Mitchell Center

Mitchell Center
The Jungle
Map
Location2195 Mitchell Center Drive
Mobile, AL 36608
OwnerUniversity of South Alabama
OperatorUniversity of South Alabama
CapacityBasketball: 10,041
Concerts: 3,500-10,800
SurfaceMulti-surface
Construction
Broke groundMay 1996
OpenedJune 24, 1998
Construction cost$30 million
($56.1 million in 2023 dollars[1])
ArchitectHarvey M. Gandler & Associates
Structural engineerMBA Engineers, Inc.
Tenants
South Alabama Jaguars (NCAA) (1998–present)
Mobile Seagulls (NIFL) (2001)
Southern Alabama Bounce (ABA) (2006–2007)
Mobile Bay Tarpons (SIFL) (2011)

Mitchell Center is a 10,041-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. It was completed in 1998 and is the home to the University of South Alabama Jaguars basketball teams. The Center is named for the Mitchell family, local real estate developers who have given over US$35 million to various University causes (both the Mitchell Cancer Institute and the Mitchell College of Business are named for them), including $1 million for construction of the Center.

The venue can seat 3,500 for theatrical presentations, 7,354 for front-of-arena concerts, 8,777 for the circus and auto racing, and 10,800 for full-arena concerts.

The arena contains 18,080 square feet (1,680 m2) of arena floor space, 6,918 square feet (643 m2) of meeting rooms space and an additional 4,230 square feet (393 m2) in the Globe area, where the Waterman Globe is located. The arena's eight-sided center-hung scoreboard has four video screens. There are 16 ticket windows, a 14,000-watt sound system, a 60-by-40-foot (18 by 12 m) portable stage, four dressing and two team locker rooms, a training room, a production office and in-house catering. The arena measures 63'8" from the floor to the roof. There is parking for 4,450 cars within a ten-minute walk of the arena, including 450 at the arena itself.

The Mitchell Center hosted the 2001 and 2008 Sun Belt Conference men’s basketball tournaments.

The Mitchell Center hosted its first ever NBA basketball game between the New Orleans Hornets and Miami Heat on October 23, 2008.

In the spring of 2011, the Mitchell Center was home to the Mobile Bay Tarpons of the Southern Indoor Football League.

On the May 8, 2007, edition of "Lunch with Lee" on WNSP in Mobile, recently hired head basketball coach Ronnie Arrow called the Mitchell Center "the best arena in the state of Alabama."

  1. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.