STADIUM TOUR

We finally got to take our tour this morning. Thank goodness we’re retired and flexible with our plans.

We picked up Judy, Don and Paul once again and headed to the University of Phoenix stadium. This stadium is where the Arizona Cardinals play their home games.

This was really a great tour and I would recommend it to everyone. One of the facts that really caught my attention was that the stadium has the University of Phoenix name. They pay $7.7 million a year for 20 years for this right. And the University of Phoenix does not have a football team. Or any athletic team for that matter.

Here are some other facts about the stadium. I couldn’t remember most of the facts that Cheryl gave us during the tour but I was able to find most of them on line.

The stadium features the only rollout field AND retractable roof in North America. Dallas now has a rollout field with their new stadium. The field was rolled in while we were there because of the Fiesta Bowl last week-end and the BCS game this next Monday night.

This is one of the luxury lofts.

Approximately 63,400 permanent seats, expandable to 72,200 seats. It had the extra seats in place during our tour because of the BCS game. 88 luxury lofts, approximately 7,400 Club Seats, Two 39,000 square foot Club Lounges

77 - Public Restrooms - and yes they have more women’s than men’s (35 for the women and 30 for the men). The other 12 are family restrooms.

10 elevators and 18 escalators for public use. If you have a luxury loft, you, of course, have four private elevators to your seats.

The exterior is supposed to represent a barrel cactus. I just don’t see it. We took a vote and we think it looks more like Jiffy Pop. Remember those?

We weren’t allowed in the Cardinals locker room but we toured the visitor’s locker room. Not very fancy.

Fun Facts

• The stadium seats, if set in a straight line, would stretch for approximately eighteen (18) miles.
• The amount of concrete used on the stadium is equal to 900 miles of sidewalk, the distance between Phoenix and San Francisco.
• The stadium air-conditioning system will generate 8,000 tons of cooling capacity, enough to cool 2,300 residential homes in the Phoenix area.
• These people are cleaning the seats and checking to see if any of them need to be repaired.
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• Two massive "thermometers" at the south end zone gauge crowd noise. The north end zone bridge displays photos of past players.
• There are six levels in the stadium: the field (or service) level; the main concourse, the club level, the suite level; the upper concourse and the mechanical level.
• The luxurious Club Level features wider seats, preferred parking, private entrances, and climate controlled club lounges with multiple two-story spaces, comfortable seating, plentiful TV monitors, upgraded food and beverage offerings and dedicated restrooms.

This is the press room. Everybody on the tour thought this would be a great place to watch the game from. Of course, this was before we got to see the luxury box seats.

The Field

The grass field rolls out of the stadium on a 18.9 million pound tray, residing outside of the stadium except for football and soccer events. This picture shows where the field resides when it is outside. If work needs to be done on the watering system or the rollers, they have a “jiffy lube” type area where the engineers can work under the field.

• The grass field remains outside the stadium in the sun until game day getting the maximum amount of sunshine and nourishment, eliminating humidity problems inside the stadium and providing unrestricted access to the stadium floor for events and staging.
• The site has the stadium situated along a slight northwest to southeast axis for maximum sun exposure for the field in the outboard position.
• Having the rollout field saves $50 million in costs since it is more economical to move the field than having the entire roof retract to allow the necessary sunshine to reach the grass.
• The roll out playing field weighs 18.9 million pounds and will travel at a speed of 11.5 feet/minute (1/8 mph); it will take approx. 75 minutes to travel approximately 741 feet.
• The field is 234 feet wide x 403 feet long and 39 inches tall.
• Field tray rests on 13 rail tracks and moves in and out of the stadium on 546 steel wheel assemblies (42 rows).
• 76 - of the wheel sets are powered by a 1- horsepower motor (total = 76 hp).
• The field will support approximately 94,000 square feet (over 2 acres) of natural grass.
• The grass is a Bermuda hybrid. It was planted by using plugs that provide the best long-term field conditions.
• The tray has a fairly sophisticated irrigation system that works on timers and can be customized. The water will drain through a 1-inch-deep mat and several pipes that lead to a main drainpipe underneath the field tray.
• A few inches of water will remain in the tray while the field is in play to keep the grass moist.

The Roof

• The translucent “Bird-Air” fabric roof will allow the stadium to have an open, airy feel even when the roof is closed. The roof has two large retractable panels that will uncover the entire playing field while providing maximum shading for fans. The roof can be closed and the facility air conditioned in the hot months, while the roof can be opened to take advantage of the Valley’s world-famous climate in cooler months.
• The roof is supported by two 700-foot long trusses.
• Each truss is 87 feet high at its tallest point and weighs about 1,800 tons.
• The top of the roof is 206 feet above grade.
• Each roof panel weighs 550 tons.
• The roof takes approx. 15 minutes to open.