Scenes from Baylor's new Foster Pavilion: Bears beat Cornell in opener on Jan. 2, 2024

After witnessing the first game at Foster Pavilion, Baylor basketball fans agreed: The arena lived up to the four years of hype.

And as housewarming gifts go, the Baylor Bears couldn’t have delivered a nicer one to their fans.

With 7,000 seats and 500 standing room spots, the arena was filled by tipoff Tuesday night as fans cheered the Bears to a 98-79 victory over the Cornell Big Red.

While small parts of the $213 million arena complex remained unfinished for the debut game Tuesday, fans said they were impressed with the arena’s field house design, which stacked seats and put fans closer to the court, creating a louder atmosphere and tougher home court advantage.

Sound levels during the game frequently exceeded 100 decibels after big plays, the mobile app Decibel X showed, with a peak of 112.6 db after a Yves Missi alley-oop dunk in the first half. Loudness was an intentional part of the design, in fact. Henry Howard, associate athletic director for capital projects, said the acoustics are meant to bounce sound back to the court, especially to the visiting team’s bench.

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