ALLTEL Stadium
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ALLTEL Stadium is a football stadium located in downtown Jacksonville, Florida next to the St. Johns River. It is the home stadium facility of the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL franchise. The stadium sits on 10 acres (40,000 m²) of land and has a capacity of 76,877. ALLTEL Stadium is used primarily as a football facility but does host other events including monster truck shows and concerts. It is also well-known for hosting college football, including the "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" each year between Florida and Georgia and the annual Gator Bowl which pits teams from the Big East and Atlantic Coast Conference. In December 2005, ALLTEL stadium will host the first of two consecutive ACC football championship games.
The stadium, originally known as Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, was built on the foundation of the former Gator Bowl stadium. Construction started January 3, 1994 and the new stadium opened on August 18, 1995. Total construction time was under 20 months and total cost was $134 million, $60 million of which was provided by the city of Jacksonville. ALLTEL Stadium's opening day was also the home debut of the Jaguars during the 1995-1996 NFL season. In 1997, the stadium changed its name to the current ALLTEL Stadium after naming rights were acquired by ALLTEL, a telecommunications company best known as a wireless carrier.
In 2005, the stadium hosted Super Bowl XXXIX in which the New England Patriots defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21. In 2003 and 2004, $47 million in improvements to the stadium were implemented to prepare for the Super Bowl.
External link
- Official ALLTEL Stadium website (http://www.jaguars.com/ALLTELStadium/)fr:ALLTEL Stadium