ASU basketball tips off with enhanced game-day experience
ASU is enhancing the game-day experience inside Desert Financial Arena. Work started this summer on about $15 million in infrastructure upgrades that will improve the arena’s mechanical and electrical operations. More visible to fans will be the addition of in-seat dining for those in courtside seats, and there will be new signature concession items added for men’s and women’s conference games. Photo by Chris Goulet/ASU
Arizona State University’s inaugural basketball season as a member of the Big 12 is ready to tip off, with the women’s team opening play tonight against Jacksonville State and the men’s team starting their season Tuesday night against Idaho State.
Besides a new conference, strong incoming recruits and some new opponents on the court, ASU is enhancing the game-day experience inside Desert Financial Arena.
Work started this summer on about $15 million in important infrastructure upgrades that will improve the arena’s mechanical and electrical operations. More visible to fans will be the addition of in-seat dining for those in courtside seats, and there will be new signature concession items added for men’s and women’s conference games.
Equal parts grit and grace: Coach Natasha Adair’s approach to the game
An injury derailed her playing career, but Natasha Adair fought her way back and now leads the ASU women’s basketball team with a holistic approach. Read more on ASU News.
The new items include smoked ham and cheese “bear claws” when playing the Baylor Bears, a blackened skirt steak bowl against Texas Christian University, and a breaded pork fritter sandwich when playing Iowa State. The men’s conference games also will feature gator tacos when hosting the University of Central Florida, and a Gulf Coast seafood boil with shrimp and andouille sausage for the showdown with Houston.
Other changes this season include:
- Loaded mac-n-cheese, and kid’s meals that include an Uncrustable, juice and small popcorn for $6.
- Renovations to the Coors Light Club Chill that will include a grab 'n’ go menu and non-alcoholic beverages, as well as a new exterior patio with bistro tables and lighting.
- Promotional giveaways, including James Harden and Briann January bobbleheads, courtesy of adidas. Dates for the giveaways will be announced in the coming weeks.
- The addition of new heritage banners in the arena bowl, produced by industry-leader New England Flag and Banner.
- The opportunity to purchase player-edition adidas jerseys with the NIL (name, image and likeness) of current student-athletes.
“We are thrilled to tip off an exciting season of Sun Devil basketball. Much like we’ve introduced this fall for football at Mountain America Stadium, we're enhancing the game-day atmosphere at Desert Financial Arena to create unforgettable experiences for our fans and Sun Devil supporters of all ages,” said ASU Athletics Director Graham Rossini. “We’re continuing to explore future improvements to the arena and new ways to continue to elevate game day on campus.”
Four women’s basketball games will be played this season in nearby Mullett Arena — on Dec. 30, Jan. 8 and 22, and Feb. 19. And as announced last week, the men’s basketball team will return to the 2025 Maui Invitational for the sixth time in program history to compete alongside North Carolina State, Seton Hall, Texas, UNLV, USC, Washington State and host Chaminade University. Learn more here.
Get your ASU home game tickets now at sundevils.com/tickets.
More Sun Devil community
ASU connects younger, older generations to ease loneliness
When Pencie Culiver sits down on a bench every Tuesday outside Coor Hall, the students are drawn to her and her big sign that says, “I’m All Ears.”She soothes their sorrows, delights in their joys…
Local athletes get crash course on Black history in Arizona
Basketball players from Arizona State University and the Valley Suns gathered on Jan. 6 to learn about Black history in Arizona and Martin Luther King Jr.’s visit to ASU's Tempe campus in 1964.The…
ASU names 2025 MLK Servant-Leadership Award recipients
The 2025 honorees have been named for Arizona State University's annual MLK celebration awards.The four awards — community, faculty, staff and student — recognize leaders who dedicate themselves to…