Mississippi Coast Coliseum
Encyclopedia
The Mississippi Coast Coliseum is a 11,500 reserved seating, 15,000 festival seating, multi-purpose arena
in Biloxi, Mississippi
. It was built in 1977. It hosted WCW
Beach Blast
1993 and the Sun Belt Conference
men’s basketball tournament in 1992 and 1993. The Metro Conference
(now Conference USA
) men's basketball tournaments were contested here in 1990 and 1994.
The first concert ever held at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum was Ruby Starr and Blackfoot.
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.
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 Mississippi Sea Wolves cancelled their 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons. Repairs are now virtually complete, and the Sea Wolves returned on the ice on October 27, 2007. On March 30, 2009, the Sea Wolves announced they had suspended operations once again. However, the Coliseum will not be without ice hockey entirely, as the Mississippi Surge
has announced its membership in the Southern Professional Hockey League
and will play at the Coliseum for the 2009-10 season.
It was home to the Gulf Coast Bandits
, a basketball
team that played in the WBA
. The Gulf Coast 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.
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 in a heartbreaking finish, 10-9. The EISL folded the next year.
The Mississippi Fire Dogs
of the National Indoor Football League
also played at the arena, folding in 2003.
It also holds an annual rock festival
, known to the locals as THE CPR FEST. It is presented by the local radio station 97.9 WCPR-FM
. It consists of various popular rock artists. From 1996 - 2005, the event was held outside, on the coliseum grounds. In 2006 the event was the first to be held inside the Coliseum. Such bands as Three Days Grace
, Hinder
, & Staind
have performed at the event. In 2007, Daughtry, Saliva
, and Puddle of Mudd
performed. Has many events like WWE Smackdown TV and even WWE Raw
The coliseum hosted a wwe Smackdown tv on october 4th 2011.
Arena
An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...
in Biloxi, Mississippi
Biloxi, Mississippi
Biloxi is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, in the United States. The 2010 census recorded the population as 44,054. Along with Gulfport, Biloxi is a county seat of Harrison County....
. It was built in 1977. It hosted WCW
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
Beach Blast
Beach Blast
Beach Blast was a professional wrestling pay-per-view promoted by World Championship Wrestling and held in the summers of 1992 and 1993. It was replaced by Bash at the Beach in 1994.-1992:...
1993 and the Sun Belt Conference
Sun Belt Conference
The Sun Belt Conference is a college athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Its football teams participate in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , the higher of two levels of Division I football competition . The Sun Belt has member institutions...
men’s basketball tournament in 1992 and 1993. The Metro Conference
Metro Conference
The Metropolitan Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, popularly known as the Metro Conference, was an NCAA Division I athletics conference, so named because all of its charter members were in urban metropolitan areas in, or at least on the fringes of, the Southern United States...
(now Conference USA
Conference USA
Conference USA, officially abbreviated C-USA, is a college athletic conference whose member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports...
) men's basketball tournaments were contested here in 1990 and 1994.
The first concert ever held at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum was Ruby Starr and Blackfoot.
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.
It was previously home to the Mississippi Sea Wolves
Mississippi Sea Wolves
The Mississippi Sea Wolves were a professional hockey team based in Biloxi, Mississippi and playing in the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. The Sea Wolves were members of the ECHL....
(ECHL
ECHL
The ECHL is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Princeton, New Jersey with teams scattered across the United States...
) ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
team. Due to damages to the arena by heavy flooding and winds, from Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
in August 2005, the Mississippi Sea Wolves cancelled their 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons. Repairs are now virtually complete, and the Sea Wolves returned on the ice on October 27, 2007. On March 30, 2009, the Sea Wolves announced they had suspended operations once again. However, the Coliseum will not be without ice hockey entirely, as the Mississippi Surge
Mississippi Surge
The Mississippi Surge is a professional team in the Southern Professional Hockey League that began play in the 2009-10 season. Based in Biloxi, home games are played at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum also known as "The Power Plant".-History:...
has announced its membership in the Southern Professional Hockey League
Southern Professional Hockey League
The Southern Professional Hockey League is a low-level professional ice hockey league based in Charlotte, North Carolina, with teams located in the southeastern United States.- History :...
and will play at the Coliseum for the 2009-10 season.
It was home to the Gulf Coast Bandits
Gulf Coast Bandits
The Gulf Coast Bandits were a World Basketball Association franchise in Biloxi, Mississippi. The Bandits sat out the 2006 season due to Hurricane Katrina and have since gone out of business....
, a basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
team that played in the WBA
World Basketball Association
The World Basketball Association, often abbreviated to the WBA, is a professional men's spring basketball league in the United States.-History:The WBA was conceived in 2004, with seven teams scheduled to play...
. The Gulf Coast 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
United States Basketball League
The United States Basketball League , often abbreviated to the USBL, was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985. The final champions are the Kansas Cagerz, who won the title game on July 1, 2007.-History:...
in 1994.
The Mississippi Beach Kings, under the leadership of general manager Roy Turner and coach Gary Hindley
Gary Hindley
Gary Hindley is an American soccer coach. He has coached youth soccer, high school, college and professional teams. He won Coach of the Year honors in 1984 in the United Soccer League, 1991 American Professional Soccer League and 1998...
went 18-10 during the 1998 season in the Eastern Indoor Soccer League
Eastern Indoor Soccer League
The Eastern Indoor Soccer League was an attempt to create a regional minor indoor soccer league. The league featured teams from the Southeastern United States...
. 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 in a heartbreaking finish, 10-9. The EISL folded the next year.
The Mississippi Fire Dogs
Mississippi Fire Dogs
The Mississippi Fire Dogs are a now-defunct indoor football team from Biloxi, Mississippi. They played their home games at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. They were a charter member of the Indoor Professional Football League. They Played from in the 1999-2000 IPFL seasons before joining the...
of the National Indoor Football League
National Indoor Football League
National Indoor Football League was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, af2, however, that changed briefly with their expansion into AFL...
also played at the arena, folding in 2003.
It also holds an annual rock festival
Rock festival
A rock festival, or a rock fest, is a large-scale rock music concert, featuring multiple acts.The first rock festivals were put on in the late 1960s and were important socio-cultural milestones. In the 1980s a minor resurgence of festivals occurred with charity as the goal.Today, they are often...
, known to the locals as THE CPR FEST. It is presented by the local radio station 97.9 WCPR-FM
WCPR-FM
WCPR-FM is a radio station licensed to Wiggins, Mississippi, and its transmitter is located in Saucier, Mississippi, on a 466-foot tower at 50,000 watts of power. WCPR plays all new rock alternative and some active rock from the 1980s and 1990s but mostly new rock...
. It consists of various popular rock artists. From 1996 - 2005, the event was held outside, on the coliseum grounds. In 2006 the event was the first to be held inside the Coliseum. Such bands as Three Days Grace
Three Days Grace
Three Days Grace is a Canadian rock band, formed in Norwood, Ontario, Canada in 1992, originally under the name Groundswell. After a breakup in late 1997, the band regrouped in the same year under its current name and with a line-up consisting of guitarist and lead vocalist Adam Gontier, drummer...
, Hinder
Hinder
Hinder is an American rock band from Oklahoma that was formed in 2001 by drummer Cody Hanson, guitarist Joe Garvey, and singer Austin Winkler. The band was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2007.-Formation and early history:...
, & Staind
Staind
Staind is an American rock band that was formed in 1995 in Springfield, Massachusetts. For 16 years, the band consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Aaron Lewis, lead guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist Johnny April, and drummer Jon Wysocki...
have performed at the event. In 2007, Daughtry, Saliva
Saliva (band)
Saliva is an American rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in September 1996 and currently under Island Records. Saliva released their self-titled debut album on August 26, 1997, under Rocking Chair Records....
, and Puddle of Mudd
Puddle of Mudd
Puddle Of Mudd is an American rock band from Kansas City, Missouri, USA. To date the band has sold over 7 million albums, and have had a string of #1 mainstream rock singles in the United States. Their major-label debut Come Clean has sold over 5 million copies...
performed. Has many events like WWE Smackdown TV and even WWE Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
The coliseum hosted a wwe Smackdown tv on october 4th 2011.