Meridian Centre - Paint the Meridian Red
- Dave Cottenie
- 10 hours ago
- 6 min read
Photos by Dave Cottenie, Stadium Journey
Stadium Info FANFARE Score: 3.86
Meridian Centre
1 David Hawes Way
St. Catherines, ON L2R 0B3
Year Opened: 2014
Capacity: 4,030
Seeing Red
Several USports rivalry games have received plenty of recent attention. The opportunity to draw a larger crowd at an off-campus venue is attractive and can be very successful when run correctly. Ottawa’s Panda Game, Kingston’s Carr-Harris Cup, Guelph’s Frosty Mug, and Calgary’s Crowchild Classic are among the most elite. St. Catharines, Ontario, and Brock University have their own.
In basketball, once a year, the Brock Badgers "Paint the Meridian Red." Established in 2015, Brock has hosted a handful of different teams at the Meridian Centre. After a brief hiatus, the 2025-26 season saw the Brock Badgers host the 8th Paint the Meridian Red event. The last three events have been against the McMaster Marauders.
Paint the Meridian Red is hosted at Meridian Centre in St. Catharines, home of the Niagara IceDogs of the OHL. Built in 2014 by the City of St. Catharines, the arena was necessary to keep the OHL team in the city. The capacity for basketball at Meridian Centre is 4,030, much higher than the capacity of 1,000 of Bob Davis Gymnasium on campus, making the Paint the Meridian Red event a highlight on the Brock athletic calendar.
Food & Beverage 3
Meridian Centre has a decent selection of concession items. However, since the attendance at the Paint the Meridian Red event is significantly below capacity, several stands in the main concourse were closed at the time of writing. Simple concession selections, including pizza, popcorn, nachos, hot dogs, and burgers, are available. Coca-Cola products are the soft drink of choice at the Meridian Centre.
There is a decent selection of alcoholic beverages available, including local Bench Brewing items, Landshark, Carlsberg, Kronenburg and Happy Dad seltzers. There is also a bar and social area at the east end, on the floor. At courtside and in the club sections, there is an expanded menu with items that are made fresh.
Atmosphere 4
The exterior of Meridian Centre is fairly simple, with silver siding on the upper portion and brown brick on the lower portion, with blue Meridian Centre highlights. Entry into Meridian Centre from St. Paul Street will take fans across the Rankin Gateway bridge and bring them into the fifth level of the building. Fans will descend a couple of staircases down to the third level for the main concourse.
The main concourse is typical of many OHL arenas with an open concept behind the main seating bowl. The floor is west-east oriented with the best view of the centre logo from the south. The basketball court is pushed to the west end, which makes end seating sightlines much better than a centre configuration. In the east end, there is a bar and social area at floor level, along with the DJ booth.
Seating in Meridian Centre consists of a lower bowl, with the east end curtained off, and an upper bowl with club seating at the west end and suites along the north and south sides. A simple, four-sided videoboard hangs above centre court with a simple scoreclock above it.
Old hockey banners from the championships of the St. Catharines Black Hawks and St. Catharines Teepees, as well as honoured members, hang in the west end. IceDogs banners also hang at the west end. The St. Catharines Sports Hall of Fame is in the east concourse; however, it was unavailable for this event.
The gameday production for Paint the Meridian Red is solid. The event is a doubleheader with the Badgers women’s basketball team taking the court, followed by the men. At halftime of both games, the Brock BLK Dance Team performed, and a minor team played a few minutes of a mini-game. Ridley College, a local private school, provided a band that also played during halftime.
The Brock Cheer Team took part in the player introductions and performed stunts on the court during breaks in the play. Boomer the Badger, the Brock mascot, also took part in pre-game festivities and roamed the sidelines, interacting with fans. During breaks in play, Brock also recognized past coaches who will be inducted into the Brock Sports Hall of Fame and presented a cheque to Brock Student Union for the charity donation from the Paint the Meridian Red event.
Neighbourhood 4
Meridian Centre is located in Downtown St. Catharines. Although not the most photogenic area, there are a number of spots for pre- and post-game food and drink. This is a selling point for the students to attend Paint the Meridian Red as they line up outside the bars after the game is over. Some options include Merchant Ale House, Brass Monkey Local, The Office Tap and Grill, 194 Bourbon and Smoke, and Fiddler’s Pour House.
Meridian Centre is the regular home of the Niagara IceDogs and the CEBL’s Niagara River Lions. Other sporting options in the area include the St. Catharines Falcons of the GOHL, Niagara Ironbacks baseball, St. Catharines Athletics , and Brock Badgers hockey.
The Badgers regularly play on campus at Bob Davis Gymnasium. Other tourist options include the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, Welland Canal, Centennial Gardens, Happy Rolph’s Animal Farm, and the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame. There are a ton of other options in nearby Niagara Falls and several wineries in the Niagara Region. For fans wishing to stay in the area, the Holiday Inn, Comfort Inn, and Best Western are all short drives away.
Fans 4
Assessing fans in USports basketball is difficult as attendance figures are not published. That being said, it is obvious that the attendance at the Paint the Meridian Red game is much higher than a regular Badgers game on campus. At the 2026 event, which was reviewed, a quick estimate for attendance would be 1,500 to 2,000. Many fans show up during or just after the women’s game.
Brock students have a reputation for being loud and boisterous; however, at the game that was reviewed, the fans were pretty timid. This could be in part due to the big lead the Badgers took early in the men's game and held throughout.
Access 5
Meridian Centre is located in Downtown St. Catharines on David S. Hawes Way. The Meridian Centre location is unique in that it is not at the same elevation as St. Paul Street. The majority of fans will park downtown and take the Rankin Gateway bridge to the fifth level of the Meridian Centre. It is not advised that fans attempt to park in the Meridian Centre parking lot, as it is mostly for staff and is difficult to get downtown.
Meridian Centre is immediately west of Highway 406, so it is not difficult to get to. There are a few surface lots and parking garages downtown. For fans who wish to take public transit, there are Niagara Transit buses that travel St. Paul Street. Fans should consult the Niagara Transit website for fares, maps, and schedules. Getting around Meridian Centre is not difficult, and the washroom facilities are good.
At the time of writing, patrons were required to walk through metal detectors as part of the security protocols. Stadium Journey highly recommends consulting the Meridian Centre website for the most up-to-date security information, including bag policy and prohibited items, before heading out.
Return on Investment 4
General Admission tickets for Paint the Meridian Red are $20. Upper deck club seating is $30. Concession prices are on par with other OHL venues. Parking can be found for around $10 in the area. Paint the Meridian Red is a more expensive ticket than a regular Brock basketball game; however, it is a unique event and provides a better atmosphere than a regular season game and is worth the extra money. The ticket is a women’s and men’s doubleheader. Overall, the return on investment for Paint the Meridian Red is very strong.
Extras 3
An extra mark for the charity aspect of the Paint the Meridian Red event. Portions of student tickets go to the BUSU Food First program.
An extra mark for the higher profile venue for Paint the Meridian Red, making it an event for students and the community.
An extra mark for the recent Paint the Meridian Red games, acting as a rivalry game. As of 2026, the last three Paint the Meridian Red games have been against the McMaster Marauders, from just up the QEW in Hamilton.
Final Thoughts
Once a year, the Brock Badgers “Paint the Meridian Red” storm, downtown St. Catharines. This basketball event is one of the elite USports basketball events and one of the few off-campus events. Taking in the Badgers at Meridian Centre will definitely make fans See Red!
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