Cabot Center - Northeastern Huskies

Photos by Paul Baker, Stadium Journey

Stadium Info FANFARE Score: 2.86

Bernard and Jolane Solomon Court at Godfrey K. Cabot Physical Education Center

400 Huntington Ave.

Boston, MA 02115

Northeastern Men's Basketball website

Cabot Center website

Year Opened: 1954

Capacity: 1,500

The Temporary Doghouse

When Northeastern found out that Matthews Arena, their longtime hockey and men’s basketball home, was falling over and had to be torn down, they had to find a new place for the teams to play – and fast!

While the hockey teams were forced to turn into nomads, playing all over the Greater Boston area and beyond wherever they can find ice (seriously, they’ve already played a home game in Maine), for the men’s basketball team, the choice was much easier. Northeastern basketball teams have been playing games at the Cabot Center since the opening of the facility in 1954. It is currently the home of the women’s basketball and volleyball teams, so moving the men’s hoop team there was a no-brainer.

The corner of Huntington Ave. and Forsythe St. itself holds a special place in Boston sports lore, as the Cabot Center stands on the former site of the Huntington Avenue Grounds, where the first World Series was played between Boston and Pittsburgh.

The facility was built in 1954 and named in honor of patron Godfrey Lowell Cabot in 1957. Cabot was an industrialist who founded the Cabot Corporation. He was also a benefactor for several of Boston’s colleges and universities. The basketball court at the center is named in honor of Northeastern’s number one fan, Bernard “Bunny” Solomon, who led fundraising for a $2 million restoration of the facility in 2000.

The Huskies have been members of the Coastal Athletic Association since 2005. Northeastern has qualified for nine NCAA tournaments, most recently in 2019. While members of Division Two, the Huskies reached the Sweet Sixteen in consecutive years from 1962-1964. Five Northeastern alumni have played in the NBA, most notably J.J. Barea and Reggie Lewis. The women’s basketball team has qualified for one NCAA tournament, in 1999. One Husky alum, Katasha Artis, played in the WNBA.

Cabot Center Entrance. Photo by Paul Baker, Stadium Journey.

Food & Beverage 1

There is a small snack table by the entrance to Solomon Court. Bottles of Coca-Cola products and assorted candy bars can be purchased here. It’s not much, but it will hold you over if you need a snack during the game.

Atmosphere 3

The Northeastern staff put on a good show at the Cabot Center. The video board at the far end of the court is put to use throughout the game with graphics, stats, replays, hype videos, fan cams and more. The gym has an excellent sound system, and music plays during play stoppages.

The PA announcer, who does not possess the typical deep baritone of so many of his peers, still does an excellent job keeping fans informed of game information and delivering sponsor messages. The cheerleading and dance teams perform throughout the game, delivering excellent routines and adding energy to the proceedings. It’s easy to see how the Cabot Center could provide a great home court advantage if the Huskies could fill the place.

Cheerleaders Perform at Cabot Center. Photo by Paul Baker, Stadium Journey.

Neighborhood 4

Cabot Center is located just ¼ mile from the site of Matthews Arena, the longtime home of Northeastern hockey and basketball. Northeastern University is located on the edge of Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood, one of the city’s most popular tourist and shopping destinations. The Fens neighborhood and South End are also within walking distance of the university.

Surprisingly, there aren’t too many dining options directly adjacent to campus on Huntington or Massachusetts Avenues. However, if you expand your search just a little, many of Boston’s major attractions, as well as hundreds of dining and lodging options are located nearby.

While there are many dining and lodging options near Northeastern, most of them will involve a short walk or drive from campus, which may not be what you want to do on a chilly winter night in Boston. Fans visiting from out of town will certainly want to check out the Prudential Center and Copley Place, located just a few blocks from Northeastern.

Symphony Hall and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts are both only a couple of blocks from the Cabot Center. In addition, most of Boston’s attractions are easily accessed by a short subway ride. Both the Green and Orange lines have stops adjacent to the Northeastern campus, as does the Commuter Rail and several bus routes.

Fans 1

Since moving to the Cabot Center, Northeastern has announced crowds ranging in size from 800-1,000 for men’s basketball games. This compares pretty favorably to attendance in previous seasons at Matthews Arena, where the team generally averaged in the neighborhood of 1,000 fans per game. The difference is, in the larger Matthews Arena, 1,000 fans looked very sparse, whereas in the Cabot Center, a similarly sized crowd would fill the place nicely.

Stadium Journey visited Northeastern basketball for the team’s final game of the 2025-26 season, which occurred on a Tuesday night during a pretty nasty winter storm. The conditions greatly hindered attendance, which this writer would estimate at about 200 fans. Due to the weather, it’s not likely this crowd is representative.

There was a meager turnout from the student body. The entirety of the crowd appeared to be family members and a smattering of diehard Husky fans. The fans here were quiet and reserved. Not that you’d expect a lot of noise from 200 people. Basketball has never been the marquee winter sport at Northeastern, so the smaller crowds are pretty standard here, unfortunately.

Game Action at Cabot Center. Photo by Paul Baker, Stadium Journey.

Access 4

Cabot Center is centrally located within Northeastern’s urban campus at the intersection of Massachusetts and Huntington Avenues. Despite the fact that the Cabot Center is easy to find, that doesn’t make it easy to get to. The ever-present Boston traffic, never-ending construction projects and streets that date back to colonial days make Boston a tough city to drive in. If you must drive, it is best to bring a local along who is familiar with the city landscape. Directions to Cabot Center can be found here.

Many local fans will choose to take public transportation to Cabot Center. The MBTA, known locally as the “T”, drops fans off right across the street from the gym. At just $2.40 for a fare, the T beats the hassle of fighting traffic and finding parking.

The Commuter Rail coming in from the western suburbs of Boston also stops on Huntington Avenue, as do several bus routes. Metered parking is available on the streets in the surrounding neighborhood, and there are numerous parking garages in the area. Free parking is available for visiting fans in the Columbus Avenue Garage, a short walk from the Cabot Center.

Fans will enter the Cabot Center on the north side of the gym. A set of stairs lead to the lobby, where the Northeastern Athletics Hall of Fame display and restrooms are located. The gym will be directly in front of you. The snack bar is tucked right inside the entrance. Lines are not an issue anywhere in this cozy facility.

Seats are located on all four sides of the court, consisting of individual stadium seats on either side of the court and plastic bleachers on the end lines. With only seven rows of seats, you’ll be right on top of the action no matter where you sit.

Return on Investment 4

Men’s basketball games are a very affordable sporting option for Boston sports fans. Tickets to Huskies games range from $16-$19 for seats on the gym’s sidelines. As mentioned before, you’ll have a great view of the action no matter where you sit. If you park at the Columbus Avenue Garage, you won’t have to pay at all for parking (this is unheard of in Boston). With only a limited menu available at the snack bar, and no item priced over five dollars, a night at the Cabot Center is a sporting bargain.

Extras 3

Reminders of the site’s historic past as the site of the first World Series game surround the Cabot Center. Just outside the building, on World Series Way, are a statue of Cy Young and a commemorative home plate. Cy Young stands on the spot where the original Huntington Avenue Grounds pitchers mound was located. On an exterior wall of the Cabot Center on Huntington Avenue is a plaque commemorating the site as the location of the first World Series. It’s worth walking around the building to check out these sites before heading inside for some hoops.

Banners commemorating conference championships and tournament appearances for Northeastern’s basketball and volleyball teams hang on the walls of the Cabot Center. Also hanging here are retired number banners for Reggie Lewis and Tesha Tinsley.

The Northeastern Athletics Hall of Fame is located in the lobby of the Cabot Center. The interactive touch screen contains a great deal of information on Husky sports history.

Final Thoughts

The Cabot Center is by no means a suitable permanent home for the Husky basketball teams. But compare this facility to other small gyms in the area, and it doesn’t really come up short. As Northeastern’s new athletics home is built, the sturdy Cabot Center will ably hold down the fort for the next two or three seasons.

Follow Paul Baker’s stadium journeys on Twitter and Instagram @PuckmanRI.