Stadium in Miami, Florida, U.S.
FIU Stadium
is a
college football
and
soccer
stadium on the campus of
Florida International University
(FIU) in
Miami, Florida
. It is the home stadium of the
FIU Panthers football team
and the
Miami FC
soccer team from the
USL Championship
. The stadium opened in 1995 and has a seating capacity of 20,000.
History
[
edit
]
FIU Community Stadium was the first dedicated sports facility at the school, replacing
Tamiami Field
. Construction officially began on July 24, 1994, and the facility opened on September 24, 1995, as a 7,500-seat football and track stadium. It was built as a joint venture between FIU,
Miami-Dade County Public Schools
,
Miami-Dade Parks
, and the Miami-Dade County Youth Fair.
[3]
In anticipation of the inaugural
FIU Golden Panthers football
[Note 1]
season in fall 2002, the university placed movable
bleachers
around the stadium's
all-weather running track
in 2001, which increased the stadium's capacity to 17,000 seats.
Renovation
[
edit
]
Years
|
Stadium capacity
|
1995?2001
|
7,500
[2]
|
2002?2007
|
17,000
[4]
|
2008?2011
|
18,000
[5]
|
2012?present
|
20,000
|
In 2007, the university announced a major expansion and redesign for FIU Stadium. The redesign of FIU Stadium would increase the stadium's capacity to 45,000 fans, to be built in phases. For the first phase of the expansion, the school demolished a large portion of the original 1995 stadium. The west, south and east sides of FIU Stadium were taken down and construction began on the new, permanent stadium. The expansion was completed in September 2008 for the
2008 football season
. Phase one increased the stadium's capacity from 17,000 fans to 18,000, including 1,500
club seats
.
[6]
During construction, the
2007 FIU Golden Panthers football team
played its home games in the
Miami Orange Bowl
.
The new facility opened for the first home game of the
2008 football season
against the
South Florida Bulls
on September 20. The Golden Panthers lost 17–9 in front of a crowd of 16,717.
[7]
The team won its first game in the new stadium on October 11, 2008, against
Sun Belt Conference
rival the
Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders
, 31–21. The team finished its first season in the new stadium 5-7. In 2009, the university began the second phase of the stadium expansion, which included the construction of a new football
field house
. Renovations were completed in 2012 and the capacity increased to 20,000 seats.
In 2017, the university agreed to a five-year deal to rename the stadium after
Riccardo Silva
, part owner of
Miami FC
.
[8]
Before the deal, Silva had donated $3.76 million for various improvements to the stadium including a new playing surface and
Jumbotron
video scoreboard.
[8]
[9]
Attendance
[
edit
]
Historical Attendance at FIU Stadium
Rank
|
Attendance
|
Date
|
Game result
|
1
|
22,682
|
October 1, 2011
|
FIU 27,
Duke 31
(2011 Homecoming)
|
2
|
20,205
|
September 12, 2011
|
FIU 17
, UCF 10
|
3
|
19,872
|
September 11, 2010
|
FIU 14,
Rutgers 19
|
4
|
18,524
|
September 24, 2016
|
FIU 14,
UCF 53
|
5
|
17,962
|
October 24, 2015
|
FIU 41
, Old Dominion 12
(2015 Homecoming)
|
On October 1, 2011, FIU Stadium drew its largest attendance in school history. A crowd of 22,268 came to watch the Panthers play the Duke Blue Devils football team for the team's 2011 homecoming game. During the game, the
Goodyear Blimp
made its first appearance at FIU Stadium. The
Miami Tower
in
Downtown Miami
was also lit in blue and gold from September 26 to October 1, 2011, in honor of the game.
[10]
On April 19, Miami FC set a club record for attendance at the stadium. The match against
Major League Soccer
team
Inter Miami CF
in the Third Round of the
2022 U.S. Open Cup
drew 11,158 fans.
[11]
Renaming
[
edit
]
On April 3, 2017, FIU Stadium was renamed Riccardo Silva Stadium.
[8]
[12]
[9]
The decision to rename the stadium is in recognition of the support given by Italian businessman
Riccardo Silva
to the FIU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics since 2015.
The newly renamed stadium home opener featured a performance by Grammy-nominated Latin star
Maluma
.
[13]
[14]
Maluma returned to the stadium in April 2018 to record the video for the Spanish-language version of
Jason Derulo
's World Cup 2018 anthem for Coca-Cola.
[15]
[16]
Structure and facilities
[
edit
]
Designed by
Rossetti Architects
,
[17]
the stadium has a 6,500-square-foot (600 m
2
) Panther Club on the ground level, an upper concourse for additional fan seating and concessions, a
jumbotron
scoreboard, and 19
luxury suites
. Seating includes chairback seats and bench seating, all with backrests. Panther fans shout "Rattle the Cage!" and fans will stomp and jump in unison on the bleachers creating a very loud
reverberation
throughout the steel and aluminum stadium.
[
citation needed
]
The Rattling of the Cage is done throughout the game, notably while the team is on defense and during cheers.
[18]
[19]
In April 2017 Riccardo Silva Stadium has also seen significant improvements made to the facility over the last two months, with completion of two major projects. The first is the installation of a new state of the art playing surface. The new surface, FieldTurf's Revolution 360, features fibers that provide for optimal durability, resilience and feel and is used by many of the country's biggest NFL and soccer teams.
Riccardo Silva Stadium has also been enhanced by installation of a new videoboard, replacing the existing scoreboard, providing a huge boost to the fan experience at The Miami FC's soccer games. Measuring approximately 31 by 59 feet (9.4 m × 18.0 m), the new videoboard will feature a 13HD pixel layout, the premier technology for outdoor applications within the sports industry. It will have full live video and instant replay capabilities, along with multiple zones of content, including statistics and graphics.
In April 2011, the field was named Alfonso Field after alumnus David F. Alfonso. The facility also includes a two-story, 50,000-square-foot (4,600 m
2
) field house, named for
trustee
R. Kirk Landon, which includes a 14,000-square-foot (1,300 m
2
) weight room. The stadium also includes 8,500 square feet (790 m
2
) of locker rooms, an equipment room, a full-service athletic training facility, a ticket office, a merchandise area, and an FIU Athletics Hall of Fame.
Transportation
[
edit
]
Miami-Dade Transit
serves Riccardo Silva Stadium with
Metrobus
lines 8, 11, 24, and 71. Bus lines 8, 11, and 24 connect Riccardo Silva Stadium directly with
Downtown Miami
and
Brickell
.
[20]
For students at the
Biscayne Bay Campus
, the Riccardo Silva Golden Panther Express offers direct bus service to Riccardo Silva Stadium. Riccardo Silva Stadium has multiple
bike racks
for fans traveling by bicycle. Parking on game days is free.
Tailgate
parking areas around the stadium open six hours before kickoff.
[21]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
FIU dropped the word "Golden" from its nickname starting in the 2010?11 school year.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
1634?1699:
McCusker, J. J.
(1997).
How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda
(PDF)
.
American Antiquarian Society
.
1700?1799:
McCusker, J. J.
(1992).
How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States
(PDF)
.
American Antiquarian Society
.
1800?present:
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
"Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800?"
. Retrieved
February 29,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
Polansky, Risa (March 8, 2007).
"FIU Plans $50 Million Stadium, Student Center"
.
Miami Today
. Archived from
the original
on February 6, 2011
. Retrieved
July 4,
2012
.
- ^
a
b
"Heralding the New Stadium"
.
The Miami Herald
. September 24, 1995. p. 4
. Retrieved
July 4,
2012
.
- ^
"2006 FIU Football Program"
(PDF)
. FIU Athletics.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
"FIU Breaks Ground On New Stadium"
(Press release). FIU Athletics. May 25, 2007. Archived from
the original
on July 4, 2012
. Retrieved
July 4,
2012
.
- ^
"FIU Stadium"
. CollegeGridirons.com. Archived from
the original
on June 29, 2011
. Retrieved
July 4,
2012
.
- ^
USF vs FIU
(Stats report). FIU Athletics. September 20, 2010. Archived from
the original
on March 11, 2012
. Retrieved
July 4,
2012
.
- ^
a
b
c
"FIU Stadium gets facelift, new name after Miami FC owner gives record $3.76 million donation"
.
miamiherald
. Retrieved
April 4,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
McMurphy, Brett (March 30, 2017).
"Riccardo Silva Stadium will be the new name of FIU's football stadium, sources told ESPN"
.
ESPN.com
. ESPN
. Retrieved
March 30,
2017
.
- ^
Merille, Eduardo (September 1, 2011).
"Iconic Downtown Building to go Blue and Gold for Homecoming"
.
FIU News
. Retrieved
July 4,
2012
.
- ^
"Miami FC Breaks Club Attendance Record Despite 1-0 Loss in Miami Clasico - Miami Clasico"
.
Miami FC
. April 19, 2022
. Retrieved
June 6,
2022
.
- ^
"FIU names stadium for entrepreneur, real estate investor Riccardo Silva"
.
The Real Deal Miami
. April 3, 2017
. Retrieved
April 4,
2017
.
- ^
"Maluma Set to Perform at Miami FC's Home Opener"
.
NBC 6 South Florida
. Retrieved
April 23,
2018
.
- ^
"Global music idol Maluma joins Miami FC at historic home opener"
. Archived from
the original
on April 23, 2018
. Retrieved
April 23,
2018
.
- ^
"Maluma Returns to Riccardo Silva Stadium to Shoot New Video for Coca Cola's 2018 FIFA World Cup Anthem"
. Archived from
the original
on April 24, 2018
. Retrieved
April 23,
2018
.
- ^
Diaz, Johnny.
"Drake, Taylor Swift, Zayn and others make Miami music videos a trend again"
.
Sun-Sentinel.com
. Retrieved
April 25,
2018
.
- ^
"NOTICE TO ARCHITECT/ENGINEERS – BT-842 FIU Stadium Expansion & Master Plan"
(PDF)
.
Florida International University
. September 9, 2011. p. 1–3. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on January 24, 2013
. Retrieved
July 4,
2012
.
- ^
"FIU Rattles The City"
. Antisteez.com. November 30, 2010
. Retrieved
July 4,
2012
.
- ^
Brooks, Jeff (August 1, 2007).
"Odebrecht Building Expandable Stadium at FIU"
(Southeast ed.). ConstructionEquipmentGuide.com. 9054.
- ^
"Metrobus"
. Miami-Dade County
. Retrieved
July 4,
2012
.
- ^
"Game Day Parking"
. FIU Athletics. Archived from
the original
on June 10, 2012
. Retrieved
July 4,
2012
.
External links
[
edit
]
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