Mississippi Coast Coliseum

Mississippi Coast Coliseum is an 11,500-seat reserved seating, 15,000 festival seating, multi-purpose arena in Biloxi, Mississippi. It was built in 1977. It hosted the WCW Beach Blast in 1993 and the Sun Belt Conference men’s basketball tournament in 1992 and 1993. The Metro Conference men's basketball tournaments were contested there in 1990 and 1994. In addition, the rematch between legendary boxing former world heavyweight champion Larry Holmes and his fellow former world heavyweight champion Mike Weaver was held at the Coast Coliseum on November 17, 2000; Holmes winning by sixth round technical knockout.[2]

Mississippi Coast Coliseum
Location2350 Beach Boulevard
Biloxi, Mississippi, 39531
OwnerMississippi Coast Coliseum Commission
OperatorMississippi Coast Coliseum Commission
Capacity11,500 (concerts)
9,150 (ice hockey)
SurfaceMulti-surface
Construction
Broke ground1975
Opened1977
Construction cost$60 million (expansion)
ArchitectH F Fountain Jr & Associates[1]
Tenants
Mississippi Coast Sharks (GBA) (1992)
Mississippi Coast Gamblers (USBL) (1994)
Mississippi Sea Wolves (ECHL) (1996–2005, 2007–2009)
Mississippi Beach Kings (EISL) (1998)
Mississippi Fire Dogs (IPFL/NIFL) (1999–2002)
Gulf Coast Bandits (WBA) (2005)
Mississippi Blues (ABA) (2009–2010)
Mississippi Surge (SPHL) (2009–2014)

The first concert held at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum was by Charley Pride on November 18, 1977, while the first rock band to perform was Blue Oyster Cult on April 16, 1978. The Mississippi Coast Coliseum also holds one of the largest crawfish festivals in America. This event is held every year, over two weekends in April.

Ice hockey

It was previously home to the Mississippi Sea Wolves (ECHL) ice hockey team. Due to damages to the arena by heavy flooding and winds from Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, the Sea Wolves cancelled their 2005–2006 and 2006–2007 seasons. Repairs are now virtually complete, and the Sea Wolves returned to the ice on October 27, 2007. On March 30, 2009, the Sea Wolves announced they had suspended operations once again.[3] However, the Coliseum was not without ice hockey entirely, as the Mississippi Surge announced its membership in the Southern Professional Hockey League and were to play at the Coliseum for the 2009–10 season.[4][5]

Basketball

It was home to the Gulf Coast Bandits, a basketball team that played in the World Basketball Association (WBA). The Bandits cancelled their 2006 season for the same reasons as the Sea Wolves and didn't return in 2007. The Coliseum also hosted the Mississippi Coast Gamblers of the United States Basketball League in 1994.

On October 13, 2013, the New Orleans Pelicans hosted the Atlanta Hawks in a preseason NBA game. Nearly 4,000 spectators came to the game, won by the Pelicans.[6]

The coliseum hosted the 1990 and 1994 Metro Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.

Soccer

The Mississippi Beach Kings, under the leadership of general manager Roy Turner and coach Gary Hindley, went 18–10 during the 1998 season in the Eastern Indoor Soccer League. Hindley was voted coach of the year for the second-place finish. The Beach Kings won their first playoff series over the Huntsville Fire, two games to one, and lost the championship game to the regular-season champion Lafayette Swampcats, 10–9. The EISL folded the next year.

Football

The Mississippi Fire Dogs of the National Indoor Football League also played at the arena, folding in 2003.

Music

It also holds an annual rock festival, known to the locals as THE CPR FESTIVAL. It is presented by the local radio station 97.9 WCPR-FM. It consists of various popular rock artists. Such bands as Three Days Grace, Hinder, and Staind have performed at the event. In 2007, Daughtry, Saliva, and Puddle of Mudd performed. Depeche Mode have also performed at the venue during their Devotional World Tour. Miranda Lambert has performed in the venue multiple times, most recently being during her Wildcard Tour in early 2020.

Wrestling

WWE has held many events, including WWE Smackdown and WWE Raw. It has also held many house shows, and in September 2013, it held Monday Night Raw for the first time in 8 years. SmackDown comes about once a year.

References
  1. Engineering News-Record. 1975.
  2. http://boxrec.com/en/event/26784/39843
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-04-01. Retrieved 2009-05-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "SOUTHERN PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE COMES TO THE COAST". TheSPHL.com. May 7, 2009. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
  5. "Coast Hockey announces new team name". The Sun Herald. June 17, 2009. Retrieved June 17, 2009.
  6. http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400491536

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