However, Presley passed away on August 16, exactly one week before the concert was scheduled. Rupp Arena was set to host Elvis Presley live in concert on August 23, 1977.The performance attracted 20,000 people to the newly opened facility. The first act to perform at Rupp Arena was Lawrence Welk on October 17, 1976.Rupp Arena is also home to Kentucky's high school boys' basketball Sweet Sixteen, a single-elimination tournament which determines the state champion with sixteen teams representing each of Kentucky's regional high school champions. Since the 1985 Final Four, Rupp Arena has hosted a number of NCAA Tournament regional games, most recently in 2013 when it hosted second and third round NCAA Tournament games. It is named after University of Kentucky coaching legend Adolph Rupp, and opened in 1976, a little more than a year before Rupp's death in late 1977. It also formerly hosted the Kentucky Thoroughblades (currently the San Jose Barracuda) (capacity 10,011) and the Lexington Men O' War (capacity 7,500) minor-league hockey teams, and the Lexington Horsemen arena football team (capacity 7,550), numerous concerts (theater capacity 2,300 concert hall 10,000 arena capacity 20,500 approx.), conventions, and other events.

Rupp Arena was the host of the 1985 NCAA Final Four, won in an upset by eighth-seeded Villanova. The arena's primary tenant is the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team, with the Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team hosting rivalry and power program opponent games at the venue in recent years.

Lexington opera house capacity