Gator Bowl Stadium: Difference between revisions

{{Infobox stadiumvenue

| image = [[File:Gator bowlBowl jacksonvilleJacksonville flFlorida 1961.jpg|300px]]

| former_names = Fairfield Stadium (1927–19481927–1948)

The '''Gator Bowl''' was an [[American football]] [[stadium]] in [[Jacksonville, Florida]]. Originally built in 1927, all but a small portion was razed in 1994 in preparation for the NFL's [[Jacksonville Jaguars]]' inaugural season; the reconstructed stadium became Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, now [[EverBank FieldStadium]]. The old stadium and its replacement have hosted the [[Gator Bowl]], a post-season [[college football]] [[bowl game]] now known as the [[Taxslayer]] Bowl, since its inception in 1946. It also hosted the [[Florida–Georgia football rivalry|Florida–Georgia game]], an annual [[college football]] rivalry game between the [[Florida Gators football|University of Florida]] and the [[Georgia Bulldogs football|University of Georgia]], and was home to several professional sports teams, including the [[Jacksonville Sharks (WFL)|Jacksonville Sharks]] and [[Jacksonville Express]] of the [[World Football League]] (WFL), the [[Jacksonville Tea Men]] [[Association football|soccer]] team, and the [[Jacksonville Bulls]] of the [[United States Football League]].

Jacksonville's first football venue was built in 1927 and 1928 with a seating capacity of 7,600. Known as '''Fairfield Stadium''', its primary purpose was to serve as home field for Jacksonville's three new high schools— – [[Robert E. Lee High School (Jacksonville, Florida)|Lee]], [[Andrew Jackson High School (Jacksonville, Florida)|Jackson]] and Landon. At the opening of the stadium, Florida Governor [[John W. Martin]] called the stadium "the best place in Florida to watch a football game!"

On January 1, 1946, the stadium received national attention when it hosted the first [[Gator Bowl]] game. The stadium was expanded to 16,000 seats in 1948, and the structure was renamed the Gator Bowl.<ref>[{{Cite web |url=http://www.gatorbowl.com/?page_id=94 |title=Gator Bowl Association History page] |access-date=2011-10-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016125405/http://www.gatorbowl.com/?page_id=94 |archive-date=2011-10-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Prior to the 1949 game, the [[seating capacity]] was expanded to 36,058, at which it remained until 1957.<ref>''The Jacksonville Story'' by Carolina Rawls; Jacksonville's Fifty Years of Progress Association-1950</ref>

==College and professional sports franchises that used the stadiumtenants==

ItThe stadium was home to the [[World Football League]]'s [[Jacksonville Sharks (WFL)|Jacksonville Sharks]] in 1974 and the [[Jacksonville Express]] in 1975. It was the home of a [[North American Soccer League (1968–19841968–84)|North American Soccer League]] team, the [[Jacksonville Tea Men]] from 1981 to 19821984 and then a [[United States Football League]] team, the [[Jacksonville Bulls]] from 1984 to 1985.

The stadium was the site of the [[TaxSlayer Bowl|Gator Bowl]] from 1949 to 1993. It also hosted the annual [[Florida&ndash;Georgia football rivalry|Florida&ndash;Georgia game]] between the [[Georgia Bulldogs football|University of Georgia]] and the [[Florida Gators football|University of Florida]] [[college football]] teams from 1933 to 1993. The [[1950 Senior Bowl]], the first game in that bowl's history, was also played at the stadium.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63072301/doak-walker-charlie-justice-meet-today/ |title=Doak Walker, Charlie Justice Meet Today in Jacksonville's All-Star Senior Bowl Grid Tilt |agency=[[Associated Press|AP]] |newspaper=[[Oneonta Star]] |location=[[Oneonta, New York]] |page=10 |date=January 7, 1950 |access-date=November 11, 2020 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref>

[[The Beatles]] played a concert at the Gator Bowl on their first American Tour on September 11, 1964. When the Beatles found out that the concert was going to be [[racial segregation|racially segregated]] and the Black audience degraded, they refused to play there unless they allowed the audience to be desegregated, as thereBlack wasfolk no segregation in Europe. [[Paul McCartney]] went on record about their disapproval ofhad the situationfreedom andto theirsit lackwhere ofthey understanding of segregationliked in the first placeEurope.<ref>Kane,Larry. ''Ticket to Ride: Inside the Beatles' 1964 Tour That Changed the World'',p. 39</ref> [[John Lennon]] said, "We never play to segregated audiences and we aren't going to start now. I'd sooner lose our appearance money."<ref>Harry, B. ''Lennon Encyclopedia'', p. 269</ref><ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14963752 BBC News September 18, 2011-The Beatles banned segregated audiences, contract shows]</ref> They played to a desegregated audience.{{fact|date=November 2015}}

The historic structure was almost entirely razed in 1994, as part of a massive remodeling effort which essentially built a new stadium. The new stadium was renamed Jacksonville Municipal Stadium (knowncurrently as Alltel Stadium from 1997 through 2006, andnamed [[EverBank FieldStadium]] since August 2010). Almost none of the original infrastructure remains, except for the west upper deck (which washad been added in 1982) and the ramping system. While Jacksonville Municipal Stadium was being constructed, the [[Florida–Georgia football rivalry|Florida&ndash;Georgia game]] alternated between the two schools' home stadiums, with Florida's [[Ben Hill Griffin Stadium]] hosting in 1994Gainesville (whichhosting alsoin hosted the [[1994 Gator Bowl]]) and Georgia's [[Sanford Stadium]] hosting in 1995. The game[[1994 resumedGator theBowl]] followingwas yearalso held in Gainesville. Both games returned to Jacksonville the following season.

[[Category:Defunct American football venues in the United States]]

[[Category:North American Soccer League (1968–841968–1984) stadiums]]