Maples Pavilion

On a winter night, Maples Pavilion is one of the best places in the Bay Area to watch a game. The arena holds just over 7,000 people, the lower seats sit right at the edge of the floor and the student section courtside keeps the noise up. Stanford's women's basketball program built a national reputation here and the volleyball teams have filled it with championship runs. It is also an easy outing from Palo Alto, about a mile from the Caltrain station.

This guide covers the building's history, the teams that play at Maples, how tickets work and what to know about parking and bags. For the bigger picture of Stanford sports, see our Stanford athletics guide.

History of the arena

Before Maples, Stanford played indoor sports in a pavilion built in 1921. That older building, now known as Burnham Pavilion, still stands nearby. By the 1960s Stanford needed a larger arena. Groundbreaking came in 1967 and Maples opened in January 1969. Stanford Athletics says it cost $3.3 million to build.

The building is named for its principal donor, Roscoe Maples, a member of Stanford's class of 1904. Wikipedia's account says Maples left school before graduating to support his parents, went on to success in the Oregon lumber business and left most of his estate to the university when he died in 1963. The architect was John Carl Warnecke, a Stanford graduate.

The flexible floor

Warnecke also designed the original playing floor. It had a springy surface made of layers of crosshatched wood and air, meant to cushion players' landings. Players often found it disorienting, since the floor was not quite where their bodies expected it after a jump. It was replaced in the 2000s renovation.

The 2004 to 2005 renovation

Stanford Athletics describes a $26 million renovation completed in 2004 and 2005, financed entirely through private gifts. It added:

• a covered concourse of about 29,000 square feet around the seating area, with concessions and restrooms
• a lower seating bowl with padded stadium seats in place of the old wooden floor bleachers
• a new court, upgraded locker rooms, a strength room, an athletic training room and media space

The new concourse is deliberately separated from the original building by a gap. Stanford says that was done to preserve Warnecke's architecture and to keep the open garden feel found across campus. In the summer of 2015 the arena received $1.2 million in display upgrades, including a high-definition center-hung scoreboard.

The teams that play here

Women's basketball is the headline. Under longtime coach Tara VanDerveer, who retired in 2024 as the winningest coach in college basketball history, Stanford won national titles in 1990, 1992 and 2021 and became a fixture of the NCAA tournament. Many of the program's biggest home wins came at Maples and the team often draws the best crowds of the indoor season.

Since 2024 Stanford has played in the Atlantic Coast Conference, so the winter calendar brings teams from the East Coast and the South to Palo Alto. In October 2026 alone, women's volleyball hosted Virginia Tech, Virginia, Wake Forest and NC State at Maples.

The Sixth Man

The loudest part of the building is the student section, known as the Sixth Man, which sits in rows courtside for men's basketball. The name refers to the crowd acting as a sixth player on the floor. If you want a quieter view, choose seats across the court from the students or up in the higher rows.

What is coming up

Stanford's published schedules in late October 2026 showed women's volleyball hosting Cal at Maples on Friday, October 30. The men's basketball home schedule opens on Monday, November 2, against Eastern Washington at 7 p.m. The women's basketball team plays its first regular season home game on Wednesday, November 4, against Saint Mary's at 7 p.m. Times can change for television, so check gostanford.com before you go.

Tickets

Buy through Stanford Athletics, not resale sites, where possible.

1. Online: Each sport's schedule on gostanford.com links to tickets for regular season and postseason home games.
2. In advance in person: The Stanford Athletics Ticket Office is at Gate 2 of Stanford Stadium and is open on weekdays, closed on holidays.
3. On game day: The Maples ticket windows on the north side sell remaining seats when available. The box office is on the northwest side, across from the Arrillaga Family Sports Center.
4. By phone: Stanford Athletics lists 1-800-STANFORD for ticket questions.

Children under two get in free if they sit on a guardian's lap. Regular season men's volleyball matches are free, which makes them an easy, cheap introduction to Maples. Postseason events need a paid ticket.

Seating

Every seat is fairly close, since the building is compact. The lower level has padded, stadium-style seats with backs. The upper level has molded plastic seats without backs, so bring a cushion that meets the bag rules if you sit up high for a long game. Disabled seating is spread throughout the arena, most entrances are wheelchair accessible and an elevator in the southwest corner reaches the lower seating sections.

Scoreboards and screens

The 2015 upgrade replaced the main scoreboard with a center-hung Daktronics high-definition display and added LED scorer's tables and corner boards. The corner screens carry statistics, which leaves the main board free for replays and live video. It makes the arena feel more modern than its 1969 shell suggests.

Parking, bags and arrival

Parking

According to Stanford Athletics, the main fan parking is Parking Structure 7, across Campus Drive from the arena. Lot 11, beside the arena, is reserved for season ticket holders. More parking is in the Varsity Lot, reached from Nelson Road off Galvez Street and the Visitor Center Lot at Galvez Street and Nelson Road. Our Stanford parking and transit guide explains campus zones and payment.

Clear bag policy

Stanford applies a clear bag policy at Maples and Stanford Stadium:

• Allowed: clear plastic, vinyl or PVC bags up to 12 by 6 by 12 inches, one-gallon clear plastic storage bags and small clutches up to about 4.5 by 6.5 inches.
• Not allowed: purses, backpacks, camera cases, fanny packs and any bag that is not clear.
• Bag check: For basketball games, a free bag check runs on the lawn along the west side of Maples, on Campus Drive. It opens an hour before the game and closes 30 minutes after it ends.

Small cameras under 6 inches without cases are allowed. Tripods are not. Seat cushions are allowed only if they have no pockets or zippers.

By train

The Palo Alto Caltrain station is about a mile away. The walk takes 20 to 25 minutes through the athletics area. A 7 p.m. tipoff usually ends around 9 p.m., so check the last train home on our Caltrain guide.

Frequently asked questions