The Bon Secours Wellness Arena was built in 1998 at a cost of US $63 million, under its former name of BI-LO Center, to replace Greenville's outdated and under-repaired Greenville Memorial Auditorium, which was imploded on September 20, 1997 on a site located across the street from the new arena. The arena naming rights were purchased by Dutch grocer Ahold, then-owner of BI-LO, which had been founded in nearby Mauldin and was still based there at the time. When it was built, it passed Columbia's Carolina Coliseum as the largest arena in the state of South Carolina, a distinction it held until 2002, when the Carolina Center was built in Columbia. On September 18, 2013, the BI-LO Center was officially renamed the Bon Secours Wellness Arena after the Bon Secours Health System purchased the naming rights.
Seating capacity
As a concert venue, the Bon Secours Wellness Arena can seat approximately 19,000 spectators, depending on the positioning of the stage. In addition, the arena features 30 luxury suites and 840 club seats.
Notable events
Currently, the Bon Secours Wellness Arena regularly hosts a wide variety of events such as professional wrestling, monster truck rallies, ice dancing shows and competitions, and concerts spanning many different musical genres.
The Bon Secours Wellness Arena hosted the Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament in 2000 and 2001, as well as first and second-round games during the 2002 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. In September 2016, the NCAAMen's Basketball Tournament. In September 2016, the NCAA announced that it would move all tournament games scheduled to take place in North Carolina during the 2016–2017 academic year, due to North Carolina's controversial House Bill 2. Therefore, on March 17 and 19, 2017, the Bon Secours Wellness Arena hosted the first and second-round games for the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, originally intended to take place at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, North Carolina. This was the first NCAA postseason basketball event to have been held at the arena since 2002. In 2005, the SEC Women's Basketball Tournament was played at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena following a scheduling conflict with the intended host site, Philips Arena. Logistically, Philips Arena could not hold the 2005 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament just six weeks after the 54th NHL All-Star Game. Even with the 2004–2005 NHL Lockout, the SEC chose to keep the tournament in Greenville. The SEC Women's Tournament returned to Greenville in March 2017. In October 2017, it was announced that Bon Secours would host the SEC Women's Basketball Tournament for three consecutive years, starting with the 2019 tournament. On October 10, 2014, the Bon Secours Wellness Arena hosted an NBA preseason game between the Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets. Due to the significant renovation planned for Clemson University's Littlejohn Coliseum, the Clemson Tigers Men's and Women's Basketball Teams played their home games for the 2015–2016 season at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena.