Bright House Networks Stadium
Encyclopedia
Bright House Networks Stadium is the football
stadium
for the University of Central Florida’s football team, nicknamed the Knights. Located in Knights Plaza
on the main campus of the University of Central Florida
in Orlando, Florida
, the stadium was the first on-campus stadium in NCAA
Division I FBS to open in the 21st century.
The steel and brick clad stadium was designed by 360 Architecture
and boasts a seating capacity of 45,301. The current attendance record is 48,453, for an October 18, 2009 match-up against the Miami Hurricanes
. The Knights moved to the stadium in 2007
from their previous facility, the Citrus Bowl
, which is located near downtown Orlando. The stadium is also the proposed host of the Cure Bowl.
Bright House Networks Stadium is located on the northern edge of the University of Central Florida's 1415 acres (572.6 ha) main campus, which is approximately 13 miles (21 km) northeast of downtown Orlando and 55 miles (89 km) southwest of Daytona Beach
. The stadium is a part of UCF's Athletic Village and is bordered by McCulloch Road on the north side, Knights Plaza
on the west side, and Orion Boulevard on the southern and eastern sides.
To the west in Knights Plaza is the UCF Arena
, the indoor arena of UCF Knights basketball, and The Venue
, home of the Knights volleyball
program. Also located to the west, are Jay Bergman Field
, the home field of Knights baseball
, and the UCF Track and Soccer Complex
. Also located in Knights Plaza are The Towers
residence halls, housing 2,000 UCF students, including student-athletes.
The UCF Knights made notable changes to its athletic programs and facilities in 2007. A newly developed "athletic village" on the north end of campus known as Knights Plaza was opened which consisted of new sports facilities, including the new UCF Arena, the new 45,301 seat Bright House Networks Stadium, a new softball complex, and the only Division I indoor football practice facility in the state. This made UCF the first university to ever open a new stadium and arena during the same year, for the 2007-2008 season.
Initially projected to have a cost of $40 to $45 million, the most recent cost estimations of Bright House Networks Stadium run as high as $55 million. Construction of the new stadium was briefly delayed due to the concerns of local residents regarding potentially falling property values and noise levels from the stadium. The stadium was originally built without water fountains. The university argued that the building code used when the stadium was approved did not require water fountains. However, this claim turned out to be incorrect. The 2004 Florida building code (in effect in 2005 when the UCF Board of Trustees approved the stadium design) mandated that stadiums and other public arenas must have one water fountain for every 1000 seats, or half that number of fountains if water were also available for sale. During the opening game, vendors ran out of water at half time; 18 people were hospitalized for heat exhaustion during the game. In order to correct the issue, UCF provided a free bottle of water to each person at the next game, and immediately began work to install at least fifty water fountains throughout the stadium, in order to comply with the 2004 building code requirement.
On August 8, 2006, UCF announced a fifteen-year, $
15 million stadium naming rights deal with cable company Bright House Networks
. The stadium was designed for a planned expansion to 65,000 seats. Over the next 10 years, UCF plans to expand the Roth Tower with more suites and club seating, and also add an additional 10,000 seats in a third level on the east side of the stadium, increasing its capacity to 56,000.
On May 9, 2006, it was announced that the Texas Longhorns would be the first opponent for the UCF Knights in the new stadium. The game, the first of three scheduled meetings between the schools, was held September 15, 2007, and televised nationally on ESPN2
at 3:30 pm EDT (1930 UTC
). A sellout crowd of 45,622 saw the Knights put a scare into the Longhorns before falling 35-32.
Although the Knights lost their first on-campus home game, they finished the remainder of the stadium's inaugural season undefeated, including the Conference USA
home opener against Memphis
. The Knights hosted the 2007 C-USA Championship
at their new stadium, defeating the Tulsa Golden Hurricane
44-25 in front of a crowd of 44,128. In 2010, the Knights again hosted the C-USA Championship
, defeating the SMU Mustangs
17-7 before a crowd of 41,045. The highest attendance for games played at Bright House Networks Stadium against the Knights have included the University of South Florida Bulls
,the Miami Hurricanes
, and in 2010, the East Carolina Pirates
.
bowl game
that would have been played in December of each year starting in 2010. The Cure Bowl's application was denied by the NCAA on April 23, 2010. Bowl organizers vow to continue their efforts to host the Cure Bowl in Orlando.
The Cure Bowl would have been a bowl game to benefit the Central Florida affiliates of Susan G. Komen for the Cure
and the American Cancer Society
, featuring a team from Conference USA
against a team from the Sun Belt Conference
. The inaugural Cure Bowl was to take place at Bright House Networks Stadium on December 18, 2010.
's song Kernkraft 400
. The all-steel seating areas are known to reverberate and noticeably bounce. While many fans like this feature, some are uneasy with the bouncing. Stadium officials claimed the stadium was structurally sound, and an independent contractor confirmed that the bouncing will not damage the stadium and shorten its expected 50-year useful life. Still, a project was begun prior to the 2008 season to reinforce the stadium superstructure and mitigate the bouncing effect. While the bouncing has been greatly reduced, it is still noticeable, and sometimes enough to shake TV cameras during televised games. For the 2010 Conference USA Football Championship Game
, ESPN2
for their television production set-up a camera position outside of the stadium to eliminate camera bounce caused by fans.
There is a popular movement on the UCF campus to refer to Bright House Networks Stadium as "The Dungeon," "The Trampoline," or "The Bright House."
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
stadium
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
for the University of Central Florida’s football team, nicknamed the Knights. Located in Knights Plaza
Knights Plaza
Knights Plaza at University of Central Florida, commonly referred to as Knights Plaza, is an athletic village and shopping center on the main campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida, USA. The plaza consists of housing for 2,000 students in four Towers, of commercial space,...
on the main campus of the University of Central Florida
University of Central Florida
The University of Central Florida, commonly referred to as UCF, is a metropolitan public research university located in Orlando, Florida, United States...
in Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
, the stadium was the first on-campus stadium in NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Division I FBS to open in the 21st century.
The steel and brick clad stadium was designed by 360 Architecture
360 Architecture
360 Architecture is an American architectural practice focused on planning, design and execution. The firm provides services for a range of project types including corporate headquarters and commercial office buildings, sports arenas and ballparks, municipal facilities, single- and multi-family...
and boasts a seating capacity of 45,301. The current attendance record is 48,453, for an October 18, 2009 match-up against the Miami Hurricanes
Miami Hurricanes football
The Miami Hurricanes football program competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference of the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision for the University of Miami. The program began in 1926 and has won five AP national championships...
. The Knights moved to the stadium in 2007
2007 UCF Knights football team
The 2007 UCF Knights football team represented the University of Central Florida in the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Their head coach is George O'Leary...
from their previous facility, the Citrus Bowl
Citrus Bowl
The Florida Citrus Bowl is a stadium in Orlando, Florida, USA, built for football, which currently seats around 70,000 people....
, which is located near downtown Orlando. The stadium is also the proposed host of the Cure Bowl.
Location
Daytona Beach, Florida
Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, USA. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city has a population of 64,211. Daytona Beach is a principal city of the Deltona – Daytona Beach – Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which the census bureau estimated had...
. The stadium is a part of UCF's Athletic Village and is bordered by McCulloch Road on the north side, Knights Plaza
Knights Plaza
Knights Plaza at University of Central Florida, commonly referred to as Knights Plaza, is an athletic village and shopping center on the main campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida, USA. The plaza consists of housing for 2,000 students in four Towers, of commercial space,...
on the west side, and Orion Boulevard on the southern and eastern sides.
To the west in Knights Plaza is the UCF Arena
UCF Arena
The UCF Arena is a multi-purpose arena complex located on the main campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida, USA. It is the home to the UCF Knights men's and women's basketball teams...
, the indoor arena of UCF Knights basketball, and The Venue
The Venue at UCF Arena
The Venue at UCF is a multi-purpose arena located at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida, USA. The arena which was opened in 1991, is home to the UCF's volleyball teams and serves as a practice facility for the university's basketball teams...
, home of the Knights volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
program. Also located to the west, are Jay Bergman Field
Jay Bergman Field
Jay Bergman Field is a baseball stadium located on the main campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida, USA. The stadium serves as the home of the UCF Knights baseball team.-History:...
, the home field of Knights baseball
UCF Knights baseball
The University of Central Florida Knights baseball program, commonly referred to as the UCF Knights, represents the University of Central Florida in National Collegiate Athletics Association Division I. The Knights compete in the Eastern division of Conference USA...
, and the UCF Track and Soccer Complex
UCF Track and Soccer Complex
The UCF Soccer and Track Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located on the main campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida, USA. The 2,000-seat stadium is home to the UCF Knights track and field, cross country and soccer teams...
. Also located in Knights Plaza are The Towers
University of Central Florida
The University of Central Florida, commonly referred to as UCF, is a metropolitan public research university located in Orlando, Florida, United States...
residence halls, housing 2,000 UCF students, including student-athletes.
Construction and expansion
Initially projected to have a cost of $40 to $45 million, the most recent cost estimations of Bright House Networks Stadium run as high as $55 million. Construction of the new stadium was briefly delayed due to the concerns of local residents regarding potentially falling property values and noise levels from the stadium. The stadium was originally built without water fountains. The university argued that the building code used when the stadium was approved did not require water fountains. However, this claim turned out to be incorrect. The 2004 Florida building code (in effect in 2005 when the UCF Board of Trustees approved the stadium design) mandated that stadiums and other public arenas must have one water fountain for every 1000 seats, or half that number of fountains if water were also available for sale. During the opening game, vendors ran out of water at half time; 18 people were hospitalized for heat exhaustion during the game. In order to correct the issue, UCF provided a free bottle of water to each person at the next game, and immediately began work to install at least fifty water fountains throughout the stadium, in order to comply with the 2004 building code requirement.
On August 8, 2006, UCF announced a fifteen-year, $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
15 million stadium naming rights deal with cable company Bright House Networks
Bright House Networks
Bright House Networks is a cable television company, the seventh largest cable operator and the sixth largest traditional multiple system operator in the United States owned by Advance/Newhouse, headquartered in Syracuse, New York...
. The stadium was designed for a planned expansion to 65,000 seats. Over the next 10 years, UCF plans to expand the Roth Tower with more suites and club seating, and also add an additional 10,000 seats in a third level on the east side of the stadium, increasing its capacity to 56,000.
Knights football
ESPN2
ESPN2 is an American sports cable television network owned by ESPN. The channel debuted on October 1, 1993.Originally nicknamed "the deuce," ESPN2 was initially branded as a network for a younger generation of sports fans featuring edgier graphics as well as extreme sports like motocross,...
at 3:30 pm EDT (1930 UTC
Coordinated Universal Time
Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...
). A sellout crowd of 45,622 saw the Knights put a scare into the Longhorns before falling 35-32.
Although the Knights lost their first on-campus home game, they finished the remainder of the stadium's inaugural season undefeated, including the Conference USA
Conference USA
Conference USA, officially abbreviated C-USA, is a college athletic conference whose member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports...
home opener against Memphis
Memphis Tigers football
The Memphis Tigers football team represents the University of Memphis in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. The Tigers compete in Conference USA...
. The Knights hosted the 2007 C-USA Championship
Conference USA Football Championship
The Conference USA Football Championship Game is an annual postseason college football game played to determine the champion of Conference USA. From 1996–2004, the champion of Conference USA was determined by regular season record...
at their new stadium, defeating the Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Tulsa Golden Hurricane athletics programs include the extramural and intramural sports team of the University of Tulsa. These teams are referred to as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane...
44-25 in front of a crowd of 44,128. In 2010, the Knights again hosted the C-USA Championship
Conference USA Football Championship
The Conference USA Football Championship Game is an annual postseason college football game played to determine the champion of Conference USA. From 1996–2004, the champion of Conference USA was determined by regular season record...
, defeating the SMU Mustangs
SMU Mustangs football
The SMU Mustangs football program is a college football team that represents Southern Methodist University . The team competes in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision as a member Conference USA...
17-7 before a crowd of 41,045. The highest attendance for games played at Bright House Networks Stadium against the Knights have included the University of South Florida Bulls
South Florida Bulls football
The South Florida Bulls are a Division I FBS college football program that plays its home games in Tampa, Florida. The team began playing in 1997, holding its first team meeting under a shade tree as the school had no proper football facilities on campus...
,the Miami Hurricanes
Miami Hurricanes
The Miami Hurricanes, of Coral Gables, Florida, are the varsity sports teams of the University of Miami. They compete in the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference . The university fields 15 athletic teams for 17 varsity sports...
, and in 2010, the East Carolina Pirates
East Carolina Pirates
The East Carolina Pirates are the intercollegiate sports teams representing East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. All varsity-level sports teams sponsored by the university compete in NCAA Division I as a member of Conference USA...
.
Cure Bowl
The Cure Bowl was a proposed college footballCollege football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
bowl game
Bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...
that would have been played in December of each year starting in 2010. The Cure Bowl's application was denied by the NCAA on April 23, 2010. Bowl organizers vow to continue their efforts to host the Cure Bowl in Orlando.
The Cure Bowl would have been a bowl game to benefit the Central Florida affiliates of Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Susan G. Komen for the Cure, formerly known as The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, often referred to as simply Komen, is the most widely known, largest and best-funded breast cancer organization in the US....
and the American Cancer Society
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is the "nationwide community-based voluntary health organization" dedicated, in their own words, "to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and...
, featuring a team from Conference USA
Conference USA
Conference USA, officially abbreviated C-USA, is a college athletic conference whose member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports...
against a team from the Sun Belt Conference
Sun Belt Conference
The Sun Belt Conference is a college athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Its football teams participate in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , the higher of two levels of Division I football competition . The Sun Belt has member institutions...
. The inaugural Cure Bowl was to take place at Bright House Networks Stadium on December 18, 2010.
Traditions
The stadium has been referred to by some as "The Trampoline" or "Bouncehouse" because of fans jumping during Zombie NationZombie Nation (band)
Zombie Nation is a German techno and electro project of the Munich based DJ and producer Florian Senfter.-History:The first Zombie Nation five track EP was released in the spring of 1999 on DJ Hell's label, International DeeJay Gigolo Records...
's song Kernkraft 400
Kernkraft 400
"Kernkraft 400" is a song performed by German techno and electro artist Zombie Nation and the first single from their album Leichenschmaus. The first Zombie Nation record contained the song "Kernkraft 400", German for "Nuclear Energy 400", which is a remix of a tune from the 1984 Commodore 64 game...
. The all-steel seating areas are known to reverberate and noticeably bounce. While many fans like this feature, some are uneasy with the bouncing. Stadium officials claimed the stadium was structurally sound, and an independent contractor confirmed that the bouncing will not damage the stadium and shorten its expected 50-year useful life. Still, a project was begun prior to the 2008 season to reinforce the stadium superstructure and mitigate the bouncing effect. While the bouncing has been greatly reduced, it is still noticeable, and sometimes enough to shake TV cameras during televised games. For the 2010 Conference USA Football Championship Game
2010 Conference USA Football Championship Game
The 2010 Conference USA Football Championship Game presented by HotelPlanner.com was played on December 4, 2010 at Bright House Networks Stadium in Orlando, FL. The game was played between the UCF Knights, winner of Conference USA's East Division, and the SMU Mustangs, the winner the West...
, ESPN2
ESPN2
ESPN2 is an American sports cable television network owned by ESPN. The channel debuted on October 1, 1993.Originally nicknamed "the deuce," ESPN2 was initially branded as a network for a younger generation of sports fans featuring edgier graphics as well as extreme sports like motocross,...
for their television production set-up a camera position outside of the stadium to eliminate camera bounce caused by fans.
There is a popular movement on the UCF campus to refer to Bright House Networks Stadium as "The Dungeon," "The Trampoline," or "The Bright House."
See also
- UCF KnightsUCF KnightsThe UCF Knights are the athletics teams of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. All of UCF's varsity sports teams are known as the Knights, with the women's teams sometimes referred to as the "Lady Knights." The Knights, which includes the university's 16 varsity sports teams,...
- History of the University of Central Florida
- List of NCAA Division I FBS football stadiums