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Sun Devil Stadium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sun Devil Stadium, Frank Kush Field | |
|---|---|
| The Valley of the Sun | |
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| Location | 500 E. Veterans Way Tempe, Arizona, 85281 |
| Broke ground | 1958 |
| Opened | 1958 |
| Owner | Arizona State University |
| Operator | Arizona State University |
| Surface | Bermuda Grass |
| Construction cost | $1 million |
| Former names | Sun Devil Stadium (1958-96) |
| Tenants | |
| Arizona State Sun Devils (NCAA) (1958-Present) Fiesta Bowl (NCAA) (1971-2006) Insight Bowl (NCAA) (2006-) Arizona Cardinals (NFL) (1988-2005) Arizona Wranglers (USFL) (1983-1984) Arizona Outlaws (USFL) (1985) |
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| Capacity | |
| 73,379 (expandable to 76,000) | |
Sun Devil Stadium, Frank Kush Field is an outdoor football stadium located on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. It is home to the Arizona State Sun Devils of the Pacific Ten Conference and was the home of the NFL's Arizona Cardinals from 1988 to 2005. The stadium's current seating capacity is 73,379 and the playing surface is natural grass.
Contents |
Built in 1958, the stadium's original capacity was just 30,000. The first addition in 1976 substantially raised the capacity to 57,722. Seating was added to the south end of the stadium, along with press and sky boxes. A year later, in 1977, the upper tier was completed to bring seating to 70,491. In 1988, 1,700 more seats were added to bring the facility to its current capacity. During that time the Carson Student Athlete Center was added to the south end. The building is the home of the ASU Athletic Department.
The first game played at the stadium was on October 4, 1958. Arizona State defeated West Texas State 16-13.
On September 21, 1996, the playing surface was named in honor of former ASU football coaching great Frank Kush, and the name of the stadium was changed from Sun Devil Stadium to Sun Devil Stadium, Frank Kush Field. The largest crowd ever seated for a college football game at the stadium was 74,963 for an ASU-Cal game won by the Sun Devils, 35-7, on November 9, 1996.
Sun Devil Stadium hosted college football's Fiesta Bowl from 1971 to 2006. ASU continues to use Sun Devil Stadium, which will now host the Insight Bowl, moving from Chase Field, the home field of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The first pro game played in the stadium was a pre-season game between the New York Jets and the Minnesota Vikings in 1975.
The facility became an NFL stadium in 1988, when the St. Louis (football) Cardinals moved west to Arizona and became the Phoenix Cardinals (renamed the Arizona Cardinals in 1994).
The stadium hosted Super Bowl XXX in 1996 as the Dallas Cowboys won their fifth Vince Lombardi Trophy, defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers, 27-17 in front of the all-time stadium record of 76,347 spectators.
On October 27, 2003, the Monday Night Football game between the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins was moved to Sun Devil Stadium because the Cedar Fire in the San Diego area forced the teams to vacate Qualcomm Stadium, which was being used as an evacuation site. The tickets for the game were free.
In 2006, the Cardinals moved from Sun Devil Stadium to University of Phoenix Stadium in another Phoenix suburb, Glendale. The new stadium will also host the Fiesta Bowl, and hosted the first stand-alone Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game in January 2007.
Sun Devil Stadium has been the setting for several movies over the years. Some of them include Cameron Crowe's 1996 blockbuster film, Jerry Maguire; U2's 1988 rockumentary Rattle and Hum, the Rolling Stone's 1983 concert film Let's Spend the Night Together, 1976's A Star is Born, with Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, and the Coen Brothers 1987 film Raising Arizona.
In 2003, the stadium was also featured on the Finale episode of The Amazing Race 4.
In 2007, engineers realized that the concrete base of the stadium was buckling due to the rusting of structural steel supporting the foundation. Stadium designers had neglected to waterproof the structure when it was built, assuming that a stadium in the desert would not need waterproof concrete. However, grounds crews for the college and professional football teams hosed down the turf after every game, introducing substantially more water to the field surface than the designers had envisioned. Engineers now estimate that $45 million in repairs will be needed to maintain the stadium beyond 2010. [1]
External links
- The Sun Devils.cstv.com - official athletics site - Sun Devil Stadium, Frank Kush Field
- Arizona's S&E News - Sun Devil Stadium
References
"Sun Devil Stadium Repairs Planned," Arizona Republic, June 24, 2007
| Preceded by none |
Home of the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl 1971-2005 |
Succeeded by University of Phoenix Stadium 2006– |
| Preceded by Busch Stadium 1966–1987 |
Home of the NFL Cardinals 1988-2005 |
Succeeded by University of Phoenix Stadium 2006– |
| Preceded by Chase Field 2000-2005 |
Home of the Insight Bowl 2006-present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
| Preceded by Joe Robbie Stadium Super Bowl XXIX |
Host of Super Bowl XXX 1996 |
Succeeded by Louisiana Superdome Super Bowl XXXI |
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Chicago/St. Louis/Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals
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| Arizona Stadium (Arizona) • Autzen Stadium (Oregon) • Husky Stadium (Washington) • Martin Stadium (Washington State) • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Southern California) • California Memorial Stadium (California) • Reser Stadium (Oregon State) • Rose Bowl (UCLA) • Stanford Stadium (Stanford) • Sun Devil Stadium (Arizona State) |
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| Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (I, VII) • Miami Orange Bowl (II, III, V, X, XIII) • Tulane Stadium (IV, VI, IX) • Rice Stadium (VIII) Rose Bowl (XI, XIV, XVII, XXI, XXVII) • Louisiana Superdome (XII, XV, XX, XXIV, XXXI, XXXVI) • Pontiac Silverdome (XVI) • Tampa Stadium (XVIII, XXV) Stanford Stadium (XIX) • Qualcomm Stadium (XXII, XXXII, XXXVII) • Dolphin Stadium (XXIII, XXIX, XXXIII, XLI, XLIV) • Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (XXVI) Georgia Dome (XXVIII, XXXIV) • Sun Devil Stadium (XXX) • Raymond James Stadium (XXXV, XLIII) • Reliant Stadium (XXXVIII) ALLTEL Stadium (XXXIX) • Ford Field (XL) • University of Phoenix Stadium (XLII) • Dallas Cowboys New Stadium (XLV) |