering and fantasy sports. -
Ahead of the Final Four women’s basketball tournament in Phoenix, the NCAA helped fund the renovation of a community center in the Alhambra area as part of a legacy project. -
Reporter Danny Funt says even with the increase in the availability of legal sports betting, and noted increases in people doing it, it’s even more prevalent in our society than we think it is. -
This year's Final Four at the women's NCAA Tournament features a quartet of powerhouse programs, teams that have overwhelmed almost all of their opponents with superior talent and veteran coaching. -
Iran's World Cup hosts in Arizona said this week they were pressing on with training camp upgrades plus local and federal security plans — echoing the “stick to the schedule” mantra FIFA has used.
