Sun Devil Stadium
Encyclopedia
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...
, located on the campus of Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
, in Tempe, Arizona
Tempe, Arizona
Tempe is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2010 population of 161,719. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in the East Valley section of metropolitan Phoenix; it is bordered by Phoenix and Guadalupe on the west, Scottsdale...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The stadium's current seating capacity is 71,706 and the playing surface is natural grass. Although the stadium is called Sun Devil Stadium, in 1996 the gridiron
Gridiron
Gridiron may refer to:*Gridiron Secret Society, a secret society at the University of Georgia.* Gridiron , type of grill that can be used to cook meat or other food over a fire; most of the other usages derive from this term due to their fancied resemblance* Gridiron plan, in urban planning, a...
within the stadium was named Frank Kush
Frank Kush
Frank Joseph Kush is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Arizona State University from 1958 to 1979, compiling a record of 176–54–1...
Field in honor of the former coach of the ASU football team.
It is home to the Arizona State Sun Devils
Arizona State University Athletics
The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams representing Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing in the NCAA Pacific-12 Conference. The men compete in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, diving, track, and wrestling...
, of the Pacific-12 Conference. It has previously been the home of the NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
's Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, from 1988–2005 and was the annual site of the Fiesta Bowl
Fiesta Bowl
The Fiesta Bowl, now sponsored by Frito-Lay and named with their Tostitos brand, is a United States college football bowl game played annually at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Between its origination in 1971 and 2006, the game was hosted in Tempe, Arizona at Sun Devil...
, from 1971-2006
2006 Fiesta Bowl
The 2006 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, played on January 2, 2006, was the 35th edition of the Fiesta Bowl, featuring Notre Dame and Ohio State. Ohio State won the game 34–20....
. It also served as the home for the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, on October 27, 2003, when the NFL moved a game against the Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
there, due to wildfires in Southern California (it was the first Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...
game in the stadium in four years - the last MNF game there prior to 2003 was the game wherein legendary San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
quarterback Steve Young suffered his career-ending concussion).
On June 5, 2009, it held down the first championship for the Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
high school's Passing League tournament.
Construction and upgrades
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 70,311. 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 DepartmentArizona State University Athletics
The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams representing Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing in the NCAA Pacific-12 Conference. The men compete in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, diving, track, and wrestling...
.
College football
The first game played at the stadium was on October 4, 1958. Arizona State defeated West Texas StateWest Texas A&M University
West Texas A&M University , part of the Texas A&M University System, is a public university located in Canyon, Texas, a small city south of Amarillo. West Texas A&M opened on September 20, 1910...
16-13.
On September 21, 1996, the playing surface was named in honor of former ASU football coaching great Frank Kush
Frank Kush
Frank Joseph Kush is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Arizona State University from 1958 to 1979, compiling a record of 176–54–1...
, and the name of the stadium was changed from Sun Devil Stadium to Sun Devil Stadium, Frank Kush Field. That night ASU shut-out #1 Nebraska 19-0. The largest crowd ever seated for a college football game at the stadium was 80,470 for the 1999 Fiesta Bowl
1999 Fiesta Bowl
The 1999 Fiesta Bowl, the designated BCS National Championship Game for the 1998 season, was played on January 4, 1999, in Tempe, Arizona at Sun Devil Stadium. The teams were the Tennessee Volunteers and Florida State Seminoles...
, were the Tennessee Volunteers
Tennessee Volunteers
The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the National Collegiate Athletic Association college sports teams at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. Mike Hamilton is the most recent Men's Athletic Director, but resigned on June 7, 2011, and Joan Cronan is the current Women's...
beat the Florida State Seminoles
Florida State Seminoles
The Florida State Seminoles are the men's and women's sports teams of Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. Florida State participates in the NCAA's Division I . FSU joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1991, and competes in the Atlantic Division in any sports split into a...
, 23-16 on January 4, 1999 to win the National Championship.
Sun Devil Stadium hosted college football's Fiesta Bowl
Fiesta Bowl
The Fiesta Bowl, now sponsored by Frito-Lay and named with their Tostitos brand, is a United States college football bowl game played annually at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Between its origination in 1971 and 2006, the game was hosted in Tempe, Arizona at Sun Devil...
from 1971 to 2006 including two national championship games after the 1998 and 2002 seasons. ASU continues to use Sun Devil Stadium, which now hosts the Insight Bowl
Insight Bowl
The Insight Bowl is an NCAA college football bowl game played in Arizona since 1989. From 1989 to 1999, the games were played at Arizona Stadium in Tucson. The game moved to Phoenix in 2000 and was played at Chase Field until 2005. After the 2005 playing the Insight Bowl moved to Sun Devil Stadium...
. The Insight Bowl (formerly called the Copper Bowl) moved to Sun Devil Stadium when the Fiesta Bowl moved to the University of Phoenix Stadium in nearby Glendale.
NFL football
The first pro game played in the stadium was a pre-season game between the New York JetsNew York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
and the Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
in 1975. The Green Bay Packers also played the Denver Broncos in a preseason game in 1987.
The facility became an NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
stadium in 1988, when the St. Louis Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
moved west to Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
and became the Phoenix Cardinals (renamed the Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
in 1994). The Cardinals' first regular season game in the stadium was a 17-14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
in a Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...
game on September 12, 1988. The Cardinals won their next home game, defeating the defending Super Bowl
Super Bowl XXII
Super Bowl XXII was an American football game played on January 31, 1988 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 1987 regular season...
champion Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
30-21.
The stadium hosted Super Bowl XXX
Super Bowl XXX
Super Bowl XXX was an American football game played on January 28, 1996 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona to decide the National Football League champion following the 1995 regular season...
in 1996 as the Cowboys won their fifth Vince Lombardi Trophy
Vince Lombardi Trophy
The Vince Lombardi Trophy is the trophy awarded each year to the winning team of the National Football League's championship game, the Super Bowl.-History:...
, defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
, 27-17 in front of 76,347 spectators.
On October 27, 2003, the Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...
game between the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
and Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
was moved to Sun Devil Stadium because the Cedar Fire
Cedar Fire
The Cedar Fire was a human-caused wildfire that burned out of control through a large area of San Diego County, in Southern California, in October 2003...
in the San Diego
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
area forced the teams to vacate Qualcomm Stadium
Qualcomm Stadium
Qualcomm Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, in San Diego, California, in the Mission Valley area....
, which was being used as an evacuation site. Tickets
Ticket (admission)
A ticket is a voucher that indicates that one has paid for admission to an event or establishment such as a theatre, movie theater, amusement park, zoo, museum, concert, or other attraction, or permission to travel on a vehicle such as an airliner, train, bus, or boat, typically because one has...
for the game were free and the capacity crowd saw the Dolphins win 26-10.
The Cardinals ended their tenure on the ASU campus with a 27-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
2005. In 18 seasons in Sun Devil Stadium, the Cardinals complied a 64-80 (.444) mark, with their best single-season mark being 5-3 in 1994, 1996, 1998, and 2004.
In 2006, the Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
moved from Sun Devil Stadium to University of Phoenix Stadium
University of Phoenix Stadium
University of Phoenix Stadium, opened August 1, 2006, is a multipurpose football stadium located in Glendale, Arizona. It is the home of the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League and the annual Fiesta Bowl...
in another Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
suburb, Glendale
Glendale, Arizona
Glendale is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA, located about nine miles northwest from Downtown Phoenix. According to 2010 Census Bureau, the population of the city is 226,721....
, located on the opposite side of the metro area from Tempe. The new stadium also hosts the Fiesta Bowl
Fiesta Bowl
The Fiesta Bowl, now sponsored by Frito-Lay and named with their Tostitos brand, is a United States college football bowl game played annually at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Between its origination in 1971 and 2006, the game was hosted in Tempe, Arizona at Sun Devil...
, and hosted the first stand-alone Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game
BCS National Championship Game
The BCS National Championship Game, or BCS National Championship, is the final bowl game of the annual Bowl Championship Series and is intended by the organizers of the BCS to determine the U.S. national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision...
in January 2007.
Film appearances
Sun Devil Stadium has been the setting for several movies over the years. Some of them include Cameron CroweCameron Crowe
Cameron Bruce Crowe is an American screenwriter and film director. Before moving into the film industry, Crowe was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine, for which he still frequently writes....
's 1996 blockbuster film Jerry Maguire
Jerry Maguire
Jerry Maguire is a 1996 American romantic comedy-drama film starring Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding, Jr. It was written, co-produced, and directed by Cameron Crowe...
, U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
's 1988 rockumentary
Rockumentary
The term rockumentary is a neologism denoting a documentary about rock music or its musicians. The term was used by Bill Drake in the 1969 History of Rock & Roll radio broadcast, and by Rob Reiner in the 1984 mockumentary film This Is Spinal Tap....
Rattle and Hum
Rattle and Hum
Rattle and Hum is the sixth studio album by rock band U2 and companion rockumentary directed by Phil Joanou, both released in 1988. The film and the album feature live recordings, covers, and new songs...
, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
' 1983 concert film Let's Spend the Night Together
Let's Spend the Night Together (film)
Let's Spend the Night Together is a live concert film, documenting The Rolling Stones' 1981 North American Tour. It was directed by Hal Ashby, and released to cinemas in 1983, then subsequently released on VHS...
, 1976's A Star is Born
A Star Is Born (1976 film)
A Star Is Born is a 1976 American rock music musical film telling the story of a young woman, played by Barbra Streisand who enters show business, and meets and falls in love with an established male star, played by Kris Kristofferson, only to find her career ascending while his goes into decline...
, with Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
and Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
, the Coen Brothers
Coen Brothers
Joel David Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers...
1987 film Raising Arizona
Raising Arizona
Raising Arizona is a 1987 comedy film directed by the Coen Brothers and starring Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, William Forsythe, John Goodman, Frances McDormand and Randall "Tex" Cobb. Not a blockbuster at the time of its release, it has since achieved cult status...
, and the 1980 film Used Cars
Used Cars
Used Cars is a 1980 comedy satire film. It stars Kurt Russell, Jack Warden , Deborah Harmon, and Gerrit Graham.Kurt Russell portrays a devious car salesman working for affable but monumentally unsuccessful used car dealer Luke Fuchs . Luke's principal rival, located directly across the street, is...
. In 2003, the stadium was also featured on the Finale episode of The Amazing Race 4
The Amazing Race 4
The Amazing Race 4 is the fourth installment of the reality television show on US television The Amazing Race. The Amazing Race 4 featured 12 teams of two, with a pre-existing relationship, in a race around the world...
.
Historic appearances
Pope John Paul IIPope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
visited Phoenix on September 14, 1987, as a part of his whirlwind tour of the United States. In Tempe, he held Mass for 75,000 at Sun Devil Stadium. All the Sun Devil logos and words with "devil" painted on the stadium's facade had to be covered up for the Pope to agree to enter the stadium.
President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
delivered the ASU commencement address at the stadium on May 13, 2009 before a crowd of 63,000 which included 9,000 graduates.
Needed renovations
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, cleaning/maintenance crews for the college and professional football teams hosed down the seats after every game, introducing substantially more water to the stadium than the designers had envisioned. Engineers now estimate that $45 million in repairs will be needed to maintain the stadium beyond 2010.A new Arizona bill allows the Arizona Board of Regents to set up a district on ASU property to collect revenue from local businesses. Money from the fee will go toward the funding of renovation projects of ASU’s athletic facilities, including the stadium. It is estimated the fund will accumulate enough money to begin planning renovations within two to five years (2012–2015).
External links
- The Sun Devils.cstv.com – official athletics site – Sun Devil Stadium, Frank Kush Field
- Arizona's S&E News – Sun Devil Stadium
- Ballparks.com: Sun Devil Stadium
- East Valley Tribune: Sun Devil Stadium
- Stadiums of Pro Football: Sun Devil Stadium