Pitbull Stadium

{{Infobox venue

| stadium_name = Pitbull Stadium

| image = FIU Stadium, October 13, 2012.jpg

| image_size = 300px

| location = 11200 Southwest 8th Street
Miami, FL 33199

| coordinates = {{coord|25|45|9|N|80|22|40|W|region:US_type:landmark|display=it}}

| pushpin_map = USA Florida#USA

| pushpin_relief = 1

| broke_ground = {{Start date|1994|07|24}}

| opened = {{Start date|1995|09|24}}{{cite news |title=Heralding the New Stadium|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MH&s_site=miami&p_multi=MH&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB4D28BEA3FC1DB&p_field_direct-0=document_id|newspaper=The Miami Herald|date=September 24, 1995|access-date=July 4, 2012|page=4}}

| expanded = 2001, 2008 and 2012

| owner = Florida International University

| operator = Florida International University

| surface = FieldTurf

| architect = Rossetti Architects
BEA Architects

| general_contractor = Odebrecht Construction

| suites = 19

| record_attendance = 22,682 (2011 vs. Duke)

| tenants = FIU Panthers (NCAA) (1995–present)
Football (2002–present)
Track and Field (1995–2006)
Miami FC (2016–2018, 2020–)

| construction_cost = US$3 million (original stadium, 1994)
(${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|3000000|1995}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}){{cite news |title=FIU Plans $50 Million Stadium, Student Center|first=Risa|last=Polansky|url=http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/070308/story6.shtml|newspaper=Miami Today|date=March 8, 2007|access-date=July 4, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110206065628/http://miamitodaynews.com/news/070308/story6.shtml|archive-date=February 6, 2011}}
US$54 million (new stadium, 2007)

| former_names = FIU Community Stadium (1995–2001)
Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium (2001–2017)
Riccardo Silva Stadium (2017–2022)
FIU Stadium (2022–2024)

| seating_capacity = 20,000

}}

Pitbull Stadium{{Cite web |date=2024-08-23 |title=FIU Athletics, Pitbull Announce Unprecedented Partnership And Naming Of Football Stadium |url=https://fiusports.com/news/2024/8/6/general-fiu-athletics-pitbull-announce-unprecedented-partnership-and-naming-of-football-stadium.aspx |access-date=2024-08-25 |website=FIU Athletics |language=en}} is a college football and soccer stadium on the campus of Florida International University (FIU) in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida with a Miami mailing address. 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

= FIU Community Stadium =

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. In anticipation of the inaugural FIU Golden Panthers football{{#tag:ref|FIU dropped the word "Golden" from its nickname starting in the 2010–11 school year.|group="Note"}} 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 =

class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-left:1em; font-size:88%;"

{{CollegePrimaryHeader|team=FIU Panthers|Years|Stadium capacity}}

1995–2001

|7,500

2002–2007

|17,000{{cite web|url=http://www.nmnathletics.com/attachments1/1141.pdf|title=2006 FIU Football Program|publisher=FIU Athletics}}{{dead link|date=December 2016|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}

2008–2011

|18,000{{cite press release|title=FIU Breaks Ground On New Stadium|date=May 25, 2007|publisher=FIU Athletics|url=http://www.fiusports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=11700&ATCLID=900295|access-date=July 4, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120704214103/http://www.fiusports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=11700&ATCLID=900295|archive-date=July 4, 2012|df=mdy}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.collegegridirons.com/sunbelt/FIUStadium.htm|title=FIU Stadium|publisher=CollegeGridirons.com|access-date=July 4, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629141825/http://www.collegegridirons.com/sunbelt/FIUStadium.htm|archive-date=June 29, 2011}} During construction, the 2007 FIU Golden Panthers football team played its home games in the Miami Orange Bowl.

File:FIU Stadium Nov 2007.JPG

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.{{cite report|url=http://www.fiusports.com/fls/11700/Stats_Cumulative/Football/2008/fiu03.htm|title=USF vs FIU|date=September 20, 2010|publisher=FIU Athletics|access-date=July 4, 2012|type=Stats report|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311040708/http://www.fiusports.com/fls/11700/Stats_Cumulative/Football/2008/fiu03.htm|archive-date=March 11, 2012|df=mdy}} 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.{{Cite news|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/mls/article142503039.html|title=FIU Stadium gets facelift, new name after Miami FC owner gives record $3.76 million donation|work=miamiherald|access-date=2017-04-04|language=en}} Before the deal, Silva had donated $3.76 million for various improvements to the stadium including a new playing surface and Jumbotron video scoreboard.{{cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/espn/now?nowId=21-0639104629262520483-4|title=Riccardo Silva Stadium will be the new name of FIU's football stadium, sources told ESPN.|website=ESPN.com|publisher=ESPN|last1=McMurphy|first1=Brett|date=March 30, 2017 |access-date=30 March 2017}}

= Attendance =

class="wikitable" style="float:=left; margin-left:1em; font-size:88%;" \|+ Historical Attendance at FIU Stadium {{CollegePrimaryHeader\|team=FIU Panthers\|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)

class="wikitable" style="float:=left; margin-left:1em; font-size:88%;"

|+ Historical Attendance at FIU Stadium

{{CollegePrimaryHeader|team=FIU Panthers|Rank|Attendance |Date|Game result}}

| 22,682

| October 1, 2011

| FIU 27, Duke 31
(2011 Homecoming)

| 20,205

| September 12, 2011

| FIU 17, UCF 10

| 19,872

| September 11, 2010

| FIU 14, Rutgers 19

| 18,524

| September 24, 2016

| FIU 14, UCF 53

| 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.{{cite news|url=http://news.fiu.edu/2011/09/iconic-downtown-building-to-go-blue-and-gold-for-homecoming|title=Iconic Downtown Building to go Blue and Gold for Homecoming|last=Merille|first=Eduardo|date=September 1, 2011|work=FIU News|access-date=July 4, 2012}}

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.{{cite web |title=Miami FC Breaks Club Attendance Record Despite 1-0 Loss in Miami Clásico - Miami Clásico |url=https://www.miamifc.com/news/2022/04/19/final-miami-fc-crash-out-of-the-u-s-open-cup/ |website=Miami FC |access-date=6 June 2022 |language=en |date=19 April 2022}}

= Renaming =

On April 3, 2017, FIU Stadium was renamed Riccardo Silva Stadium.{{Cite news|url=https://therealdeal.com/miami/2017/04/03/fiu-names-stadium-for-entrepreneur-real-estate-investor-riccardo-silva/|title=FIU names stadium for entrepreneur, real estate investor Riccardo Silva|date=2017-04-03|work=The Real Deal Miami|access-date=2017-04-04|language=en-US}} The decision to rename the stadium was 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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Colombian-Music-Sensation-Maluma-Set-to-Perform-at-Miami-FCs-Historic-Home-Opener-375110211.html|title=Maluma Set to Perform at Miami FC's Home Opener|work=NBC 6 South Florida|access-date=2018-04-23|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.miamifc.com/news/2016/04/01/global-music-idol-maluma-joins-miami-fc-at-historic-home-opener|title=Global music idol Maluma joins Miami FC at historic home opener|access-date=2018-04-23|archive-date=April 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423232512/http://www.miamifc.com/news/2016/04/01/global-music-idol-maluma-joins-miami-fc-at-historic-home-opener|url-status=dead}} 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.{{Cite news|url=http://www.miamifc.com/news/2018/04/17/maluma-returns-to-riccardo-silva-stadium-to-shoot-new-music-video|title=Maluma Returns to Riccardo Silva Stadium to Shoot New Video for Coca Cola's 2018 FIFA World Cup Anthem|access-date=2018-04-23|archive-date=April 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180424071405/http://www.miamifc.com/news/2018/04/17/maluma-returns-to-riccardo-silva-stadium-to-shoot-new-music-video|url-status=dead}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/fl-reg-music-videos-filmed-in-miami-20180423-story.html|title=Drake, Taylor Swift, Zayn and others make Miami music videos a trend again|last=Diaz|first=Johnny|work=Sun-Sentinel.com|access-date=2018-04-25|language=en-US}}

On August 6, 2024, it was reported that American rapper and singer and Miami native Pitbull would be purchasing the naming rights to FIU Stadium, paying $1.2 million annually to rename the stadium to Pitbull Stadium.{{Cite web |title=Pitbull Stadium to host FIU football as rapper buying rights |url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/40746373/pitbull-stadium-host-fiu-football-rapper-buying-rights|publisher=ESPN|date=August 6, 2024|first=Pete|last=Thamel}}

Structure and facilities

Designed by Rossetti Architects,{{cite web|url=http://facilities.fiu.edu/projects/BT-842/BT-842FIUStadiumExpansionMasterPlanAELegalAd.pdf|title=NOTICE TO ARCHITECT/ENGINEERS – BT-842 FIU Stadium Expansion & Master Plan|date=September 9, 2011|publisher=Florida International University|page=1–3|access-date=July 4, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124214750/http://facilities.fiu.edu/projects/BT-842/BT-842FIUStadiumExpansionMasterPlanAELegalAd.pdf|archive-date=January 24, 2013|df=mdy}} the stadium has a {{convert|6500|sqft|m2|adj=on}} 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|date=July 2012|reason=Every fan says this about every stadium.}} The Rattling of the Cage is done throughout the game, notably while the team is on defense and during cheers.{{cite web|url=http://www.antisteez.com/news/fiu-rattles-the-city/|title=FIU Rattles The City|date=November 30, 2010|publisher=Antisteez.com|access-date=July 4, 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/Odebrecht-Building-Expandable-Stadium-at-FIU/9054/|title=Odebrecht Building Expandable Stadium at FIU|last=Brooks|first=Jeff|date=August 1, 2007|publisher=ConstructionEquipmentGuide.com|id=9054|edition=Southeast}}

In April 2017 the stadium saw 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.

FIU 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 {{convert|31|x|59|ft}}, 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, {{convert|50000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} field house, named for trustee R. Kirk Landon, which includes a {{convert|14000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} weight room. The stadium also includes {{convert|8500|sqft|m2}} 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.

File:FIU Stadium.JPG

Transportation

Miami-Dade Transit serves FIU Stadium with Metrobus lines 8, 11, 24, and 71. Bus lines 8, 11, and 24 connect the stadium directly with Downtown Miami and Brickell.{{cite web|url=http://www.miamidade.gov/transit/metrobus.asp|title=Metrobus|publisher=Miami-Dade County|access-date=July 4, 2012}} For students at the Biscayne Bay Campus, the Golden Panther Express offers direct bus service to FIU Stadium. The 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.fiusports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=11700&ATCLID=1554948|title=Game Day Parking|publisher=FIU Athletics|access-date=July 4, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120610140421/http://www.fiusports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=11700&ATCLID=1554948|archive-date=June 10, 2012|df=mdy}}

Notes

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20110711005319/http://www.fiusports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=11700&KEY=&SPID=10392&SPSID=87363 FIU Stadium Construction – Official Website]
[http://facilities.fiu.edu/ FIU Facilities Planning & Construction Site]
[http://metroatlantic.wordpress.com/2012/09/09/fiu-stadium-construction-history/ FIU Stadium construction history]