EECU Center’s ‘family focus’ putting Stephenville on the map

BY GAVIN PATRICK

Sports Editor

The EECU Center has been acclaimed as a game changer for the Stephenville community and a venue bound to conceive Tarleton State University into a newfound sense of belonging at the Division-I level.

Through in its first few months of operation, the initial goals are starting to come to fruition — and even be exceeded in some cases.

Ben Andersen has been serving as executive director of event center operations since January, overseeing event coordination, planning and venue logistics. As the venue approaches the end of its first fiscal year in August, Andersen says he is “very pleased” with the results thus far and making it through basketball season largely unscathed from any public backlash.

“Everything that I've seen up to this point, we're exceeding where we wanted to be at,” Andersen said. “... Transparently, the first couple deals were a little bit more lucrative than we would like, but that's just all to bring talent to Stephenville, just to put the city on the map. So now that we've got some traction with those events, promoters and agents, [we’re] starting to see that we can really bring some good talent to this city.”

Andersen is optimistic about continued growth over the next couple years, including expanding the venue’s revenue budget of $1.8 million to around $2.5 million, while pushing the current agenda of six headlining shows a year to 10 or 15.

“My goal was — when I came in — to not only book some of these touring shows, but also big private events,” Andersen said, “So, that's kind of my focus right now, is pitching to other types of shows to bring additional revenue into the venue — you know, boat shows, gun shows, high school graduations, other elements that we can bring to the venue to increase revenue.”

While the venue’s “primary tenet” is hosting basketball games, Anderson insisted that the EECU Center has found the most success when appealing to the town’s family-focused environment, meaning putting on events that families — from grandparents to little ones — can enjoy together.

The most recent example of this was the Harlem Globetrotters game on Feb. 13, a stop on their 100 Year Tour, which sold over 2,300 tickets.

“It was a really fun event, great to see all the families come out,” Andersen said. “It really showed us, again, that this is going to be a family town market, so that'll bring more and more of those types of shows to the city of Stephenville.”

Andersen has also been eyeing the possibility of landing another eccentric family act: Dude Perfect.

The viral comedy group is based out of Frisco and currently has a deal with Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. Schedulers at the venue’s booking agency, Oak View Group, have not reached out to Dude Perfect’s team yet, but Anderson said a gig at the EECU Center will hopefully be in the works “in the near future.”

“Kind of shows like that are more kid-focused. It just seems like there's a lot of families, grandparents here in Stephenville and surrounding area that would love to see a show like that without having to travel to Fort Worth or Dallas,” Andersen said.

A big indicator for future growth will be how well the venue can showcase its versatility, while testing some of its structural challenges for certain events.

For instance, it’d make sense for the EECU Center to eventually host a rodeo, being at the heart of the Cowboy Capital of the World; the ticket demand would be robust. However, the arena is not ideal for rodeo conditions, having tight corners and limited runout space, which could disrupt barrel racing patterns, roping events and bull-riding staging — not to mention permanent seating areas that take up vital space in a floor already smaller than the standard rodeo arena.

“It's going to take a very unique kind of dirt event,” Andersen said. “... However, there are some ways we can work around it.”

Another event schedulers have ambitions for is Disney On Ice, which would play well with the family atmosphere, but it would be very expensive to install ice in the arena with the limited amenities.

“Whether or not that's cost effective for how much we’d make on the show is TBD,” Andersen said.

“I’m not saying it can't be done, but those are the types of events that might be a little more challenging to bring into the venue.”

Nonetheless, among the talent that has graced the EECU Center stage so far includes big names in comedy and country music — such as Leanne Morgan, Koe Wetzel and Hudson Westbrook, with Parker McCollum set to perform on Sept. 24.

“I mean, I think in our first few shows, we've showcased all what we have to offer, and I'm very pleased with the results of our first few shows,” Andersen said. “I'd love to bring as many shows here as possible, so we're going through the booking process right now to look forward to the rest of 2026 and 2027.”

With the crux of the event focus being on basketball, and state-of-the-art undertakings in facilities, the EECU Center is built to help athletic recruitment as well as community growth.

“Texan Nation will watch high-level basketball in a high-level environment for a long time to come,” Tarleton’s Vice President and Director of Athletics, Steve Uryasz, said at the time of the venue’s grand opening in August. “The EECU Center ranks among the best venues I’ve been in across my entire career in collegiate athletics.”

Overall, the vision stands the same, and aggressive — in pushing Stephenville along as one of the fastest growing communities in Texas.

“It's a big deal for Stephenville,” Andersen said. “I mean, you put this arena anywhere else in the country and it'd be a gem by itself. So, I think this is a huge, huge thing for the city to bring everybody together.”