State Farm Stadium (Glendale, Arizona)

 stadium, sports venue, US National Football League - NFL, american football stadium

State Farm Stadium is the home of the NFL's Arizona Cardinals and the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. It is located across the street from the Gila River Arena.

The University of Phoenix (an online university that ironically has no intercollegiate sports teams) acquired the naming rights in September 2006, shortly after the stadium had opened under the name Cardinals Stadium. The 63,400-seat stadium, which can expandable to 73,719, opened on August 1, 2006 after three years of construction. The ceremonial groundbreaking for the stadium was held on April 12, 2003 and construction started on July 30 of that year. The cost of this project is $455,000,000. The stadium has 88 luxury suites with space for 16 additional suites as the stadium matures. Its roof is made out of translucent "Bird-Air" fabric and opens in 12 minutes. It is the first retractable roof ever built on an incline.

The first preseason football game at the stadium was played on August 12, 2006 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The first regular season game was played September 10, 2006 against the San Francisco 49ers.

Events held at the stadium include:
* Super Bowl XLII (February 3, 2008)
* The west regional finals of the 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
* the 2007 BCS National championship Game
* The highest attended soccer match in the state of Arizona on February 7, 2007 when 62,462 fans watched the United States National Soccer Team defeat Mexico, 2-0
* Super Bowl XLIX (February 1, 2015).

www.uopstadium.com/
www.azcardinals.com/stadium/index.php