Multipurpose Sports Stadium

For those interested in multipurpose indoor sporting stadiums the new 63,400 seating capacity stadium built for the University of Phoenix has been designed with several very innovative features. It has a retractable roof and a retractable grass field. The stadium opened in August 2006 and it is the home of the NFL's Arizona Cardinals who held their inaugural game on 8 December 2006.

Built at a cost of US$455 million, the exterior design resembles a barrel cactus. The interior has all the modern facilities expected with corporate suites, restaurants, high resolution video scoreboards and two massive thermometers to gauge crowd noise. The stadium is air conditioned and seating can be expanded to 73,000 for concerts and trade shows. The main feature is the level natural grass playing field growing in a steel tray that rolls in and out of the stadium as required for football and soccer games. The field remains outside the stadium in full sun avoiding humidity and shadow problems common with indoor grass fields.The field rests on 13 rail tracks and the roll out takes 75 minutes. When the field rolls into the stadium the outside space becomes a security car park for players and officials. There are 14,000 on site parking spaces and a further 12,000 spaces nearby.

Further information and a 3D video of the stadium can be found on www.uopstadium.com and photographs of the stadium in NFL mode are on the Cardinal's web site www.azcardinals.com.