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A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used for multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a design philosophy that stresses multifunctionality over speciality. It is used most commonly in Canada and the United States, where the two most popular outdoor team sports— Canadian football or American football and baseball —require radically different facilities. Football uses a rectangular field, while baseball is played on a diamond with a large outfield. Since Canadian football fields are larger than American ones , the design specifications for Canadian facilities are somewhat less demanding. The particular design to accommodate both is usually an oval, although some later designs use an octorad . While building stadiums in this way means that sports teams and governments can share costs, it also presents some challenges.

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135-464: Matthews Arena (formerly Boston Arena ) is a historic multi-purpose arena in Boston , Massachusetts currently owned by Northeastern University . At over 120 years old, is the world's oldest multi-purpose athletic building still in use, as well as the oldest arena in use for ice hockey . There are current plans to demolish the historic arena and replace it with a new facility. It is the original home of

270-691: A college baseball stadium, now sitting on its former site. Most other inflatable domes, such as the Hoosier Dome and Pontiac Silverdome , were football-only stadiums, although both stadiums hosted basketball; the later-RCA Dome hosted the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament many times and hosted the Final Four multiple times while the Silverdome was the home arena for the Detroit Pistons for most of

405-757: A controlling interest in the Boston Garden. In 1936, the Boston Garden-Arena Corporation bought out the remaining stock owned by the Madison Square Garden Corporation. In April 16, 1953, the Boston Garden-Arena Corporation sold the Boston Arena to Samuel L. Pinsly for $ 240,000. He planned on doubling the size of the building and converting it into a garment manufacturing facility, as the purchase agreement included

540-591: A few years). Wrigley Field , while originally built for baseball, also hosted the Chicago Bears , Comiskey Park hosted the Chicago Cardinals , and Tiger Stadium hosted the Detroit Lions . Later venues such as Cleveland Stadium , Milwaukee County Stadium and Baltimore Memorial Stadium were all built to accommodate both baseball and football. In 1920s New England, outdoor wood-track velodromes such as

675-575: A five-year ban on sports or events at building unless it was acquired by a government entity. Three months later, the building was purchased by the Metropolitan District Commission for $ 280,000, which planned on using it for high school sports and other athletic events. Francis Ouimet was named chairman of the MDC's Boston Arena Authority and Clark Hodder was named manager of the Arena. In 1975,

810-728: A future MLB team by adding a third deck to the Mezzanine roof. It ultimately served as a temporary home to the Toronto Blue Jays of MLB in 2020 and 2021, when they were displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic after the government of Canada denied them permission to play at Rogers Centre . During the 1990s and 2000s, most of the multipurpose stadiums used for MLB in the United States were replaced by "retro-style" ballparks. These parks were built in two varieties: "retro-classic" parks, which combine

945-415: A legal battle between the two sides that ended in 1933, when Bruins owner Charles F. Adams agreed to pay the arena $ 54,000. Boston Arena general manager George V. Brown was able to keep the venue running with college hockey and figure skating. The Garden ran their shows at a loss in order to keep events away from the Arena. In 1934, the smaller Boston Arena Corporation, led by Henry G. Lapham , purchased

1080-417: A movable natural grass surface for soccer, and the other a synthetic turf surface for gridiron. To accommodate the different sight lines preferred for each sport, the soccer surface is positioned several feet above the gridiron, so that the seats are closer to the field in its soccer configuration and elevated above the sidelines and coaches in its gridiron configuration. The idea of a sharp difference between

1215-585: A multi-purpose stadium is that a singular infrastructure and piece of real estate can support both teams in terms of transportation and playing area, while money (often public funds) that would have been spent to support infrastructure for two stadiums can be spent elsewhere. Also playing into the advent of the multipurpose stadium was Americans' growing use of automobiles, which required professional sports stadiums surrounded by parking: most cities lacked affordable space for such stadiums near their city centers, so multi-purpose stadiums were typically built farther from

1350-465: A multipurpose stadium and a single-sport stadium is less important outside of North America, since in most countries stadiums that are constructed with football in mind are easily able to accommodate rugby , track and field, and other popular sports, which tend to have a similarly sized playing field. For example, any large stadium in most of Latin America, part of Asia, most of Africa, or continental Europe

1485-447: A potential MLB expansion franchise, opened. Pilot Field replaced the long-obsolete War Memorial Stadium , which had been designed mainly for football, and hosted the NFL's Buffalo Bills ; but it had been (awkwardly) fit for baseball after the city's baseball park, Offermann Stadium , was condemned and torn down in 1960 to build a high school in its place . Pilot Field was also designed to host

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1620-530: A press box in the upper tier on the third-base line oriented specifically for football, along with space beyond right field for a movable grandstand to accommodate an additional 13,000 fans for a future pro football franchise. This additional grandstand was indeed added to Anaheim Stadium in 1980 to accommodate the Los Angeles Rams' move from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum . Anaheim Stadium

1755-416: A rectangular playing field, but cricket and Australian-rules fields are rounded, while baseball is played on a diamond. This makes them much harder to accommodate within a rectangular-shaped stadium. Likewise, accommodating athletics, such as for a Summer Olympics, means constructing a curved 400-m track around the infield. This often means the sports simply find it easier to be played in separate stadiums. In

1890-473: A temporary wall. The Oakland Coliseum uses a configuration such that its football sideline runs along a line drawn from first base to third base (the former Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium also used this configuration). This was done presumably to make the same coveted seats behind home plate at a baseball game also coveted 50-yard line seats at a football game, and also so the stadium would need only one press box . Different stadiums have different angles between

2025-511: A variety of sporting events. The arena had its own power plant, which powered the two 100-ton ice machines and all of the arena's lighting. Charles C. Abbey was the first president and treasurer of the Boston Arena Company and William T. Richardson was the building's first general manager. The arena was scheduled to open on Christmas Day 1909, but construction delays pushed back the opening until April 25, 1910. The arena's inaugural event

2160-783: A venue for Major League Baseball or the Summer Olympics and felt no need to replace their smaller, open-air stadiums used mostly for Canadian football. For example, Calgary 's open-air McMahon Stadium dates from 1960 and has been used only for Canadian football,and later was chosen to host the 1988 Winter Olympics opening and closing ceremonies, and an outdoor ice hockey event (the 2011 Heritage Classic ). Similar situations hold in Ottawa, Winnipeg, Hamilton, and Regina. No large stadiums of any kind are in cities such as Quebec City, London, or Saskatoon, or in Atlantic Canada ; in those places (with

2295-537: A way that it could be converted to a new baseball stadium, and ACOG paid for the conversion. Despite being considered controversial at the time, the International Olympic Committee considered the action innovative, due to the fact that there were no local needs for another stadium with a capacity for more than 70.000, given the existence of the Georgia Dome which was completed in 1992. Furthermore,

2430-408: Is associated with an era of suburbanization , in which many sports teams followed their fans out of large cities into areas with cheaper, more plentiful land. They were usually built near highways and had large parking lots , but were rarely connected to public transit . As multipurpose stadiums were rarely ideal for both sports usually housed in them, they had fallen out of favor by the 1990s, with

2565-538: Is capable of hosting baseball but has been primarily a football venue. Rogers Centre was built to accommodate baseball (MLB's Toronto Blue Jays play there), but was a football venue until the CFL's Toronto Argonauts moved to BMO Field after the 2015 CFL season . Montreal's Olympic Stadium was built primarily for a multisport event (the 1976 Summer Olympics ), during which it hosted the athletics , equestrian , football . Latterly, it hosted professional team sports: it became

2700-598: Is harder than the grass and is also a significant injury risk. Baseball purists disliked artificial turf, though the Cincinnati Reds took advantage of this on Riverfront Stadium 's artificial turf: on offense by recruiting players who combined power and speed and encouraging line drive hitting that could produce doubles, triples, and high-bouncing infield hits; while for defense the fast surface and virtually dirtless infield rewarded range and quickness by both outfielders and infielders, like shortstop Dave Concepción , who used

2835-574: Is likely to be used mostly for association football. The majority of the largest stadiums in the world were built for either association football or American football. The regions where other outdoor sports can draw numbers comparable to association football or American football are limited. They include baseball in Japan and the Spanish Caribbean ; cricket in United Kingdom,South Africa, Australia,

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2970-619: Is named the George V. Brown Memorial Award, in his honor. For the first 1924 Winter Olympics , Brown organized the U.S. Olympic Hockey team, with seven of the ten members coming from the BAA team. The team earned a silver medal. Because of his contributions to the emerging field of hockey, in 1961, Brown was inducted into the International Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Canada, as a Builder. He

3105-703: Is the only major outdoor team sport in many countries; in many other countries, association football and rugby can easily coexist with limited venue conversion required beyond goalpost changes and line markings. In Australia, many sports grounds are suited to both Australian rules football and cricket , as Australian Rules fields and laws are laid out on cricket ovals. In some cases, such as at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Docklands Stadium in Melbourne, and National Stadium, in Singapore , stadiums are designed to be converted between

3240-459: The 1928 campaign . The Democratic Party hosted two large rallies at the arena during the 1932 presidential campaign , one headlined by Smith and the other headlined by presidential nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt . Republican nominee Thomas E. Dewey spoke at the arena during his 1948 presidential campaign . Malcolm Nichols held a rally at the arena during his 1937 mayoral campaign . The Bruins played their first-ever NHL regular season game at

3375-537: The 1983 Summer Universiade . In Canada, several large multisport stadiums were built during this style's heyday. However, unlike in the United States, an NFL team has never been based primarily in Canada (though the Buffalo Bills played some home games in Toronto between 2008 and 2013) and only two MLB teams have been based there. So, teams from these leagues have not been the major impetus behind stadium construction (with

3510-552: The 2006 FIFA World Cup . A different take on the multipurpose concept can be seen in the Saitama Super Arena in Japan and Paris La Défense Arena in the inner suburbs of Paris. Both venues are similar to JMA Wireless Dome in that they are fully enclosed stadiums (though with fixed roofs instead of the Dome's original air-supported roof) that can accommodate field and indoor court sports. However, they differ from JMA Wireless Dome in

3645-575: The American Legion 's 1940 national convention. The formal session was held at the Boston Arena and featured speeches from Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation J. Edgar Hoover , Governor Leverett Saltonstall , and Mayor Maurice J. Tobin . In 1946, the arena hosted the national encampment of the Veterans of Foreign Wars . Future U.S. President John F. Kennedy was the general chairman of

3780-770: The Anglophone Caribbean , and the Indian subcontinent ; rugby (union or league) in Wales, England, Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand, Fiji, the country of Georgia, and parts of Australia and France; Australian rules football in Australia; bandy in Russia and Scandinavia; and Gaelic games in Ireland. However, even in these areas, the amount of compromise needed to accommodate multiple sports varies considerably. Most outdoor team sports require

3915-658: The Arup Group cited history to show that a rarely-used athletics track does not work for association football, as these multi-purpose stadiums substantially lengthen the viewing distance for spectators, as compared to football-specific stadiums. Notable unsuccessful past examples, of football matches played within athletics stadiums, include the former Stadio delle Alpi and the Munich Olympic Stadium , with both Juventus and Bayern Munich moving to new stadiums less than 40 years after inheriting them. The delle Alpi's design

4050-546: The Atlanta Braves had already been exploring opportunities for a new venue to replace the outdated Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium . The southwest corner of the Olympic Stadium was built to accommodate the future baseball infield and seating. This is observable in aerial views and plans of the stadium in its Olympic configuration, where the temporary seats are not placed next to the oval running track. The southwest part of

4185-453: The Boston & Maine Railroad , announced that the construction of a new sports arena at their North Station facility. The Madison Square Garden Corporation signed a 25-year lease for the arena. The Boston Garden opened in 1928 and replaced the Arena as the city's venue for premier boxing, wrestling, and track events. The Bruins broke their contract the Arena to move to the Garden, which led to

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4320-512: The Coppa Italia home match against Sampdoria in the 2001–02 season, while in the 2005–06 season, the average attendance was 35,880. Manchester City Council wished to avoid creating a white elephant , so to give the stadium long-term financial viability, extensive work was carried out to convert the City of Manchester Stadium from a track and field arena to a football stadium. The old Estádio da Luz

4455-641: The DC United soccer club moved out, and its demolition began in 2022. Thus, only the Oakland Coliseum remains in use, while the Athletics are now the sole tenants of the Oakland Coliseum after the Raiders relocated to Las Vegas in 2020 . However, in 2023, the A's announced their own intentions of moving to Las Vegas . The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome was unusual as one of the few air-supported dome stadiums that

4590-576: The East Hartford Velodrome and Providence's Cycledrome could, with some compromises, fit an American football field in their infields: early NFL franchises in each city (the Hartford Blues and Providence Steam Roller , respectively) used the velodromes as their home stadiums. In the 1960s, multipurpose stadiums began replacing their baseball-only and football-only predecessors, now known as "classics" or "jewel box" parks. The advantage of

4725-538: The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), and the rules of each game are mapped onto the same dimensions—although some pitches in areas where hurling is the dominant code have longer pitches slightly more suited to faster, longer passes in the hurling game. When the Aviva was being rebuilt, Croke Park stepped in as home for the national teams in both soccer and rugby union, a decision of significant political weight in

4860-653: The Kingdome in 1976. Eight of these eleven stadiums have been since demolished, with Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium demolished in 1997, the Kingdome in 2000, Three Rivers Stadium in 2001, Riverfront Stadium in 2002, Veterans Stadium in 2004, Busch Memorial Stadium in 2005, Shea Stadium in 2009, and San Diego Stadium in 2021. Furthermore, the Astrodome has been vacant since 2008 due to its failure to meet current fire and building code requirements. RFK Stadium has been vacant since 2017 when

4995-777: The National Hockey League (NHL) Boston Bruins —the only team of the NHL's Original Six whose original home arena still exists for the sport of ice hockey; the WHA New England Whalers (now the NHL Carolina Hurricanes ); and the NBA's Boston Celtics . Today is used by the Northeastern Huskies men's and women's ice hockey teams, and men's basketball team as well as various high school ice hockey programs in

5130-841: The SkyDome (in Canada) that opened in 1989 being the last such stadium completed to accommodate baseball and football. With the completion of the Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City in 1973, a model for purpose-built stadiums was laid down. Since the Baltimore Orioles left the multi-purpose Memorial Stadium for the baseball-only Oriole Park at Camden Yards in 1992, most major league sports stadiums have been built specifically for one sport. However, some newer NFL stadiums (e.g. Seattle, Atlanta, Charlotte) have been built with consideration for

5265-485: The United States Olympic Committee marked his death with a moment of silence . As general manager of the Boston Arena and Boston Garden, Brown promoted all manner of sporting events including college hockey, indoor track and field, amateur boxing, wrestling , water follies, and figure skating , featuring Olympic star Sonja Henie . In addition to his primary passions—ice hockey, track and field, and

5400-459: The soccer-specific stadium movement. As of 2020 , 18 of Major League Soccer 's 26 clubs play in their own, soccer-specific stadiums, and two of the exceptions ( FC Cincinnati and Nashville SC ) are currently building their own soccer-specific stadiums. In addition, three of the four teams that will join MLS in 2021 and 2022 plan to open soccer-specific stadiums in time for their MLS debuts. Scheduling

5535-503: The 1980s. The Carrier Dome was another such air-supported, multipurpose stadium; it was built to accommodate outdoor sports such as football and indoor sports such as basketball. The Carrier Dome, since renamed JMA Wireless Dome, remains in use, although its air-supported roof was replaced by a fixed roof in 2020. Air-supported domes fell out of favor in the 21st century after notable weather-related collapses in Minnesota and Pontiac exposed

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5670-444: The 1990s, in light of the growing trend of "walkable urbanism", as teams sought to return to the city core where they could develop or take advantage of existing hospitality in order to grow their fanbase. Many teams also relocated to where they could control mixed-use development around their new stadium. Contrary to the above trend of teams moving away from suburbs, the Atlanta Braves left Turner Field for SunTrust Park . Often

5805-583: The Arena on Monday, December 1, 1924. with the Bruins' most historic rivalry with the Montreal Canadiens being initiated only one week later. The Bruins left for the Boston Garden in 1928, but returned for one game in 1952 after a wooden awning in North Station collapsed and damaged some pipes in the Garden. The Detroit Red Wings beat the Bruins 4–3 in front of only 4,049 fans. In 1952, the Arena served as

5940-677: The Arena took place in March 1911 when a two-game $ 2,500 competition between two NHA teams, the Montreal Wanderers and the Ottawa Senators took place. The Arena was the home ice for a number of amateur and college hockey teams, including the Boston Athletic Association , Boston Arenas , Westminster Hockey Club , Boston College , Boston University , Harvard , and MIT . The Arena was destroyed by fire on December 18, 1918. It

6075-809: The Arena when the Boston Whirlwinds of the American Basketball League played their inaugural home game on November 30, 1925. Unable to meet its financial obligations, the team moved its games first to the Mechanics Hall and then to the Mount Benedict Knights of Columbus Hall in Somerville, Massachusetts . The Arena was also home to the American Basketball League's Boston Trojans during their only season. On November 5, 1946,

6210-422: The Arena will be presented over my dead body". Freed charged with inciting a riot, but the case was dropped due to the death of the chief investigator and difficultly of bringing in witnesses from outside Massachusetts. The Doors were booked to perform two shows at the Boston Arena on April 10, 1970. The second concert did not begin until after midnight and went on for two hours before arena management turned off

6345-502: The Aviva and for the ultimately unsuccessful 2023 Rugby World Cup bid. Croke Park has also occasionally hosted visiting American football college matches, especially those featuring the Army and Navy , or Notre Dame , with which Ireland has a long-standing connection. Several stadiums hosted multiple sports teams before the advent of multi-purpose stadiums. In New York City, the Polo Grounds hosted football teams early on, as its rectangular nature lent itself well to football and

6480-469: The BAA track and field games, and for over twenty years, served as the BAA Director of Athletics. In 1910 Brown started and managed an ice hockey team, and formed a football team for the BAA. Brown also served on the BAA Governing Committee for 20 years, having transitioned from club employee to club member and leader. During Brown's youth, ice hockey was in its infancy in the United States. In 1911, Brown formed and managed an amateur ice hockey team for

6615-498: The BAA , which played at the newly constructed Boston Arena. Over the next two decades, Brown organized hockey events held at the Arena, including Canadian-American games and collegiate competitions. When the Arena burnt down in 1918, Brown persuaded its owner, Henry G. Lapham , to rebuild. Brown was then named general manager and promoted hockey as its major draw. In 1934 Lapham purchased the rival Garden, and named Brown as its general manager and vice president. When professional hockey

6750-529: The Boston Celtics played their first ever game in front of 4,329 fans at the Boston Arena.. The team split its home games between the Garden and the Arena until 1955. On May 4, 1958, the Boston Arena hosted a rock 'n' roll concert headlined by Alan Freed and Jerry Lee Lewis . After the show, one man was stabbed and a dozen others were robbed, which led to Mayor John Hynes declaring that he would not authorize anymore licenses for rock concerts and arena manager Paul Brown stating that "the next rock 'n' roll show at

6885-562: The Boston Interscholastic Rowing Association. Brown enlisted in the 6th division of the US Navy and was appointed as director of athletics for the 1st District during World War I. He designed an athletic competition, the Chariot Race, that allowed thousands of men to compete in teams of one hundred, first demonstrated on the Boston Common in 1917. Brown lived in Hopkinton, Massachusetts throughout his life, married Elizabeth Gallagher, and had four sons and three daughters, who continued their father's pursuits. His son, Walter A. Brown , assumed

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7020-407: The Boston Marathon—Brown created a BAA football team. He also officiated football games, and was an officer in the New England Football Officials Association for a dozen years. Brown also served as a member of the amateur boxing committee and organized national amateur championships from 1905 to 1920. Rowing was another sport for which he was an advocate, and for fourteen years, Brown was secretary of

7155-415: The Boston marathon from 1938 to 1942, and held the post of BAA president for over twenty years. Since 1905, for every year except one, a member of the Brown family has been the starter of the Boston Marathon. After George V. and Walter A., George V. Brown, Jr., started the race, from 1943 to 1980. Another son of George V., Thomas J. Brown, who was BAA president from 1982 to 1985, served as

7290-477: The CFL. It has also hosted many association football events, as well as the 2003 Heritage Classic , the first major outdoor ice hockey event in Canada. Tim Hortons Field , which opened in 2014, was built both as a venue for the 2015 Pan American Games and as the new home of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats football team; its predecessor, Ivor Wynne Stadium , was originally built for the first Commonwealth Games . Other Canadian cities never expressed interest in building

7425-447: The Chicago Cubs, the same day the San Francisco 49ers were scheduled to host their division rival New Orleans Saints . The October 8 game was moved to New Orleans and the November 6 game was moved to San Francisco. In Australia, most major stadiums that can hold over 50,000, such as the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Adelaide Oval , are circular or oval-shaped venues which – while suitable for cricket and Australian rules football – pose

7560-728: The Gaelic games community, most notably manifested in GAA Rule 42 , means that football and rugby clubs have generally had to play on separate grounds. True multisport facilities, where teams from a variety of sports use the same stadium as their home ground, exist outside North America in a few cases, most of those as smaller stadiums. A handful are notable for having 60,000 seats or more. The Melbourne Cricket Ground hosts athletics,cricket, Australian rules football, and association football. Accor Stadium hosts cricket and Australian rules football, as well as both rugby codes and association football. Wembley Stadium in London, Stade de France near Paris, and Millennium Stadium in Cardiff are not

7695-483: The Hopkinton Athletic Association commissioned sculptor Michael Alfano to create a statue honoring Brown. The bronze monument, "The Starter", was installed on the town common in 2009. Higdon, Hal (1995). A Century of Running . Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale Press. ISBN   0-87596-283-1 . Pave, Marvin (17 April 2008). "Legacy on the line (Boston Globe)" . Boston Globe . p. 2. "The Starter, sculpture of George V. Brown" . Archived from

7830-437: The MDC offered to sell the Arena to the city of Boston for $ 450,000. The city leased the building from the MDC pending completion of the purchase. The sale never took place and in 1977, the MDC leased the Arena at no cost to Northeastern University. The Arena was purchased by Northeastern University on October 3, 1979. The arena was known as Northeastern Arena until November 14, 1982, when it was renamed Matthews Arena in honor of

7965-559: The Oakland Athletics were the last team in the U.S. still sharing a stadium with an NFL team (the Oakland Raiders ), the Oakland Coliseum (now RingCentral Coliseum). This arrangement ended once the Raiders settled into the new Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2020, leaving no stadiums shared between NFL and MLB franchises. The Athletics officially announced they would begin their relocation process to Las Vegas by 2024. George V. Brown George Vincent Brown (21 October 1880 – 17 October 1937) of Hopkinton , Massachusetts,

8100-424: The United States. Though hailed as revolutionary at the time, the Truman Sports Complex model of stadium design was widely ignored for the next 20 years, though the influence of both Arrowhead and Kauffman Stadiums were easily seen in venues such as Giants Stadium. The true end of the multipurpose era began in 1987, when Buffalo 's Pilot Field , a stadium built for the Buffalo Bisons minor league baseball team and

8235-426: The action if needed. Lang Park in Brisbane is currently (as of 2020) the only purpose-built rectangle stadium in Australia (with fixed seating) with a capacity exceeding 50,000. The first real departure from the multipurpose stadium design occurred in 1972, when the Jackson County Sports Authority in Kansas City, Missouri , opened the Truman Sports Complex , which houses Kauffman Stadium (named Royals Stadium at

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8370-449: The baseball dimensions roughly symmetrical. Qualcomm Stadium's square-circle " octorad " layout was considered an improvement over the other cookie cutter stadiums of the time, and it was the last of the old multi-purpose stadiums to host a Super Bowl ( Super Bowl XXXVII ). More-modern multi-purpose stadiums have used more elaborate methods to accommodate multiple sports; Tottenham Hotspur Stadium , for example, uses two sets of turfs, one

8505-497: The best solution at the time. The first of these "cookie-cutter" or "concrete donut" stadiums was Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in 1961 (then known as District of Columbia Stadium); it was followed during the 1960s and 1970s by Shea Stadium in 1964, Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium and the Astrodome in 1965, Busch Memorial Stadium and Oakland Coliseum in 1966, San Diego Stadium in 1967, Riverfront Stadium and Three Rivers Stadium in 1970, Veterans Stadium in 1971, and

8640-415: The case of Ireland, grounds built for Gaelic games are physically capable of hosting association football and the rugby codes without changing the seating configuration. Because the Gaelic games' pitch is rectangular and also longer and wider than that for football or either rugby code, the only changes required are the physical goals and field markings. However, opposition to those sports within large parts of

8775-655: The center of the field rather than towards the logical center of the game action (home plate for baseball and the 50-yard line for football). In the baseball configuration, most had symmetrical field dimensions. This detracted from the unique, individual identity enjoyed by the sport-specific "jewel box" stadiums with odd or asymmetrical field dimensions, and further supported the "cookie cutter stadium" nickname. The large capacities of multipurpose stadiums were usually more than adequate for football. However, baseball crowds tend to be much smaller than football crowds, resulting in baseball games at these stadiums being swallowed up in

8910-432: The city center with freeway access. Subsets of the multipurpose stadiums were the so-called "cookie-cutter stadiums" or "concrete donuts" which were all very similar in design. They featured a completely circular or nearly circular design and accommodated both baseball and football by rotating sections of the box seat areas to fit the respective playing fields. These fields often used artificial turf , as it could withstand

9045-409: The city of Boston. The venue also hosts Northeastern's graduation ceremonies, its annual Springfest concert, and other events. Originally named the Boston Arena , groundbreaking took place on October 11, 1909. The 1896 United States skating champion Herbert S. Evans dug the first portion of earth. The arena was to have a capacity of 5,000 and was to be used for ice skating, curling, horse shows, and

9180-405: The convention. Speakers included fleet admiral Chester W. Nimitz , Governor Maurice J. Tobin, and Congressmen Joseph W. Martin Jr. and John W. McCormack . Paul Bowser , Price and Dellamano Promotions, and Tony Santos promoted wrestling cards at the arena. Boxing was once a mainstay at the arena and hosted bouts with Jack Sharkey and Marvelous Marvin Hagler . In 1993, the arena hosted

9315-403: The drawbacks of air-supported domes in snowy locales. During the height of the multipurpose stadium construction era of the 1960s and 1970s, three baseball-only stadiums were constructed: Candlestick Park (1960), Dodger Stadium (1962), and Royals Stadium (1973; now Kauffman Stadium). Anaheim Stadium (now known as Angel Stadium ), although designed primarily for baseball, opened in 1966 with

9450-526: The earlier turfs, it has been seen as easier to build new stadiums for each sport rather than attempt to share an inflexible turf installation among multiple sports. Some 21st-century multi-purpose stadiums, such as Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and State Farm Stadium , have developed a more elaborate method of placing an entire playing surface, such as a grass surface for association football and an artificial turf one for gridiron football, on one or more slabs (one at State Farm, three at Tottenham Hotspur) and towing

9585-501: The early 2000s, also has had a role in the decline of the multipurpose stadium. While first-generation, short-pile turfs such as AstroTurf lent themselves well to multiple sports, this was not the case with FieldTurf and its competitors. Modern artificial turf requires a more permanent installation, including a sand and rubber base or infill that is not easily removed, and thus does not lend itself well to multipurpose stadiums. Because of such turfs' superiority in other features, compared to

9720-442: The environment. This was especially true if a baseball team were not doing particularly well either on the field or in the box office. This was another reason some baseball teams closed sections of the upper level during the regular season. Many multipurpose stadiums also had artificial turf playing surfaces, to ease the transition from baseball field to football field and vice versa. Most early installations of artificial turf such as

9855-480: The exception of Saskatoon), smaller stadiums (less than 13,000 seats) exist, which can be augmented with temporary seating to bring their capacities close to that of the smaller CFL stadiums. Most multipurpose stadiums that existed in North America overlaid one sideline of the football field along one of the baseball foul lines , with one corner of the football field being located where home plate would be. Because

9990-507: The fans closer to the field. This has created some difficulties with creating large athletics venues for major championships, as fans are less willing to accept the compromises required in the design of such stadiums, an issue that has bedevilled, e.g. the London Stadium since the 2012 Summer Olympics and was avoided in the commonwealth Games stadiums of 2000 and 2014 by returning the stadiums to football-only use, and in 2022 by having

10125-604: The first home to the annual Beanpot tournament between Boston's four major college hockey programs. From 1953 to 1970, it hosted the Boston Arena Christmas Tournament . The 1960 NCAA men's ice hockey tournament was held at the Boston Arena. From 1972 to 1974, the venue was home to the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association . In 1925, professional basketball made is debut at

10260-403: The first of two national stadiums, Aviva Stadium , is shared by football and rugby union, although only rugby union has a club team, Leinster Rugby , that regularly uses the facility. The other larger national stadium, Croke Park , hosts three different sports regularly: gaelic football , hurling , and its women's equivalent, camogie . All three are gaelic games run by the same organisation,

10395-632: The following day) on WBCN . The arena has hosted receptions for Jess Willard (1915), Clarence Ransom Edwards (1918), Harry Boland (1921), Charles Lindbergh (1927), the crew of the Bremen (1928), and Amelia Earhart (1928). For many years, the arena hosted Boston University's graduation ceremonies. Commencement speakers included Hamilton Holt , Harry Emerson Fosdick , Garfield Bromley Oxnam , Basil Joseph Mathews , Karl Taylor Compton , Roscoe Pound , George F. Zook , John Erskine , Alessandro Ghigi , Alf Landon , and Paul V. McNutt . Boston hosted

10530-403: The fundamentally different sizes and shapes of the playing fields made them inadequate for either sport. When used for baseball, the lower-level boxes were usually set back much farther from the field than comparable seats in baseball-only parks because they swiveled into position for American football and association football. In the case of stadiums that hosted both baseball and Canadian football,

10665-428: The funeral service for Boston Celtic captain and Northeastern alum Reggie Lewis . Multi-purpose arena In North America, multipurpose stadiums were primarily built during the 1960s and 1970s as shared home stadiums for Major League Baseball and National Football League or Canadian Football League teams. Some stadiums were renovated to allow multipurpose configurations during the 1980s. This type of stadium

10800-602: The general manager position at the Boston Garden upon his father's death. Walter A. Brown went on to become general manager of the Boston Bruins ice hockey team, and founding owner and general manager of the Boston Celtics men's professional basketball team. Like his father, Walter A. Brown was inducted into the hockey halls of fame, and in addition, was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Walter also served as starter of

10935-681: The home of the Montreal Alouettes football team and the Montreal Expos baseball team, and began serving as an alternate home to the Montreal Impact when that team entered Major League Soccer in 2012. Similarly, the open-air Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton was constructed for the 1978 Commonwealth Games and the 1983 Summer Universiade but has also become home to the Edmonton Elks of

11070-528: The interior and exterior design of the "classic" ballparks with the amenities of newer facilities; and "retro-modern" parks, which have modern amenities and "retro" interiors, but have modern exterior designs. The first "retro-classic" park in MLB was Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, which opened in 1992 and was based mostly on Pilot Field's design. The "retro-modern" park made its first appearance in 1994 with

11205-462: The left- and right-field seats. In stadiums that were primarily football stadiums converted to baseball stadiums, the stands were at nearly right angles. This allowed the football field to be squared within the bleachers, but left the baseball configuration with many undesirable views farther away from home plate or facing away from the diamond, such as at the Kingdome, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, and

11340-475: The length of a regulation American football field is 360 feet, longer than the roughly 330-foot average for foul lines in Major League Baseball, this requires an unusually long distance from the home plate to the fence along the foul line on which the football field is constructed, part of the football field to be constructed in foul territory (and the size of said territory to be increased accordingly), or

11475-558: The loss of the oldest hockey arena in the United States, that was the first home of the Boston Bruins , Boston Celtics , Carolina Hurricanes (then the New England Whalers) and numerous college hockey teams. On October 10, 1910, former president Theodore Roosevelt delivered a speech before a crowd of 8,000 spectators. In it, he endorsed Governor Eben Sumner Draper and U.S. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge for reelection. Draper, who

11610-475: The lower boxes were set even farther back than their American counterparts, because Canadian football fields are 30 yards longer and considerably wider than their American counterparts. Likewise, attempts to build stadiums without support columns to obstruct spectators' views, as was the case with sport-specific "jewel box" stadiums, resulted in upper decks being placed very high above the field—as far as 600 feet away in some cases. Several teams closed off sections of

11745-457: The nation's history. Gaelic grounds can easily accommodate both as the typical Gaelic pitch, while similarly rectangular, is significantly longer and wider than the fields used for soccer and rugby union, which are almost identical in dimensions. Historically, however, the GAA has been reluctant to allow 'foreign' sports to use its facilities, although these objections were set aside both for the rebuild of

11880-408: The national athletics body as the sole primary tenant of a renovated stadium. Winter sports facilities, especially speed skating rinks , can be multi-purpose stadiums. Very often, a rink or two of approximately 61 by 30 meters—the regulation size of an IIHF ice hockey rink —are placed inside the oval. Sometimes the ice surface is even larger, allowing for both bandy and curling . In Ireland,

12015-601: The notable exception of Toronto). Instead, stadiums were built primarily for Canadian Football League (CFL) teams and to host multiple-sport events, such as the Winter Olympics , Commonwealth Games , and Pan American Games . Three of Canada's largest stadiums from this era and type feature domed or retractable roofs : namely BC Place in Vancouver, SkyDome/Rogers Centre in Toronto, and Olympic Stadium in Montreal. BC Place

12150-494: The opening of Jacobs Field, now known as Progressive Field , in Cleveland . Many football teams that shared a stadium with a baseball team had their stadiums converted into football-only facilities shortly after the baseball tenant left, while other football teams followed their baseball counterparts and had new football-only stadiums constructed. The widespread adoption of FieldTurf , and similar modern artificial turfs beginning in

12285-416: The original AstroTurf was nothing more than carpet on top of concrete with little padding, material that was easy to apply and remove. Such types of removable artificial turf caused frequent injuries to players and eventually made free agents wary of signing with teams whose home fields had artificial turf. During the first month of the football season, the playing field included the baseball infield soil that

12420-563: The original on 2008-10-05 . Retrieved 2007-10-23 . Camp, Walter (1913). Athletes All – Training, Organization, and Play . Charles Scribner and Sons. "International Hockey Hall of Fame" . Archived from the original on 2007-12-08 . Retrieved 2007-10-23 . "US Hockey Hall of Fame" . Archived from the original on 2012-09-04 . Retrieved 2007-10-23 . "George V. Brown, Noted Sportsman, Dies at Hopkinton". Milford Daily Journal . 18 October 1937. p. 1. Jones, Victor O. (1937–1938). "George V. Brown's Chair

12555-556: The original on 2010-02-23. "Resolution on the Death of George V. Brown" (Press release). American Olympic Committee. 8 January 1938. "Thomas J. Brown: December 12, 1914 - May 3, 2005, past President of the B.A.A." Retrieved 2007-10-23 . Porter, David; Godin, Roger (1995). Biographical Dictionary of American Sports, 1992-1995 Supplement . Greenwood Press. ISBN   0-313-28431-8 . "Boston University Terrier's Hall of Fame, John O'Hare Jr" . Archived from

12690-546: The oval configuration for cricket and Australian rules football and a rectangular configuration for rugby and association football, and in the case of Singapore's National Stadium, an athletics configuration as well. Association football stadiums have historically served as track and field arenas, too, and some (like the Olympiastadion in Berlin) still do, whereas a newer generation frequently has no running track, in order to allow

12825-814: The permanent homes to any club teams, but are used primarily for international competitions and major tournament finals, mostly for association football and rugby (though Wembley has regularly hosted American football). In South Africa, Soccer City and Ellis Park Stadium have hosted rugby union and football, while Moses Mabhida Stadium has hosted football and cricket. Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi , in India hosts cricket and football. Eden Park in New Zealand hosts rugby union and cricket. Sky Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand , has hosted both rugby codes, cricket, association football, and Australian rules football. Architects from

12960-422: The portable sections would be placed in the western quadrant of the stadium and serve as the third-base half of the infield. In the football configuration, these would be placed in the northern quadrant of the stadium (covering what is used as left field in the baseball configuration) to allow for the football field to be laid out east–west. This had the advantage of improving sight lines for both sports while keeping

13095-452: The possible use of the stadium for Major League Soccer or international soccer, which has similar field dimensions to American football. Fields that are suitable for soccer are almost always equally suitable for either rugby code ( rugby union or rugby league ), and the 2031 Rugby World Cup is expected to employ the same stadiums as the NFL and MLS. Outside North America, the term is rarely used, since association football (i.e., soccer)

13230-465: The power. Lead singer Jim Morrison , who appeared to be intoxicated during the entire latter show, wanted to continue and smashed a microphone stand into the floor before being escorted off the stage. The shows were released as a live album, Live in Boston , in 2007. Phish 's New Year's Eve concert on December 31, 1992 was the band's highest attended concert to date and was broadcast live (and rebroadcast

13365-401: The reconfiguration process more easily, or be removed for non-sporting events. Furthermore, many of these stadiums were either enclosed domes (where natural grass could not grow without sunlight) or located in cold-weather cities (where undersoil heating was expensive and unreliable) and before the development of hybrid grass and improved natural grass cultivation techniques, artificial turf was

13500-590: The same sight-line problems for football, rugby league, and rugby union as an athletics venue would. Playing sports with rectangle-shaped pitches on larger ovals often means fans can be as much as 30 metres (98 ft) or more from the sidelines. Both Stadium Australia in Sydney and the Docklands Stadium in Melbourne have retractable seating, to be able to change from an oval to rectangle shape and bring fans closer to

13635-521: The slab(s) in and out of place for each sport. Because of the expense of using this method, it is generally only used for the highest-level professional sports. The Miami Marlins moved to Marlins Park , a new retractable-roof stadium in Miami, in 2012. Sun Life Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) was then renovated to eliminate its baseball functionality, making it a football-only stadium. With the Marlins' relocation,

13770-461: The specific way they accommodate court sports. Both the Super Arena (used mainly for basketball, volleyball, mixed martial arts , and professional wrestling events) and Paris La Défense Arena (home of rugby union's Racing 92 ) feature movable seating blocks that allow each facility to serve as an appropriately sized venue for either field or court sports. In 2014, Singapore's new National Stadium

13905-493: The stadium also had four tiers of seats, luxury boxes , a facade facing the street, and a roof, whereas the northern half of the stadium used a simpler two-tiered seating configuration. During reconstruction, the athletics track was removed, and the north half of the stadium was demolished, reducing the capacity to 49,000 when it reopened as Turner Field . Because of the former track area, the field of play , particularly foul territory , although not large by historical standards,

14040-461: The stadium feel too enclosed, and cut off panoramic views of the stadium's aesthetic surroundings (waterfront, skyline, mountains). The suburban locales of many multipurpose stadiums (as well as other sport-specific stadiums also built there) were also a focal point of criticism. Choosing a suburb over a city core was meant to take advantage of lower land values and new freeways. Suburbs were often poorly serviced by public transit, and when coupled with

14175-475: The stands. This made the football viewing farther away, and in some cases partially obscured as in Candlestick Park. In the case of Qualcomm Stadium, it was constructed with half of the field-level seating being permanent (built of concrete, in the southern quadrant of the stadium), and the other half portable (modular construction using aluminum or steel framing). When the stadium was configured for baseball,

14310-471: The starter for the race through 1989. Thomas Brown's wife, Rosalie, has started the wheelchair race. George V.'s grandson, Walter F. Brown, was the race's starter from 1990 to 2013. Beginning in 2014, Christina Whelton, George V.'s great-granddaughter, has served as the starter. Like the Boston Marathon, many of the sporting events George V. Brown fostered, have continued for over a century. In 2008,

14445-531: The structural integrity of Matthews Arena increased: scaffolding was erected to support the east end of the arena in 2024, part of the student section as well as the Varsity Club (home to the arena's only licensed bar) were closed, and the foundation, built on reclaimed land once part of a wharf, was found to be sinking. If the plans are approved by the Boston Planning & Development Agency, it will result in

14580-515: The suburban stadium was not located in the municipality that the team purportedly represented, and in some cases the stadium was over a state border. An instance of this was Giants Stadium , which primarily hosted football, but was also an association football stadium at times. Its primary tenants, the New York Giants and New York Jets , were nominally based in New York City, but Giants Stadium

14715-416: The time of opening) and Arrowhead Stadium . The Truman Sports Complex was the first example of multiple stadiums being built for specific sports at the same time. The designers, Kivett and Myers, were then absorbed by Kansas City architecture firm Hellmuth, Obata, and Kassabaum to become HOK Sport + Venue + Event (now the independent firm Populous ), which went on to design many professional sports venues in

14850-451: The trend of personal transportation shifting from public transit to private cars in the mid-20th century, meant that many of the stadiums of that period (multipurpose or sport-specific) were surrounded by large parking lots. In some suburban locales, hospitality, entertainment, and shopping facilities were often non-existent due to lacking the supporting population or due to municipality zoning restrictions. Suburban stadiums fell out of favor by

14985-402: The turf to bounce many of his long throws to first. The concrete or painted concrete façades of many stadiums of that era (multipurpose or sport-specific) were criticized by architects as uninviting. Most such stadiums were built in the relatively plain brutalist and international styles popular at the time, which fell out of fashion in the 1980s. Furthermore, the "concrete donut" design made

15120-521: The university's chairman emeritus George Matthews. A 1995 renovation expanded the ice surface from 200 by 80 to 200 by 90 feet (61 m × 24 m to 61 m × 27 m). In May 2024, Northeastern University filed a letter of intent to the Boston Planning & Development Agency to construct a new multi-purpose athletics facility designed that would tear down and replace the historic Matthews Arena. This came as concerns surrounding

15255-725: The upcoming meeting on the road and playing the home game during the latter meeting. An example of the former happening was in 1997 when the Florida Marlins played game 7 of the World Series at home on Sunday, October 26, which moved the Miami Dolphins game against the Chicago Bears to Monday night. An example of the latter happening was in 1989 when the San Francisco Giants hosted a postseason game on Sunday, October 8, against

15390-488: The upper level and only sold them during the playoffs, as they were too far away to be of any use during the regular season. For football, the seats nearest the field were set farther back than at football-only stadiums to accommodate the larger baseball field. In some cases, the seats closest to the field, normally prime seats for baseball, were almost at field level for football. In general, spectator sight lines were not optimized for either sport, i.e., seats were angled towards

15525-514: The venue now known as Hard Rock Stadium . For stadiums such as the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum , where the Los Angeles Dodgers played their home games from 1958 through 1961 while awaiting completion of Dodger Stadium , this also had the undesirable effect of having unusually short foul lines, making it easier to hit so-called " Chinese home runs ". Baseball stadiums that were converted to football stadiums had more of an obtuse angle between

15660-400: Was also a big issue since the MLB postseason overlaps with the NFL regular season. If a baseball team advances in the postseason to the point where it is scheduled to play a postseason game on the same day the football team plays a home game, adjustments had to be made, such as having the game moved to Monday night or – if a division opponent were scheduled – have the game sites switched, putting

15795-599: Was also enshrined as a Builder by the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth , Minnesota, in 1973. In addition to organizing the 1924 U.S. Olympic Hockey team , Brown was a manager or U.S. Olympic Committee member from 1908 to 1920. He was the assistant track and field coach for the U.S. men's team in 1924 , 1928 , and 1936 . For the 1932 games in Los Angeles , Brown served as an official. In January 1938,

15930-623: Was also renovated with additional seating, including a 4,500-ton, three-tier movable grandstand to accommodate both baseball and football configurations. Mile High Stadium was home to the AFL / NFL Denver Broncos and the MLB Colorado Rockies franchises. For the 1996 Summer Olympics , the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) built the temporary Centennial Olympic Stadium in

16065-440: Was also used for baseball. The original Yankee Stadium was designed to accommodate football, as well as track and field (Yankee Stadium popularized the warning track , originally designed as a running track around baseball fields), in addition to its primary use for baseball. In addition to baseball, Fenway Park and Braves Field would host college football and several professional football teams (all of whom relocated within

16200-616: Was an American sports official. He championed the development of various sports and sporting events in the United States , most notably the Boston Marathon and amateur ice hockey . From 1904 to 1936, Brown served the United States Olympic Team as a manager, official, and coach. In 1919, he became general manager of the Boston Arena, home to indoor track meets, boxing matches, and hockey games, among other events. He

16335-634: Was an ice carnival to benefit the Sharon Sanatorium. Skating events were held throughout the day, including a performance by Irving Brokaw . The arena's first ice hockey game was won by the Harvard Freshmen hockey team, who defeated Newton High School , 4–0. The Harvard varsity squad played later that evening, losing to Crescent H. C. , 1–0. The Arena's original ice surface was larger than the current standard at 220-by-90-foot (67 m × 27 m). The first games of professional ice hockey at

16470-434: Was born on October 21, 1880. He was the assistant manager at the 1920 Summer Olympics . He died on October 17, 1937. In 1899 Brown was hired as an assistant to the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) Athletic Director. For 33 years, from 1905 to 1937, Brown served as starter of the BAA's Boston Marathon , the oldest annually run marathon. For eleven of those years, he also managed the race. From 1905 to 1921, Brown managed

16605-441: Was criticized for leaving spectators exposed to the elements, and for the long distance between the stands and the pitch resulting in poor visibility. This was because the athletics track, which was seldom used, was constructed around the outside of the pitch, while views from the lower tier were also restricted due to the positioning of advertising boards. These factors contributed to low attendances; only 237 spectators showed up for

16740-473: Was demolished so that a football-specific replacement could be built on the site as part of Portugal's bid to host Euro 2004 . German stadiums such as the AWD-Arena , Commerzbank-Arena , MHPArena , RheinEnergieStadion , AOL Arena , and Zentralstadion also underwent reconstruction/renovation to remove the running track an thus become football-only venues. Several of these projects were done in preparation for

16875-471: Was first introduced and its teams sought to play at Boston's rinks, Brown opposed, favoring amateur competition. He later accepted the professionals and promoted the Boston Bruins playing at the Boston Garden . Brown served as athletic director at Boston University (BU) and in 1917, was instrumental in the creation of the school's first hockey team. The BU hockey team's annual Most Valuable Player award

17010-493: Was larger than most MLB stadiums of its era. After the 2016 season, the Braves moved to the new SunTrust Park , and Georgia State University purchased Turner Field and surrounding parking lots for a major campus expansion project. As part of this project, Turner Field was reconfigured as Center Parc Stadium , a downsized rectangular stadium that is now home to the university's football team . The first multipurpose stadium in Canada

17145-705: Was multipurpose in practice, being convertible between football and baseball. Home of the Minnesota Vikings through the 2013 season, it was also home to the Minnesota Twins until 2009 and the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team (NCAA) until 2008 as well as the Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball team (NCAA) until 2012. The Metrodome has been demolished, with U.S. Bank Stadium , built mainly for professional football but able to convert to

17280-534: Was neither in New York City or even New York State . Instead, it was in the Meadowlands of East Rutherford, New Jersey . As a result, then-Governor Mario Cuomo would not attend any games at Giants Stadium (instead choosing to attend the home games of the Buffalo Bills as they were "New York State's only team" in the NFL). A similar criticism applied to Giants Stadium's replacement, MetLife Stadium . Association football

17415-520: Was opened. It can convert between an oval for cricket, rectangle for rugby and association football, and a running track for athletics. Kalinga Stadium is a multi-purpose international sports complex in Bhubaneswar , Odisha , India . Construction was begun in 1978. It is best known as the home ground of the Indian Super League football club Odisha FC since that club's inception in 2019 . It

17550-411: Was perceived as an especially bad fit for this type of stadium because, in the United States, the sport does not draw as many fans to games as American football or baseball (with the exceptions of Atlanta and Seattle ), resulting in the stadium being filled to only a fraction of its capacity. This, combined with a desire for more compact, intimate stadiums akin to those of European football clubs, led to

17685-472: Was present for the speech, spoke after Roosevelt. During the 1912 United States presidential campaign , the arena hosted a rally for President William Howard Taft and two rallies for the Bull Moose Party ticket, one headlined by presidential nominee Theodore Roosevelt and the other headlined by vice presidential nominee Hiram Johnson . Herbert Hoover and Al Smith both delivered speeches here during

17820-400: Was rebuilt, and the new facility opened January 1, 1921, with an ice show. The NHL 's first US-based franchise, the Boston Bruins , made the Boston Arena their home from 1924 to 1928. Before the team began play, the Arena reduced its ice surface from 190 feet to 80 feet to conform to NHL regulations. This also allowed the Arena to add 1,000 seats. In 1927, Homer Loring , chairman of

17955-615: Was renovated to a baseball-only facility in 1997, three years after the Rams' departure for St. Louis. Similarly, Candlestick Park was renovated into a multipurpose stadium in 1970 to accommodate the San Francisco 49ers ' move from Kezar Stadium and converted to football-only after the San Francisco Giants moved to their new ballpark in 2000. Candlestick Park was demolished in 2015. Another baseball stadium, Denver's Mile High Stadium ,

18090-589: Was the Montreal Olympic Stadium , which was built for the 1976 Summer Olympics and initially had functions to host events of different sports and types. However, the project became obsolete over time and the stadium lost its original functions, becoming a "white elephant". The first successful such stadium was the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton , which was built for the 1978 Commonwealth Games and

18225-566: Was the home ground of the I-League club Indian Arrows from 2018 until 2022 . Its main stadium is configured for football and athletics , with an 8-lane synthetic athletics track surrounding the football pitch. Field hockey , tennis , table tennis , basketball , volleyball , wall climbing , and swimming are accommodated elsewhere within the complex. While multipurpose stadiums were intended to easily accommodate both American football and baseball (and in some cases, association football),

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