Location | Birmingham, Alabama, United States |
---|---|
Coordinates | 33°31′40″N86°48′33″W / 33.5278°N 86.8092°W |
Owner | Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Authority |
Operator | Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Authority |
Capacity | 47,100 [1] |
Construction | |
Broke ground | 2019 |
Opened | October 2, 2021 |
Construction cost | US$175 million |
Architect | Populous Goodwyn Mills Cawood |
Structural engineer | Walter P. Moore[ citation needed ] |
General contractor | Brasfield & Gorrie[ citation needed ] |
Tenants | |
UAB Blazers (NCAA) 2021–present Birmingham Bowl (NCAA) 2021–present Birmingham Legion FC (USLC) 2022–present Birmingham Stallions (USFL, UFL) 2022–present New Orleans Breakers (USFL) 2022–2023 |
Protective Stadium is a football stadium owned and operated by the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Authority in downtown Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. [2] [3] Since its opening in 2021, the stadium has been named for Protective Life, a financial service holding company based in Birmingham, which pays $1 million per year as part of a 15-year naming rights deal. [4]
The stadium replaced Legion Field as the home of the UAB Blazers football program. The Blazers played their first game in the stadium on October 2, 2021 against Liberty. [5]
In December 2021, the stadium hosted the Super 7, the football championship games of the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA), as part of a three-year rotation with Bryant–Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa and Jordan–Hare Stadium in Auburn that will run through at least 2032. [6] [lower-alpha 1]
The stadium has hosted the annual Birmingham Bowl since the bowl's 2021 edition—played on December 28, 2021, it was the first event at the venue to sell out. [7]
The United States Football League (USFL) played most of its 2022 games in Birmingham at Protective Stadium with the rest played at Legion Field. [8] In 2023, Protective Stadium became one of the league's four hub sites, hosting home games for the Birmingham Stallions and also "home" games for the New Orleans Breakers. [9]
Birmingham Legion FC, a USLC soccer team, has played at Protective Stadium since the 2022 season. [10] Birmingham Legion FC set a club-best attendance mark of 18,418 fans in a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal match played against Major League Soccer (MLS) club Inter Miami CF on June 7, 2023.[ citation needed ]
A June 2022 concert by Garth Brooks set an attendance record for the venue of approximately 50,000 fans. [11]
The stadium hosted the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2022 World Games in July 2022.
A round of the 2024 Monster Energy American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) Supercross Championship Series was held at the stadium in March. It is the second Supercross race held in Alabama during the 50-year history of the series.
Monster Jam came to the stadium on March 23, 2024 as part of the Stadium Championship Series West. This was the first Monster Jam stadium show in Alabama.[ citation needed ]
Rank | Attendance | Date | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1 | approx. 50,000 [11] | June 4, 2022 | Garth Brooks concert |
2 | 47,100 [12] [lower-alpha 2] | December 28, 2021 | Houston 17 – Auburn 13 |
3 | 37,167 | October 2, 2021 | UAB 12 – Liberty 36 |
4 | 32,542 [13] | September 1, 2022 | UAB 59 – Alabama A&M 0 |
5 | approx. 27,000 [14] | July 7, 2022 | World Games Opening Ceremony |
6 | 25,363 | August 31, 2023 | UAB 35 – North Carolina A&T 6 |
7 | 25,191 | October 9, 2021 | UAB 31 – Florida Atlantic 14 |
8 | 24,845 | October 23, 2021 | UAB 24 – Rice 30 |
9 | 24,302 | September 17, 2022 | UAB 35 – Georgia Southern 21 |
10 | 23,694 | October 8, 2022 | UAB 41 – Middle Tennessee 14 |
Bryant–Denny Stadium is an outdoor stadium in the southeastern United States, on the campus of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. It is the home field of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
Legion Field is an outdoor stadium in the southeastern United States in Birmingham, Alabama, primarily designed to be used as a venue for American football, but occasionally used for other large outdoor events. Opened in 1927, it is named in honor of the American Legion, a U.S. organization of military veterans.
The Birmingham Bowl is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game played annually in Birmingham, Alabama. First held in 2006, the game is owned and operated by ESPN Events. The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) also provides marketing, management and game-day operations support. The game was previously known as the PapaJohns.com Bowl (2006–2010) and the BBVA Compass Bowl (2011–2014). TicketSmarter signed on as the title sponsor of the 2019 game, making it the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl. From its inception through 2020, the game was played at Legion Field; since the December 2021 game, it has been held at Protective Stadium.
The UAB Blazers football team represents the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in the sport of American football. The Blazers compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and American Athletic Conference. The team is led by head coach Trent Dilfer, who was named the program’s 7th head coach on November 30, 2022. Home games were previously held at Legion Field in Birmingham from the 1991 season to the 2020 season. A new stadium, Protective Stadium, has been the home of the Blazers starting from the 2021 season. The new stadium's capacity is over 47,000.
The UAB Blazers are the varsity intercollegiate athletic programs that represent the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The school is one of the fourteen member institutions of the American Athletic Conference and participates in Division I of the NCAA. The school's men's basketball team plays in 8,508-seat Bartow Arena. The Blazers' colors are forest green and old gold. The men's basketball program has a long history of success spanning several decades.
The 2004 UAB Blazers football team represented the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in the college football season of 2004, and was the fourteenth team fielded by the school. The Blazers' head coach was Watson Brown, who entered his tenth season as UAB's head coach. They played their home games at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, and competed as a member of Conference USA. The Blazers finished their ninth season at the I-A level, and sixth affiliated with a conference with a record of 7–5. The Blazers also made their first ever bowl appearance at the 2004 Hawaii Bowl where they were defeated 40–59 by Hawaii.
Bill Bradford Clark is a retired American football coach. He was the head football coach at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He held the position from 2014 season until June 24, 2022, when he retired because of health issues related to his back.
Sports in Birmingham, Alabama, include several minor league professional teams and college sports. The city of Birmingham and the Birmingham metro area have no major professional sport franchises. The Birmingham area is home to the Birmingham Barons, the AA minor league affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, which plays at Regions Field in the Southside adjacent to Railroad Park. The University of Alabama at Birmingham and Samford University in Homewood have popular collegiate sports teams, including college basketball and football. The Hoover Metropolitan Stadium is home to the Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament, which drew more than 108,000 spectators in 2006 and continues to draw large crowds today. The city also hosts a USL team: the Birmingham Legion FC. The Birmingham area also hosts the Alabama Youth Sports Alliance basketball league and Tragic City Rollers women's roller derby team.
The 2017 UAB Blazers football team represented the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season as a member of the West Division of Conference USA (C-USA). They were led by second-year head coach Bill Clark and played their home games at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. They finished the season 8–5, 6–2 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for second place in the West Division. They received an invitation to the Bahamas Bowl, where they lost to Ohio.
The Auburn–UAB men's basketball rivalry is a men's college basketball rivalry between the Auburn Tigers and the UAB Blazers. Despite its relative youth and a 15-year hiatus from 2000–2014, the rivalry remains one of the fiercest and most competitive in the state of Alabama.
Birmingham Legion FC is an American professional soccer club based in Birmingham, Alabama, that competes in the USL Championship, the second division of American soccer. The team was established in August 2013 and played under the name Birmingham Hammers until 2018 and began their first professional season as Legion FC on March 10, 2019.
The 2017 Bahamas Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 22, 2017, at Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau in the Bahamas. The fourth annual Bahamas Bowl, it was one of the 2017–18 bowl games concluding the 2017 FBS football season. It began at 12:30 p.m. EST and aired on ESPN.
The 2020 UAB Blazers football team represented the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Blazers played their final home games at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, and competed in the West Division of Conference USA (C-USA). They were led by fifth-year head coach Bill Clark.
The 2021 UAB Blazers football team represented the University of Alabama at Birmingham during the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Blazers played their home games at the newly opened Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama, and competed in the West Division of Conference USA (CUSA). The team was coached by sixth-year head coach Bill Clark.
The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football minor league that began play on April 16, 2022. It is now one of the two-component conferences of the United Football League (UFL), along with the XFL.
The 2022 USFL season was the inaugural season of the United States Football League, and the first season of a league using that name since 1985. The season began on April 16 and concluded on July 3. The league's eight teams represent various geographical locales and associated team names that were part of the 1984 season of the original USFL. For 2022, all regular-season games were played in Birmingham, Alabama, at Protective Stadium and at Legion Field.
The Tampa Bay Bandits were a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida, The Bandits competed in the United States Football League (USFL) as a member club of the league's South division, prior to going on hiatus after the season. The team played their 2022 home games at Protective Stadium and Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, which also hosts the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers.
The 1985–86 UAB Blazers men's basketball team represented the University of Alabama at Birmingham as a member of the Sun Belt Conference during the 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was head coach Gene Bartow's 8th season at UAB, and the Blazers played their home games at BJCC Coliseum. They finished the season 25–11, 9–5 in Sun Belt play and lost in the championship game of the Sun Belt tournament. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 6 seed in the West region. The Blazers defeated Missouri in the opening round before falling to No. 3 seed North Carolina in the round of 32, 77–59.
The 2023 UAB Blazers football team represented the University of Alabama at Birmingham as a member of the American Athletic Conference (AAC) during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by first-year head coach Trent Dilfer, the Blazers compiled an overall record of 4–8 with a mark of 3–5 in conference play, placing in a three-way tie for eighth in the AAC. UAB played home games at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama.