McGrath Phillips Arena

The DePaul University women’s basketball team plays in the McGrath Phillips Arena which is located in the Sullivan Athletic Center. The arena itself is just a little better than a high school gym. It’s small with stadium bleacher seating on both sides of the court. There are electronic score boards on both sides and a large screen that shows the game. I’m not sure the purpose of the screen since the arena is small enough where watching the actual court is better than looking at a vibrant screen. The sound system was fabulous. It was easy to hear the lively announcer.
There was a concession stand that was nicely staffed outside of the arena; however, the small space was easily congested. There was also a table that sold t-​shirts.
Tickets for the games are inexpensive. We were able to get two seats (and they were assigned seats) to a sold out game. Unfortunately, we were disappointed to find that there was a DePaul student already in one of our seats. We showed her that she was in our seat and she only scooched over a little on the bench so that the two of us could squeeze into one seat space with my posterior hanging off the end. The girl explained that students are allowed to get into the games for free and that they are allowed to sit wherever they like despite folks who have paid tickets for assigned seats.
It was extremely uncomfortable to sit on a cramped bleacher in that fashion. Additionally there was little leg room. My knees often touched the back of the person in front of me. I’m a small person so I can’t imagine a tall person having to squish into the space.
On the plus side, I appreciated that the cheerleaders, the dance team, and the band were all there to provide entertainment during time-​outs and half-​time.