Carver-Hawkeye Arena — Attraction in Iowa City

Home of our Hawkeyes! The arena's relatively unique design has fans enter from the top of the facility. People who have never before visited Carver are surprised at how far it is to get to courtside! There is only one seating bowl; no upper/lower decks or suite levels. UI Athletics has done a good job through the introduction of some group tables and other premium seating/club options.

Security can sometimes be frustrating, as not all prohibited items are listed on the arena's A-Z guide, meaning you may get there (potentially having driven for hours, parked in an outer lot, and walked for 15-20 minutes) only to discover that something seemingly normal to take into an arena isn't allowed. I experienced this once, and was frustrated that the security manager gave me multiple stories rather than a straight answer; she kept blaming others, though no one in particular, and referring to an internal document unavailable to the public before attending a game.

Hawkeye fans can get loud when the team is on a roll; I recommend a visit to Carver for all Big Ten...

It's been several years since I had been here before New Year's Eve 2016. We went for an Iowa women's basketball game (vs. Nebraska) since we had procured free tickets through our credit union. Parking was free, and seemingly plentiful (probably because of the timing and who was playing). I wish you could bring in your own (even empty) water bottle because I refuse to be ripped off by paying $4 for a bottle of water. We ended up getting a small cup to fill at the drinking fountain. We had great seats for the game, but I've been to other games that the crowd was more pumped up. Lots of black & gold everywhere, of course, but lots of concrete as well. Bathrooms were clean enough, but can there ever be enough bathrooms at venues such as this? Nope! There was a long line...

Love Carver not many bad seats in the arena at all. Watching a game live here is pretty awesome, most seats put you rite on top of the action for basketball unless your rite behind the basket. Tickets are reasonable (just paid $70 a ticket for 6th row behind the visitors bench for a B10 top 25 matchup). Just attended 2 sold out events in 3 days, wrestling (#1-Iowa vs. #2-Penn State) Iowa won 19-17 on the last match. Then mens basketball 2 days later (#18-Iowa vs #19-Illinois) Iowa won 72-65. Both were raucous especially the basketball game, Carver was jumpin. Nothin beats an packed home crowd and a heated battle @ Carver Hawkeye! Food is expensive but at what college or pro sporting event is it not these days. So eat before you go and make some noise...