University of Phoenix Stadium, opened August 1, 2006, is a multipurpose football stadium located in Glendale, Arizona, west of Phoenix. It is the home of the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL) and the annual Fiesta Bowl, and replaced Tempe's Sun Devil Stadium as the Valley of the Sun's main outdoor stadium. The stadium is adjacent to the Gila River Arena and it features the first fully retractable natural grass playing surface built in the United States on top of an AirField Systems drainage system. An opening on one side of the stadium allows the playing field to move to the exterior of the building, allowing the entire natural turf playing surface to be exposed to daylight and also allowing the floor of the stadium to be used for any other purpose (such as seating for concerts) without damaging the turf.
The stadium has hosted the Fiesta Bowl, the 2007 BCS National Championship Game, Super Bowl XLII, WrestleMania XXVI, the 2011 BCS National Championship Game, a game that it hosted every four years, which set the venue's entertainment attendance record of 78,603 on January 11, 2011, and Super Bowl XLIX. It will host the Pro Bowl and CONCACAF Gold Cup matches this year, and the NCAA Final Four in 2017.
The University of Phoenix acquired the naming rights in September 2006, shortly after the stadium had opened under the name Cardinals Stadium. The "University of Phoenix" name is applied as a corporate sponsor, and not as the home stadium of the university, which has no intercollegiate athletics program.
Facility information and history
Since moving to Arizona in 1988, the Cardinals had played at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University. The Cardinals had only planned to play there until a new stadium could be built in Phoenix. However, the savings and loan crisis derailed funding for a new stadium. Over time, the Cardinals expressed frustration at being merely tenants in a college football stadium. Notably, it denied them access to additional revenue streams available to other NFL teams. The Cardinals campaigned several years for a new and more modern facility.
The 63,400-seat stadium opened on August 1, 2006 after three years of construction. The stadium was designed by Eisenman Architects and Populous (formerly HOK Sport). The stadium is considered an architectural icon for the region and was named by Business Week as one of the 10 "most impressive" sports facilities on the globe due to the combination of its retractable roof (engineering design by Walter P Moore) and roll-in natural grass field, similar to the GelreDome and the Veltins-Arena. It is the only American facility on the list. The ceremonial groundbreaking for the new stadium was held on April 12, 2003. It was designed to appear like a coiled rattlesnake.
Light emitting diode (LED) video and ribbon displays from Daktronics in Brookings, South Dakota were installed in 2006 prior to Arizona's first game of the season.
The cost of the project was $455 million. That total included $395.4 million for the stadium, $41.7 million for site improvements, and $17.8 million for the land. Contributors to the stadium included the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority ($302.3 million), the Arizona Cardinals ($143.2 million), and the City of Glendale ($9.5 million).
The first preseason football game was played August 12, 2006 when the Cardinals defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, 21-13. The first regular season game was played September 10 against the San Francisco 49ers (the Cardinals won 34-27). The stadium's air-conditioning system made it possible for the Cardinals to play at home on the opening weekend of the NFL season for the first time since moving to Arizona in 1988.
On October 16, 2006, the stadium hosted a notable game between the Cardinals and the undefeated Chicago Bears where the Bears came back from a 20-point deficit to defeat the Cardinals. The Bears would later go on to play in Super Bowl XLI.
The stadium hosted the highest attended soccer match in the state of Arizona on February 7, 2007, when 62,462 fans watched the United States men's national soccer team defeat Mexico, 2-0.
The multipurpose nature of the facility has allowed it to host 91 events representing 110 event days between the dates of August 4, 2006 through the BCS National Championship January 8, 2007. These events included Arizona Cardinals games; public grand opening tours held August 19 and 20, 2006 (attended by 120,000 people); various shows, expositions, tradeshows and motor sport events; the Rolling Stones concert November 8, 2006; the AIA 4A and 5A state championship games for football (the first high school to win a football championship at the stadium was Cactus Shadows High School of Cave Creek, Arizona on December 2, 2006); an international soccer exhibition match; the Fiesta Bowl National Band Championship High School Marching Band competition (the first marching band to ever play on the field was Foothill High School, from Pleasanton, California on December 29, 2006); the Fiesta Bowl January 1, 2007 featuring the Boise State Broncos vs. the University of Oklahoma Sooners (Boise State won 43-42 in overtime); and the BCS National Championship January 8, 2007 between the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes and the No. 2 University of Florida Gators, which the Gators won 41-14. It also held the 2008 Fiesta Bowl between the Oklahoma Sooners and the West Virginia University Mountaineers, as well as the 2009 Fiesta Bowl between the Texas Longhorns and the Ohio State Buckeyes. It has also held many high school graduations.
The Cardinals' first home playoff game since the 1940s took place at the stadium on January 3, 2009, with Arizona beating the Atlanta Falcons, 30-24. The stadium also hosted the 2008-09 NFC Championship Game between the Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles on January 18, 2009, which the Cardinals won 32-25 in front of over 70,000 fans in attendance.
The stadium has 88 luxury suites -- called luxury lofts -- with space for 16 future suites as the stadium matures.
The 25 acres (10 ha) surrounding the stadium is called Sportsman's Park. Included within the Park is an 8-acre (3.2 ha) landscaped tailgating area called the Great Lawn.
There are no obstructed view seats in the stadium. There are visible areas in the upper deck of the end zone where seats could have been put in but were not due to the giant super columns supporting the roof structure.
The stadium seating capacity can be expanded by 8,800 for "mega-events" such as college bowls, NFL Super Bowls, and the NFC Championship Game by adding risers and ganged, portable "X-frame" folding seats. The endzone area on the side of the facility where the field tray rolls in and out of the facility can be expanded to accommodate the additional seats.
The roof is made out of translucent "Bird-Air" fabric and opens in twelve minutes. It is the first retractable roof ever built on an incline.
The shape of the stadium is loosely modeled after a barrel cactus, a widespread plant in the Arizona desert.
University of Phoenix Stadium hosted Super Bowl XLII on February 3, 2008 in which the New York Giants defeated the previously undefeated New England Patriots 17-14 with a paid attendance crowd of 71,101. This game was mentioned as one of the biggest upsets of all time. This was the second time the Phoenix area hosted a Super Bowl, the other being Super Bowl XXX held in nearby Tempe at Sun Devil Stadium in 1996 when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers.
On August 1, 2009, the stadium hosted Monster Jam Summer Heat, with Maximum Destruction defeating Captain's Curse in the racing finals and Grave Digger winning the freestyle event.
The stadium hosted the WWE event WrestleMania XXVI with 72,219 fans in attendance. The event was held in the stadium on March 28, 2010.
On January 10, 2011, the 2011 BCS National Championship Game had an attendance record setting 78,603 on hand for the game.
On October 11, 2011, it was announced by the owners that University of Phoenix Stadium, home of the Cardinals, will host Super Bowl XLIX.
On January 21, 2012, the United States men's national soccer team played against the Venezuela national football team and won the match 1-0.
On September 21, 2012, Ron Elsensohn, former troubadour of the hardcore country punk band Scrotum Grinder, performed a harp rendition of Take Me Out to the Ball Game.
On January 30, 2013, the Mexico national football team played against the Denmark national football team. The game was broadcast on Televisa Deportes, UniMás, TV Azteca, etc. The match ended in a 1 - 1 tie.
The stadium hosted the inaugural Stadium Super Trucks race on April 6, 2013.
On September 16, 2014, One Direction was the first headlining musical act to ever play at the stadium; the show was a sellout.
On February 1, 2015, the New England Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX held at the stadium.
The 2015 Pro Bowl was the first Pro Bowl to be held at the same location as the same year's Super Bowl since 2010. The Pro Bowl will permanently return to Hawaii in 2016.
It was announced on November 14, 2014, that the University of Phoenix Stadium will host the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship in 2017.
Soccer matches
Fiesta Vs Fit Video
Naming rights
On September 26, 2006 the University of Phoenix acquired the naming rights to the stadium totalling $154.5 million over 20 years.
Parking space
The stadium has approximately 14,000 on-site parking spaces (plus 12,000 adjacent spaces), located in numerous lots that surround the stadium's 2,000 disabled parking spaces. The design improvement, featured for example in a Discovery program about this stadium, is zoning. Parking spaces for guests are zoned with preferred leaving directions, to achieve the fastest possible movement of traffic.
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