Fiesta Bowl
official home of the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, Insight Bowl and Festival of College Football
Sponsors
University of Phoenix Stadium
Capacity: 73,000
Playing Surface: Natural Grass (Tifway 419 Bermuda hybrid planted in early May 2006 using stolons in an 11” bed of USGA sand mix with inclusions.)
Lighting: 700 Musco pre-aimed sports lights providing over 1 million watts of lighting.
Stadium Height: 206 feet from the playing surface to top of roof, approximately 19 stories high.
Press box: Located in the southwest corner, it accommodates approximately 154 working media members. There is also a national television broadcast booth, a home coaches booth, a visiting coaches booth, an instant replay booth, an officials booth, a scoreboard and PA control booth, a stats booth and four radio booths.
University of Phoenix Stadium played host to its first college football games in 2007 with the 36th Annual Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and the inaugural Tostitos BCS National Championship Game. The state-of-the-art stadium was showcased to millions as they watched history being made, with Boise State’s trick plays hoisting them over Big 12 Conference champion Oklahoma in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and Florida defeating Ohio State in the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game.
Named one of the world’s 10 most impressive sports structures/stadiums by BusinessWeek, the exterior design of the stadium was provided by renowned architect Peter Eisenman, along with HOK Sport. The basic form of the design takes its cue from a barrel cactus and offers alternating vertical slots with smooth panels.
The stadium was constructed with a retractable roof containing two large panels that retract to uncover the entire playing field. It also features a roll-out field consisting of a 160,000 square-foot concrete stadium floor with an embedded utility grid. The natural grass field remains in a retractable, 18.9 million pound tray outside the stadium until game day for maximum sun exposure and nourishment. The tray takes approximately 70 minutes to move inside the Stadium and rests in a tray atop 13 rail tracks as it rolls out on 546 steel wheel assemblies powered by 76 one-horsepower motors.
The stadium has permanent seating for 63,400, but expands to hold approximately 73,000 for events such as the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. A total of 88 luxury suites on two levels, club seating for 7,400 with access to private club lounge areas, lower bowl seating for 29,000 and upper deck seating for approximately 26,000 accommodate patrons. All seats are individual chairs with arm rests and cup holders.
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