Flagler Credit Union Stadium

Although initial plans for a new stadium hinted at the possibility of a 40,000-seat domed facility, later plans called for a 30,000-seat open air stadium. The steel stadium would allow for future expansion up to 65,000 seats as well as a roof if needed. The architect for the stadium was finalized in July 2008 when the firms of HKS and Schenkel Shultz were awarded the contract, finishing ahead of Ellerbe Becket and HOK.{{cite web |url=http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports/college/fau/blog/2008/07/and_the_winner_is_hksschenkels.html |title=And the Winner is—HKS/Schenkel-Shultz |last=Kurtenbach |first=Dieter |newspaper=South Florida Sun-Sentinel |date=July 15, 2008 |access-date=November 23, 2012}}

The new football stadium was projected to cost $70 million.{{cite news |url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-07-10/sports/fl-fau-stadium-ticket-sales-0711-20110710_1_fau-football-stadium-athletic-budget |title=FAU's Football Stadium Could Produce a Profit |newspaper=South Florida Sun-Sentinel |last=Hutton |first=Ted |date=2011-06-10 |access-date=2013-02-19 |quote=Five percent of the fees now collected will go toward the stadium, an amount estimated at $467,483. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716065824/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-07-10/sports/fl-fau-stadium-ticket-sales-0711-20110710_1_fau-football-stadium-athletic-budget |archive-date=2011-07-16 |url-status=dead }} To fund the stadium's construction, FAU secured a $12 million development rights deal with Crocker Partners LLC. In return, Crocker Partners secured the right to develop up to 2,400 new apartment-style beds on the Boca Raton campus; the first phase of 1,200 beds opened the fall 2011.{{cite news |url=http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/jul/23/developers-crocker-partners-to-build-manage-fau/ |title=Developers Crocker Partners to Build, Manage FAU Dorms on Boca Campus |last=Miller |first=Kimberley |newspaper=The Palm Beach Post |date=July 23, 2009 |access-date=November 23, 2012}} On July 21, 2010, FAU trustees approved $44.6 million finance plan from Regions Bank.{{cite news |url=http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/owls/fau-trustees-approve-44-6-million-loan-for-815586.html |title=FAU Trustees Approve $44.6 Million Loan for Football Stadium Construction |last=Frank |first=Samantha |newspaper=The Palm Beach Post |date=August 18, 2010 |access-date=November 23, 2012}}

FAU Stadium is one of the only collegiate football stadiums in the United States with a 180 degree view of the ocean from its highest seating positions.

The school initially expected to break ground in spring 2009 and play its inaugural home game in fall 2010 against the Michigan State Spartans; however, fundraising efforts fell short, and the stadium opening was delayed until fall 2011. Construction managers James A. Cummings, Inc. (a Tutor Perini Company) and Balfour Beatty Construction broke ground in the fall of 2010. Dant Clayton Corporation handled fabrication and installation of the stadium.

{{see also|2011 Florida Atlantic Owls football team}}

File:FAU Stadium North Endzone.jpg on opening day, October 15, 2011]]

The venue opened for the Owls' first home game on October 15, 2011, when the team lost to the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, 20–0.{{cite news |url=http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/fau-owls/fl-hyde-fau-stadium-opener-1016-20111015,0,1431249.column |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130203041732/http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/fau-owls/fl-hyde-fau-stadium-opener-1016-20111015,0,1431249.column |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 3, 2013 |title=FAU Has Day to Remember, Game to Forget |last=Hyde |first=Dave |newspaper=South Florida Sun-Sentinel |date=October 15, 2011 |access-date=November 23, 2012 }}

The announced attendance for the game was 29,103, although attendance dropped to 16,344 for team's second home game against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders. The Owls finished the season with a 1–11 record, its sole win coming against the UAB Blazers on November 26 in front of a home crowd of 12,044.

The team's average home attendance for the year in its new stadium was 17,565, ranking it 103rd among Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams.{{cite book |year=2012 |last=Steele |first=Phil |author-link=Phil Steele |title=Phil Steele's 2012 College Football Preview |page=301 |publisher=Phil Steele Publications |location=Cleveland |oclc=795742664}}

Although the project had acquired approximately $3.69 million through naming rights by June 2011, the school had yet to sell the naming rights to stadium itself by the end of the team's first season in the facility. Originally, FAU aimed for a $1 million-per-year deal, but had dropped that expectation to around $400,000 by the team's first home game of the 2011 season. During halftime at that game, FAU athletic director Craig Angelos stated that the school was "very close" to making a deal.{{cite news |url=http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/sports/college/faus-new-stadium-still-without-a-name-as-school-se/nLytT/ |title=FAU's New Stadium Still Without a Name as School Seeks a Sponsor |last=D'Angelo |first=Tom |date=2011-10-16 |access-date=2013-02-20 |newspaper=The Palm Beach Post }}

On February 19, 2013, the school announced that the naming rights to the stadium had been secured for approximately $6 million by the GEO Group, a private prison investor and operator. The $6 million would have been paid over 12 years.{{cite news |url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-02-19/news/sfl-fau-gets-6-million-gift-for-athletics-20130219_1_fau-alumnus-million-gift-athletic-programs |title=FAU Gets $6 Million Gift for Athletics |last=Yi |first=Karen |newspaper=Sun-Sentinel |location=South Florida |date=2013-02-19 |access-date=2013-02-22 |archive-date=2013-02-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130225153804/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-02-19/news/sfl-fau-gets-6-million-gift-for-athletics-20130219_1_fau-alumnus-million-gift-athletic-programs |url-status=dead }} The company's chief executive officer, George Zoley, is an alumnus of the school and member of the FAU Board of Trustees.{{cite news |url=http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/faufocus/2013/02/19/fau-finally-secures-naming-rights-for-football-stadium/ |title=FAU Finally Secures Naming Rights for Football Stadium |last=D'Angelo |first=Tom |publisher=The Palm Beach Post |date=February 19, 2013 |access-date=February 19, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130222015835/http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/faufocus/2013/02/19/fau-finally-secures-naming-rights-for-football-stadium/ |archive-date=February 22, 2013 }} In reaction to the deal, FAU play-by-play announcer Ken LaVicka dubbed the stadium "Owlcatraz".{{cite news |url=http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/fau-owls/fau-blog/sfl-group-starts-petition-to-remove-geo-group-name-from-fau-stadium-20130219,0,4720673.story |last=Kurtenbach |first=Dieter |title=Group Starts Petition to Remove GEO Group Name from FAU Stadium |newspaper=Sun-Sentinel |location=South Florida |date=2013-02-21 |access-date=2013-02-21 |archive-date=2018-05-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510000000/http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/fau-owls/fau-blog/sfl-group-starts-petition-to-remove-geo-group-name-from-fau-stadium-20130219,0,4720673.story |url-status=dead }} After public pressure from a handful of protests and significant bad publicity, Zoley and FAU president Mary Jane Saunders canceled the naming rights deal.{{cite news|url=http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-fau-geo-stadium-20130401,0,6857150.story/ |title=FAU stadium loses $6 million stadium gift from GEO Group, after deal draws protests |publisher=Sun-Sentinel |date=April 1, 2013 |access-date=April 1, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130423061057/http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-fau-geo-stadium-20130401,0,6857150.story |archive-date=April 23, 2013 }}

File:FAUnamingrights.jpg

On December 17, 2024, FAU and Flagler Credit Union struck a 15 year naming rights deal worth $22.5 million. It is the largest naming rights deal in the American Athletic Conference, and one of the largest in the Group of Five.{{Cite web |last=Edelman |first=Isaac |date=2024-12-18 |title=FAU, Flagler Credit Union Strike Naming Rights Deal Worth $22.5 Million |url=https://flteams.com/2024/12/17/fau-flagler-credit-union-strike-naming-rights-deal-worth-22-5-million/ |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=FL Teams |language=en-US}}

File:FAU Stadium NCAA Women's College Cup 2014-12-07.jpg

The stadium is the first phase of the university's Innovation Village, a multipurpose project which will include four apartment-style residence halls, {{convert|130000|sqft|m2}} of retail shopping space,{{cite news |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2007/09/17/daily21.html |title=FAU Trustees Approve Stadium Plan |last=Bandell |first=Brian |publisher=Advance Publications |newspaper=South Florida Business Journal |date=September 18, 2007 |access-date=November 23, 2012}} and a multi-use convocation center for the basketball program modeled after Knights Plaza at the University of Central Florida.{{cite news|url=http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/education/highered/sfl-1205fau_stadium,0,1223728.story |title=Private Firms are Key to FAU Stadium Plan |last=Talalay |first=Sarah |newspaper=South Florida Sun-Sentinel |date=August 30, 2005 |page=6C |access-date=November 23, 2012 |quote=The proposal is modeled on a concept floated at the University of Central Florida for that school's 10,000-seat convocation center for basketball and concerts |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926225437/http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/education/highered/sfl-1205fau_stadium,0,1223728.story |archive-date=September 26, 2007 }} The field uses natural turf (Bermuda grass "Celebration"), and while FAU has been in Conference USA for a few seasons now, it was the only home field in the Sun Belt Conference without artificial turf.{{cite news |url=http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/oct/12/faus-stadium-house-that-howard-built/ |title=FAU's New Stadium: 'House that Howard Built' |last=Santucci |first=Jon |newspaper=The Palm Beach Post |date=October 20, 2011 |access-date=November 23, 2012}} The stadium is one of a number of stadiums in Florida which use the same cultivar.{{cite press release |url=http://www.fauowlaccess.com/articles/164/fau-prepares-to-lay-sod-at-new-stadium.aspx |title=On the Surface |last=King |first=Chuck |publisher=Owl Access |date=June 13, 2011 |access-date=November 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111009180638/http://fauowlaccess.com/articles/164/fau-prepares-to-lay-sod-at-new-stadium.aspx |archive-date=October 9, 2011 |url-status=dead }}

The skybox and press box overlook the Atlantic Ocean; FAU claims that no other football stadium in the United States offers a view of the open ocean.

{{Clear}}

• List of NCAA Division I FBS football stadiums

{{Reflist|2}}

{{commons cat}}

• {{Official website}}

{{S-start}}

{{succession box

| title = Host of the Women's College Cup

| years = 2014

| before = WakeMed Soccer Park

| after = WakeMed Soccer Park

}}

{{end}}

{{Florida Atlantic Owls football navbox}}

{{Florida Atlantic University}}

{{American Athletic Conference football venue navbox}}

{{Conference USA Football Championship Game}}

{{Florida college football venues}}

{{Boca Raton Bowl navbox}}

{{NCAA Division I FBS bowl game stadium navbox}}

Category:College football venues in Florida

Category:Florida Atlantic Owls football

Category:Sports venues in Boca Raton, Florida

Category:2011 establishments in Florida

Category:Lacrosse venues in the United States

Category:Former Major League Lacrosse venues

Category:Sports venues completed in 2011