Welsh–Ryan Arena is a 7,039-seat multi-purpose arena in Evanston, Illinois, United States, near the campus of Northwestern University. It is home to four Northwestern Wildcats athletic teams: men's basketball, women's basketball, women's volleyball, and wrestling. It is located inside McGaw Memorial Hall, to the north of Ryan Field. The building opened in 1952 as a replacement for Patten Gymnasium, and was the site of the Final Four for the 1956 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. It was extensively renovated in 1983, at which time the main arena was renamed Welsh–Ryan Arena. At the conclusion of the 2016–17 basketball season, the arena was renovated and upgraded as part of a $110 million project completed in late 2018. The renovation displaced the athletic programs that use the arena for the 2017–18 season. For years, Welsh–Ryan Arena was the smallest arena in the Big Ten Conference and the only conference facility that did not seat at least 10,000. With Rutgers University joining the conference in 2014, Welsh–Ryan became the second-smallest arena after the Louis Brown Athletic Center at Rutgers, which has a listed capacity of 8,000. Welsh–Ryan once again became the smallest arena in the Big Ten Conference in 2018, with the listed capacity decreasing to 7,039 after renovations.
