89-534: Legion Field is an outdoor stadium in the southeastern United States in Birmingham, Alabama , primarily designed to be used as a venue for American football , but occasionally used for other large outdoor events. Opened in 1927, it is named in honor of the American Legion , a U.S. organization of military veterans . The stadium served as the primary venue for Alabama Crimson Tide home games until
178-631: A World Cup qualification match against Guatemala at the stadium on March 30, 2005. When the City of Birmingham changed back to an artificial turf field in 2006, the United States Soccer Federation announced that it would no longer be scheduling men's national team games for Legion Field. Legion Field has also been used as a concert venue, hosting famous artists of many different genres, including U2 , Ruben Studdard , Pink Floyd , and The Rolling Stones . In 1979 and 1980,
267-539: A tensegrity structure . But, in the context of sports stadiums, the term "dome" has become standard for all covered stadiums, particularly because the first such enclosed stadium, the Houston Astrodome , was built with an actual dome-shaped roof. Some stadiums have partial roofs, and a few have even been designed to have moveable fields as part of the infrastructure. The Caesars Superdome in New Orleans
356-486: A 32–15 advantage over Auburn in games played at Legion Field. Alabama and Auburn used Legion Field as an alternate home stadium for much of the 20th century. At its height, Legion Field seated over 20,000 more people than Alabama's Bryant-Denny Stadium and Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium, making it a natural choice for games likely to attract large crowds. Between its use for the Iron Bowl and as an alternate home stadium for
445-405: A few municipally owned stadiums, which are often known by a name that is significant to their area (for example, Boston 's Fenway Park ). In recent years, some government-owned stadiums have also been subject to naming-rights agreements, with some or all of the revenue often going to the team(s) that play there. One consequence of corporate naming has been an increase in stadium name changes, when
534-490: A fireworks display. Upon its completion the stadium was the first joint purpose-built football stadium in the world. The architect Archibald Leitch brought his experience with the construction of industrial buildings to bear on the design of functional stadiums up and down the country. His work encompassed the first 40 years of the 20th century. One of his most notable designs was Old Trafford in Manchester. The ground
623-403: A football pitch with a running track , although certain compromises must be made. The major drawback is that the stands are necessarily set back a good distance from the pitch, especially at the ends of the pitch. In the case of some smaller stadiums, there are not stands at the ends. When there are stands all the way around, the stadium takes on an oval shape. When one end is open, the stadium has
712-498: A game on the Plains. Ultimately, in 1989 , Auburn moved its home games in the series to Jordan-Hare. Thus, tickets for games held at Legion Field were no longer split equally. Auburn did host an Iron Bowl home game at Legion Field in 1991, but since then all Iron Bowls have been played at Auburn in odd-numbered years. In 2000 , Alabama followed suit and decided to no longer play its home games against Auburn at Legion Field. Alabama holds
801-452: A growing game. All of the 19th-century wooden parks were replaced, some after a few years, and none survive today. Goodison Park was the first purpose-built association football stadium in the world. Walton -based building firm Kelly brothers were instructed to erect two uncovered stands that could each accommodate 4,000 spectators. A third covered stand accommodating 3,000 spectators was also requested. Everton officials were impressed with
890-471: A horseshoe shape. All three configurations (open, oval and horseshoe) are common, especially in the case of American college football stadiums. Rectangular stadiums are more common in Europe, especially for football where many stadiums have four often distinct and very different stands on the four sides of the stadium. These are often all of different sizes and designs and have been erected at different periods in
979-666: A member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) from 1947 to 1997. † Co-champions Alabama A&M participated in two NCAA College Division bowl games as members of the SIAC. A&M has participated in the NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs twice, with a 1–2 record in three games. Each loss came against the eventual national runner-up. The Bulldogs have represented
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#17327807623581068-621: A natural Bermuda grass surface in 1995 in order to host soccer events for the Summer Olympics in Atlanta . In 2006, the field went back to an artificial surface with infilled FieldTurf . The field has a conventional north–south alignment at an approximate elevation of 570 feet (170 m) above sea level . In 2004 , a structural evaluation determined that the 9,000 seat upper deck would need major remediation to meet modern building codes. With little prospect of adequate repairs on
1157-436: A primary tenant during the school's two-year hiatus from football. The Blazers returned to Legion Field for the first time in two years on September 2, 2017, setting a new attendance record in a 38–7 victory over Alabama A&M . Legion Field was well known for hosting the regular season-ending rivalry between Alabama and Auburn each year from 1948 to 1988. Because of Birmingham's major industry of iron and steel manufacturing,
1246-522: A single sport while others can accommodate different events, particularly ones with retractable seating . Stadiums built specifically for association football are common in Europe; Gaelic games stadiums, such as Croke Park , are common in Ireland, while stadiums built specifically for baseball or American football are common in the United States. The most common multiple use design combines
1335-478: A two-game set from 2008 to 2009, and renewed their rivalry again from 2011 to 2014. The two teams last met in Mobile for the 2021 Gulf Coast Challenge, with A&M leading the series 29–20–3. In 2020–21, A&M was voted consensus black college football national championship as the only undefeated HBCU football team in the country. The Bulldogs were voted #1 in both BOXTOROW HBCU Coaches and Media Polls as well as
1424-439: Is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event. Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event at the ancient Greek Olympic festival was the race that comprised one length of the stadion at Olympia , where the word "stadium" originated. Most of
1513-680: Is a true dome structure made of a lamellar multi-ringed frame and has a diameter of 680 feet (210 m). It is the largest fixed domed structure in the world. Even though enclosed, dome stadiums are called stadiums because they are large enough for, and designed for, what are generally considered to be outdoor sports such as athletics, American football , association football , rugby , and baseball . Those designed for what are usually indoor sports like basketball, ice hockey and volleyball are generally called arenas . Exceptions include: Different sports require different playing surfaces of various size and shape. Some stadiums are designed primarily for
1602-733: Is the Nippon Professional Baseball league of Japan, in which many of the teams are themselves named after their parent corporations. Also, many newer European football stadiums, such as the University of Bolton and Emirates Stadiums in England and Signal Iduna Park and Allianz Arena in Germany have been corporately named. This new trend in corporate naming (or renaming) is distinguishable from names of some older venues, such as Crosley Field , Wrigley Field , and
1691-534: Is with the Tuskegee Golden Tigers . The Bulldogs and Tigers began their series in 1932 and would not meet on the gridiron for another 20 years. They played annually from 1963 to 1999 including 35 years as conference rivals in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference . The series was discontinued in 2000 as A&M moved up to Division I after joining the SWAC in 1998. A&M and Tuskegee played
1780-618: The 1908 Summer Olympics in London is often cited as the first modern seater stadium, at least in the UK. Designed by the engineer J.J. Webster and completed in 10 months by George Wimpey , on the site of the Franco-British Exhibition , this stadium with a seating capacity of 68,000 was opened by King Edward VII on 27 April 1908. Upon completion, the stadium had a running track 24 ft wide (7.3 m) and three laps to
1869-411: The 1996 Summer Olympics —the opening match between the United States and Argentina drew 83,810 spectators, the stadium's all-time record for any event. All of the later-round soccer games moved to Athens, Georgia , after preliminary games had been played in various other cities. Legion Field has also hosted exhibition games by the U.S. men's and women's national soccer teams . The men's team played
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#17327807623581958-543: The 2004 Summer Olympics . The excavation and refurbishment of the stadium was part of the legacy of the Greek national benefactor Evangelos Zappas , and it was the first ancient stadium to be used in modern times. Stadiums in ancient Greece and Rome were built for different purposes, and at first only the Greeks built structures called "stadium"; Romans built structures called " circus ". Greek stadia were for foot races, whereas
2047-683: The 2023 season , Protective Stadium served as the home stadium for the Birmingham Stallions and New Orleans Breakers . Legion Field has hosted various high school football games throughout its history. From 1996 until 2008, Legion Field was used by the Alabama High School Athletic Association for the Super Six high school football championships. Legion Field has been used as a site for major soccer events, including preliminary matches in
2136-767: The Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University . They play in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference . The Alabama State Hornets are A&M's arch-rival as the teams play annually in the Magic City Classic on the last Saturday in October at Birmingham's Historic Legion Field . A&M and State first played each other in 1924, though
2225-794: The Allianz Arena in Munich was called the FIFA World Cup Stadium, Munich during the tournament. Likewise, the same stadium will be known as the "München Arena" during the European Competitions. Similar rules affect the Imtech Arena and Veltins-Arena . This rule applies even if the stadium sponsor is an official FIFA sponsor—the Johannesburg stadium then commercially known as "Coca-Cola Park", bearing
2314-1034: The Birmingham Americans (1974) and Birmingham Vulcans (1975) of the World Football League (1974–1975), the Alabama Vulcans of the American Football Association (1979), the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League (1983–1985), and the Birmingham Fire of the World League of American Football (later NFL Europe ) in 1991–92. In 1995 , it was the home field of the Birmingham Barracudas for their single season of play as part of
2403-884: The Buffalo Bills 33–10, and on August 27, 1988, when the Washington Redskins defeated the Atlanta Falcons 34–17. In 1968, the Boston Patriots of the American Football League played one "home" game against the New York Jets at Legion Field. The Jets, featuring former Alabama quarterback Joe Namath , won the game 47–31. The inaugural 2022 season of the USFL was played at Protective Stadium and Legion Field. For
2492-562: The National Football League or the American Football League . (To a certain extent, this continues in lower football leagues as well, with the venue now known as Charles Schwab Field Omaha being used as the home stadium of the United Football League's Omaha Nighthawks .) Along with today's single use stadiums is the trend for retro-style ballparks closer to downtown areas. Oriole Park at Camden Yards
2581-582: The SWAC East in seven conference championship games, the most of any team in the division. Both wins have come against 2020 BOXTOROW HBCU National Player of the Year 2020 SWAC Offensive Player of the Year 2021 BOXTOROW HBCU National Player of the Year 2021 SWAC Offensive Player of the Year 2021 Phil Steele's SWAC Offensive Player of the Year Over 16 Alabama A&M alumni have played in
2670-576: The Summer Olympics and the FIFA World Cup (of association football), during which cities often pledge to build new stadiums in order to satisfy the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or FIFA . In recent decades, to help take the burden of the massive expense of building and maintaining a stadium, many American and European sports teams have sold the rights to the name of the facility. This trend, which began in
2759-511: The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party between Georgia and Florida. For many years, the Iron Bowl was played in Birmingham more or less out of necessity. Neither Alabama's Bryant-Denny Stadium nor Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium were nearly large enough to accommodate the large crowds that attended the game even in the 1950s. Additionally, Birmingham was much more accessible to the rest of
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2848-654: The 1960s stadiums began to be used as live venues for popular music, giving rise to the term " stadium rock ", particularly for forms of hard rock and progressive rock . The origins of stadium rock are sometimes dated to when the Beatles played Shea Stadium in New York in 1965. Also important was the use of large stadiums for American tours by bands in the later 1960s, such as the Rolling Stones , Grand Funk Railroad and Led Zeppelin . The tendency developed in
2937-537: The 1970s due to the larger capacity and the difficulty in traveling to Auburn for most of the 20th century. Auburn played all home games against Tennessee at Legion Field until 1978, except in 1974, when the game was played in Auburn. Auburn also played all home games against Georgia Tech at Legion Field until 1970. Auburn played its last home game at Legion Field in 1991, but took part in the Birmingham Bowl at
3026-604: The 1970s, but accelerated greatly in the 1990s, has led to sponsors' names being affixed to both established stadiums and new ones. In some cases, the corporate name replaces (with varying degrees of success) the name by which the venue has been known for many years. But many of the more recently built stadiums, like the Volkswagen Arena in Wolfsburg , Germany, have never been known by a non-corporate name. The sponsorship phenomenon has since spread worldwide. There remain
3115-532: The 1990s. In several cases, an American football stadium has been constructed adjacent to a baseball park , to allow for the sharing of mutual parking lots and other amenities. With the rise of MLS, the construction of soccer-specific stadiums has also increased since the late 1990s to better fit the needs of that sport. In many cases, earlier baseball stadiums were constructed to fit into a particular land area or city block. This resulted in asymmetrical dimensions for many baseball fields. Yankee Stadium , for example,
3204-629: The 2020 college football season is uncertain. The Birmingham–Jefferson Civic Center Authority started construction of a new stadium on the Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex grounds in July 2019. UAB football moved into the new 47,000-seat Protective Stadium , in 2021. Legion Field served as the home field of the UAB Blazers , members of Conference USA , from 1991 to 2020. The Blazers temporarily left Legion Field without
3293-510: The 20th century—even though Tuscaloosa is only 45 minutes west of Birmingham. The Crimson Tide hosted Tennessee in odd-numbered years in Birmingham until 1998, and hosted LSU in even-numbered years from 1964 through 1986, except for 1980. Well into the 1990s, Alabama usually played anywhere from three to four home games a year at Legion Field. Alabama also played its entire 1987 home schedule at Legion Field due to major renovations at Bryant–Denny Stadium. The stadium's association with Alabama football
3382-554: The Crimson Tide and Tigers, Legion Field played host to many of the most important football games in Alabama's history. Well into the 1980s, Alabama played most of its important games, as well as the Iron Bowl, at Legion Field—to the point that most of Alabama's "home" football history from the 1920s to the 1980s took place in Birmingham. In addition to the larger capacity, Birmingham was more accessible than Tuscaloosa for much of
3471-518: The Eastern Division Crown. A&M leads the overall series 44–40–3 and holds a 44–34–3 edge over State in Birmingham. A&M holds a 16–7 advantage as SWAC opponents, with one of State's wins vacated due to NCAA violations. State won the first eight contests, holding the longest streak in the series. A&M longest win streak is seven from 1960 to 1966 coinciding with the arrival of Coach Louis Crews. A&M's other in-state rivalry
3560-668: The Games consisted of a single event, a sprint along the length of the stadium. Greek and Roman stadiums have been found in numerous ancient cities, perhaps the most famous being the Stadium of Domitian , in Rome. The excavated and refurbished ancient Panathenaic Stadium hosted attempted revivals of the Olympic Games in 1870 and 1875 before hosting the first modern Olympics in 1896 , the 1906 Intercalated Games , and some events of
3649-474: The Roman circus was for horse races. Both had similar shapes and bowl-like areas around them for spectators. The Greeks also developed the theatre, with its seating arrangements foreshadowing those of modern stadiums. The Romans copied the theatre, then expanded it to accommodate larger crowds and more elaborate settings. The Romans also developed the double-sized round theatre called amphitheatre , seating crowds in
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3738-543: The Southwestern Athletic Conference used the stadium for their conference championship from 1999 to 2012, but moved to Houston's NRG Stadium in 2013. The Southeastern Conference played their first two conference title games here in 1992 and 1993. This stadium has also hosted four different bowl games in its history: Legion Field has served as the home stadium for various professional football teams in Birmingham. It served as home field for
3827-487: The U.S. The Baker Bowl , a baseball park in Philadelphia that opened in its original form in 1887 but was completely rebuilt in 1895, broke new ground in stadium construction in two major ways. The stadium's second incarnation featured the world's first cantilevered second deck (tier) in a sports venue, and was the first baseball park to use steel and brick for the majority of its construction. Another influential venue
3916-867: The UK include the Stamford Bridge stadium (opened in 1877 for the London Athletic Club ) and Anfield stadium (1884 as a venue for Everton F.C. ). In the U.S., many professional baseball teams built large stadiums mainly out of wood , with the first such venue being the South End Grounds in Boston , opened in 1871 for the team then known as the Boston Beaneaters (now the Atlanta Braves ). Many of these parks caught fire, and those that did not proved inadequate for
4005-453: The US is bleachers , which is mostly used for seating areas with bench seats as opposed to individual seats, and which often are uncovered; the name refers to the bleaching effect direct, unshaded sunlight has on the benches and patrons in those sections. Many stadiums make luxury suites or boxes available to patrons at high prices. These suites can accommodate ten to thirty people, depending on
4094-541: The United Kingdom and baseball in the United States, the first such structures were built. One such early stadium was the Lansdowne Road Stadium , the brainchild of Henry Dunlop , who organised the first All Ireland Athletics Championships. Banned from locating sporting events at Trinity College, Dunlop built the stadium in 1872. "I laid down a cinder running path of a quarter-mile, laid down
4183-408: The annual classic began November 9, 1940 in Birmingham. The game has grown at Legion Field, a neutral site roughly halfway between the two campuses. The schools competed from 1947 to 1975 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference . The rivalry has intensified since A&M joined State as a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference in 1999, with the two teams regularly in contention for
4272-471: The builder's workmanship and agreed two further contracts: exterior hoardings were constructed at a cost of £150 and 12 turnstiles were installed at a cost of £7 each. The stadium was officially opened on 24 August 1892 by Lord Kinnaird and Frederick Wall of the Football Association. No football was played; instead the 12,000 crowd watched a short track and field event followed by music and
4361-458: The construction of new facilities. In Europe and Latin America, where there are multiple association football clubs in any given city, and several leagues in each country, no such monopoly power exists, and stadiums are built primarily with private money. Outside professional sports, governments are also involved through the intense competition for the right to host major sporting events, primarily
4450-491: The ensuing years, Alabama decreased the number of games scheduled in Birmingham. The last home game for Alabama at Legion Field was against the University of South Florida on August 30, 2003. Though Alabama had a couple of games scheduled at Legion Field in 2005 and 2008, the stadium's poor state of repair (see above) led Alabama to end its contract with the city of Birmingham in 2004 and move all home games to Tuscaloosa. Auburn also used Legion Field for some home games well into
4539-572: The facility played host to the Drum Corps International World Championships. If Protective Stadium had not been completed in time for the 2022 World Games , that event's opening and closing ceremonies would have been held at Legion Field. It remains in use at least through the World Games, as it served as the venue for flag football . Stadium A stadium ( pl. : stadiums or stadia )
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#17327807623584628-408: The first and second Busch Stadiums , in that the parks were named by and for the club's owner, which also happened to be the name of the company owned by those clubowners. (The current Busch Stadium received its name via a modern naming rights agreement.) During the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, some stadiums were temporarily renamed because FIFA prohibits sponsorship of stadiums. For example,
4717-414: The game became known as the " Iron Bowl ." From the series' resumption in 1948 to 1987, each team rotated claiming home-field rights, with Alabama as the nominal home team in even-numbered years and Auburn as the nominal home team in odd-numbered years. Tickets were split equally between the two athletic departments to sell, similar to other rivalries like the Red River Shootout between Oklahoma and Texas or
4806-424: The historic SBN (Sheridan Broadcasting Network) Sports Poll. This is the A&M's first national championship and the third for Coach Maynor, who was voted #1 by SBN in 2011 at Winston-Salem State. A&M has won or shared a total of 14 league titles in football including two undefeated seasons. The Bulldogs have won two Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championships, after claiming 12 conference crowns as
4895-476: The largest among them, are megaprojects that can only be afforded by the largest corporations, wealthiest individuals, or government. Sports fans have a deep emotional attachment to their teams. In North America, with its closed-league " franchise " system, there are fewer teams than cities which would like them. This creates tremendous bargaining power for the owners of teams, whereby owners can threaten to relocate teams to other cities unless governments subsidize
4984-444: The late 1990s and was for many years the site of the annual Iron Bowl rivalry game against Auburn . The UAB football team played at Legion Field from their inception in 1991 through the 2020 season. It has also hosted teams from various professional football leagues. Since the removal of its east-side upper deck in 2005, Legion Field has a seating capacity of approximately 71,594. At its peak, it seated 83,091 for football and had
5073-420: The lead of Aerosmith and including Mötley Crüe , Quiet Riot , W.A.S.P. and Ratt . Since the 1980s, rock, pop and folk stars, including the Grateful Dead , Madonna , Michael Jackson , Beyoncé , Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift , have undertaken large-scale stadium based concert tours . Alabama A%26M Bulldogs football The Alabama A&M Bulldogs are the college football team representing
5162-466: The length of 600 human feet. As feet are of variable length the exact length of a stadion depends on the exact length adopted for 1 foot at a given place and time. Although in modern terms 1 stadion = 600 ft (180 m), in a given historical context it may actually signify a length up to 15% larger or smaller. The equivalent Roman measure, the stadium , had a similar length – about 185 m (607 ft) – but instead of being defined in feet
5251-418: The mid-1970s as the increased power of amplification and sound systems allowed the use of larger and larger venues. Smoke, fireworks and sophisticated lighting shows became staples of arena rock performances. Key acts from this era included Journey , REO Speedwagon , Boston , Foreigner , Styx , Kiss , Peter Frampton and Queen . In the 1980s arena rock became dominated by glam metal bands, following
5340-401: The mile (536 m); outside there was a 35-foot-wide (11 m), 660-yard (600 m) cycle track. The infield included a swimming and diving pool. The London Highbury Stadium , built in 1913, was the first stadium in the UK to feature a two-tiered seating arrangement when it was redesigned in the Art Deco style in 1936. During these decades, parallel stadium developments were taking place in
5429-553: The name "Football Capital of the South" emblazoned from the facade on the upper deck. Legion Field is colloquially called "The Old Gray Lady" and "The Gray Lady on Graymont". Construction of a 21,000-seat stadium began in 1926 at the cost of $ 439,000. It was completed in 1927 and named Legion Field as a war memorial in honor of the recently-established American Legion . In the stadium's first event, 16,800 fans watched Howard College (now known as Samford University ) shut out Birmingham–Southern College 9–0 on November 19, 1927. Over
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#17327807623585518-425: The name of one of FIFA's major sponsors , was known by its historic name of Ellis Park Stadium during the 2010 FIFA World Cup . Corporate names are also temporarily replaced during the Olympics. Modern stadiums bring several negative environmental issues with their construction. They require thousands of tons of materials to build, they greatly increase traffic in the area around the stadium, as well as maintaining
5607-401: The namesake corporation changes its name, or if it is the naming agreement simply expires. Phoenix's Chase Field , for example, was previously known as Bank One Ballpark, but was renamed to reflect the takeover of the latter corporation. San Francisco's historic Candlestick Park was renamed as 3Com Park for several years, but the name was dropped when the sponsorship agreement expired, and it
5696-475: The old stadiums they replace. In North America, where baseball and American football are the two most popular outdoor spectator sports, a number of football/baseball multi-use stadiums were built, especially during the 1960s, and some of them were successful. Since the requirements for baseball and football are significantly different, the trend has been toward the construction of single-purpose stadiums, beginning with Kansas City in 1972–1973 and accelerating in
5785-444: The present Lansdowne Tennis Club ground with my own theodolite, started a Lansdowne archery club, a Lansdowne cricket club, and last, but not least, the Lansdowne Rugby Football Club – colours red, black and yellow." Some 300 cartloads of soil from a trench beneath the railway were used to raise the ground, allowing Dunlop to use his engineering expertise to create a pitch envied around Ireland. Other early stadiums from this period in
5874-705: The public. An "all-seater" stadium has seats for all spectators. Other stadiums are designed so that all or some spectators stand to view the event. The term "all-seater" is not common in the U.S., as very few American stadiums have sizeable standing-only sections. Poor stadium design has contributed to disasters, such as the Hillsborough disaster and the Heysel Stadium disaster . Since these, all Premier League , UEFA European Championship and FIFA World Cup qualifying matches require all spectators to be seated. Seating areas may be known as terraces , tiers , or decks . Originally set out for standing room only, they are now usually equipped with seating. Another term used in
5963-657: The same stadium in 2015 as a postseason bowl game. Legion Field has hosted a number of other college football games. The annual Magic City Classic between Alabama A&M University and Alabama State University has been played here since 1946. The Steel City Classic featuring Miles College and Stillman College is also played at Legion Field. The MEAC / SWAC Challenge was played at Legion Field from 2005 to 2007, but moved to Orlando in 2008. Birmingham–Southern College played against Mississippi College's junior varsity team in Legion Field on September 6, 2007, in their first football game since 1939. In terms of postseason play,
6052-399: The short-lived expansion of the Canadian Football League into the United States. In 2001 , it was the home field for the single season of the Birmingham Thunderbolts of the XFL . In 2019 , it was the home field for the Birmingham Iron of the Alliance of American Football . There have also been at least two NFL preseason games here, on August 8, 1970, when the New York Jets defeated
6141-401: The stadium's history. The vastly differing character of European football stadiums has led to the growing hobby of ground hopping where spectators make a journey to visit the stadium for itself rather than for the event held there. In recent years the trend of building completely new oval stadiums in Europe has led to traditionalists criticising the designs as bland and lacking in the character of
6230-460: The stadium. The increased traffic around modern stadiums has led to create exposure zones says the Health Effect Institute, exposing 30–40% of people living around the stadium to potential health issues. Many stadiums are attempting to counteract these issues by implementing solar panels, and high efficiency lighting, to reduce their own carbon footprint. Although concerts, such as classical music, had been presented in them for decades, beginning in
6319-400: The stadiums with a capacity of at least 10,000 are used for association football . Other popular stadium sports include gridiron football , baseball , cricket , the various codes of rugby , field lacrosse , bandy , and bullfighting . Many large sports venues are also used for concerts. "Stadium" is the Latin form of the Greek word " stadion " ( στάδιον ), a measure of length equalling
6408-491: The start of the "jewel box" era of park construction. The largest stadium crowd ever was 199,854 people watching the final match of the 1950 World Cup at Rio de Janeiro 's Maracanã on 16 July 1950. Domed stadiums are distinguished from conventional stadiums by their enclosing roofs. Many of these are not actually domes in the pure architectural sense, some being better described as vaults , some having truss -supported roofs and others having more exotic designs such as
6497-420: The state well into the 1970s. By the 1980s, Jordan-Hare Stadium had expanded to seat over 80,000 people. Combined with Legion Field's decades-long association with Alabama football (see below), this led Auburn fans to lobby for making the Iron Bowl a home-and-home series, or at the very least allow Auburn to move its home games to Jordan-Hare. At the time, Alabama was Auburn's only major rival to have never played
6586-452: The tens of thousands for gladiatorial combats and beast shows. The Greek stadium and theatre and the Roman circus and amphitheatre are all ancestral to the modern stadium. The first stadiums to be built in the modern era were basic facilities, designed for the single purpose of fitting as many spectators in as possible. With tremendous growth in the popularity of organised sport in the late Victorian era , especially association football in
6675-622: The venue. Luxury suites at events such as the Super Bowl can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Due to the number of people congregating in stadiums and the frequency of events, many notable accidents have occurred in the past, some causing injury and death. For example, the Hillsborough disaster was a human crush at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield , England on 15 April 1989. The resulting 97 deaths and 765 injuries makes this
6764-408: The way, the University of Alabama withdrew the few home games it still scheduled for Birmingham . The city removed the upper deck in 2005 since the capacity was greater than the need for its tenants. In 2015, renovations took place including general improvements and overall renovations including a new and larger video scoreboard along with a new and improved sound system. The stadium's future beyond
6853-461: The worst disaster in British sporting history. Much effort has been spent to avoid the recurrence of such events, both in design and legislation. Especially where there is a perceived risk of terrorism or violence attention remains high to prevent human death and keep stadiums as places where families can enjoy a public event together. In Europe and South America, during the twentieth century, it
6942-416: The years, the stadium grew. The expansions didn't follow the designer's initial intent on the stadium becoming a monumental horseshoe-shaped amphitheater. Capacity was increased to 25,000 in 1934 and to 45,000 in 1948, and the bowl was enclosed. In 1961, a 9,000 seat upper deck was added to the east side of the stadium, increasing capacity to 54,600. In 1965, a new press box was built in the stadium and capacity
7031-585: Was Boston 's Harvard Stadium , built in 1903 by Harvard University for its American football team and track and field program. It was the world's first stadium to use concrete-and-steel construction. In 1909, concrete-and-steel construction came to baseball with the opening of Shibe Park in Philadelphia and, a few months later, Forbes Field in Pittsburgh . The latter was the world's first three-tiered sporting venue. The opening of these parks marked
7120-613: Was another two years before the new name of Monster Cable Products ' Monster Park was applied. Local opposition to the corporate naming of that particular stadium led San Francisco's city council to permanently restore the Candlestick Park name once the Monster contract expired. More recently, in Ireland, there has been huge opposition to the renaming of Dublin 's historic Lansdowne Road as the Aviva Stadium . Lansdowne
7209-585: Was built on a triangular city block in The Bronx , New York City. This resulted in a large left field dimension but a small right field dimension. Before more modern football stadiums were built in the United States, many baseball parks, including Fenway Park , the Polo Grounds , Wrigley Field , Comiskey Park , Tiger Stadium , Griffith Stadium , Milwaukee County Stadium , Shibe Park , Forbes Field , Yankee Stadium , and Sportsman's Park were used by
7298-686: Was common for violent bands of supporters to fight inside or close to association football stadiums. In the United Kingdom they are known as hooligans . Structural features that increase safety include separate entry and exit accesses for each spectator area, especially separating accesses for home and visitor supporters, dividing walls, glass parapets, vibration attenuation and sprinkler systems. Security features that have been adopted include armed surveillance, Identity document checks, video surveillance , metal detectors and security searches to enforce rules that forbid spectators to carry dangerous or potentially dangerous items. Modern stadiums, especially
7387-477: Was defined using the Roman standard passus to be a distance of 125 passūs (double-paces). The English use of stadium comes from the tiered infrastructure surrounding a Roman track of such length. Most dictionaries provide for both stadiums and stadia as valid English plurals. The oldest known stadium is the Stadium at Olympia in Greece, where the ancient Olympic Games were held from 776 BC. Initially
7476-401: Was further increased to 68,821. The first nationally televised night college football game at Legion Field was between Ole Miss and Alabama on October 4, 1969 . In 1970, the natural grass turf was replaced with Poly-Turf , which was in turn replaced by AstroTurf in 1975. Seating capacity was increased to 75,808 in 1977 and further increased to 83,091 in 1991. The turf was changed back to
7565-529: Was originally designed with a capacity of 100,000 spectators and featured seating in the south stand under cover, while the remaining three stands were left as terraces and uncovered. It was the first stadium to feature continuous seating along the contours of the stadium. These early venues, originally designed to host football matches, were adopted for use by the Olympic Games, the first one being held in 1896 in Athens , Greece. The White City Stadium , built for
7654-529: Was redeveloped as the Aviva, opening in May 2010. On the other hand, Los Angeles' Great Western Forum , one of the earliest examples of corporate renaming, retained its name for many years, even after the namesake bank no longer existed, the corporate name being dropped only after the building later changed ownership. This practice has typically been less common in countries outside the United States. A notable exception
7743-563: Was reportedly the first floodlit stadium. Floodlighting in association football dates as far back as 1878, when there were floodlit experimental matches at Bramall Lane, Sheffield during the dark winter afternoons. With no national grid , lights were powered by batteries and dynamoes , and were unreliable. Since the development of electrical grids, lighting has been an important element in stadium design, allowing games to be played after sundown, and in covered, or partly covered stadiums that allow less natural light, but provide more shelter for
7832-520: Was so strong that from the 1980s onward, Auburn lobbied to have its home games in the Iron Bowl played in Auburn. Until 1999, Alabama played at least three games at Legion Field every season. In 1998, Alabama double-decked the east stands at Bryant-Denny, bringing its capacity to a few hundred more seats than that of Legion Field. Due to the disrepair of Legion Field and the added capacity in Tuscaloosa, Alabama moved major conference games on campus. In
7921-525: Was the first such ballpark for Major League Baseball to be built, using early-20th-century styling with 21st-century amenities. There is a solar-powered stadium in Taiwan that produces as much energy as it needs to function. Stadium designers often study acoustics to increase noise caused by fans' voices, aiming to create a lively atmosphere. Until the advent of floodlights , most games played on large areas had to rely on natural lighting. Bramall Lane
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