Lawlor Events Center is located at the intersection of North Virginia Street and 15th Street on the University of Nevada, Reno campus. Nevada's Wolf Pack Basketball team plays at Lawlor Events Center.
Non-sports: Lawlor was featured in Eddie Money's music video for "Take Me Home Tonight" and tenor Luciano Pavarotti opened his 1985 world tour at the arena. Lawlor also has hosted presidents, such as Ronald Reagan, U.S. poet laureates, like Maya Angelou, as well as concerts, rodeos, Harlem Globe Trotters, Ice Skating Shows and a variety of events.
In the late 1970s, the Nevada Wolf Pack had a basketball team that could match up with any in the country.What Nevada didn't have was an arena befitting its roster of talented players like Edgar Jones, Johnny High and Michael "Fly" Gray. Instead, the Wolf Pack stuffed its team into the campus' Old Gym (capacity 2,000), which was built during World War II, or the Centennial Coliseum, which was 10 miles from campus. That all changed when Lawlor Events Center was constructed in 1983.
The stadium's opening didn't come without controversy. It cost $26 million, the funding coming on the back of state slot taxes. UNLV also used those slot taxes to construct the Thomas & Mack Center, at a price tag of $30 million, the same year. Figuring inflation, Lawlor cost nearly $61 million in current dollars.
