Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
Encyclopedia
Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium (originally Memphis Memorial Stadium) is a football stadium, located at the Mid-South Fairgrounds, in Midtown
Midtown, Memphis
- Overview :Architecturally, Midtown Memphis, Tennessee is marked with residential vintage housing, specialty stores, and high-rise buildings, often all located on the same avenue...

 Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The stadium is the site of the annual AutoZone Liberty Bowl, and is the home field of the University of Memphis
University of Memphis
The University of Memphis is an American public research university located in the Normal Station neighborhood of Memphis, Tennessee and is the flagship public research university of the Tennessee Board of Regents system....

 Tigers football team. It has also been the host of several attempts at professional sports in the city, as well as other local football games and other gatherings.

History

The stadium was originally built as Memphis Memorial Stadium in 1965 for $3 million, as a part of the Mid-South Fairgrounds, one of the South’s most popular fairs
State fair
A state fair is a competitive and recreational gathering of a U.S. state's population. It is a larger version of a county fair, often including only exhibits or competitors that have won in their categories at the more-local county fairs....

. The fairgrounds also include the Mid-South Coliseum
Mid-South Coliseum
The Mid-South Coliseum, also known as "The Entertainment Capital of the Mid-South", was a multi-purpose arena, that seated 10,085 people, in Memphis, Tennessee...

 (formerly the city’s major indoor venue) as well as the now closed Libertyland
Libertyland
Libertyland was Memphis, Tennessee's only amusement park. Opened on July 4, 1976, it was located at 940 Early Maxwell Blvd. It was structured under the nonprofit 5014 US tax code. It closed due to financial reasons in 2005.-History:...

 amusement park. It was dedicated to the citizens of Memphis who had served in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, and the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

.

It was built partially as a way to bring the Liberty Bowl to a permanent home in Memphis (The game had started in Philadelphia, but because of poor attendance for a northern bowl, it left the city, playing one year in Atlantic City before settling in Memphis). The game was such a success for Memphis that the stadium was renamed Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in 1976. As originally built, the stadium was lopsided, with the southwest side being taller than the northeast. A 1987 expansion brought it to its current, balanced size. Its design is similar to that of Tampa Stadium
Houlihan's Stadium
Tampa Stadium was a sports venue located at 4201 North Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa, Florida, USA...

, with the endzone grandstands being much shorter than the sidelines. The field, which had been natural grass since its inception, was replaced with a FieldTurf
FieldTurf
FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by the FieldTurf Tarkett division of Tarkett Inc., based in Calhoun, Georgia, USA. In the late 1990s, the artificial surface changed the industry with a design intended to replicate real grass...

 surface before the 2005 season.

The stadium is designed in such a way that all of its seats have a relatively good view of most of the playing surface. This is due primarily to two design factors. The stands are relatively steep for a one-tier, true bowl stadium. Also, there is little space between the side and end lines of the playing surface and the stands.

In December 1983, the field was renamed Rex Dockery Field in honor of Rex Dockery
Rex Dockery
-References:...

, a former Memphis football coach who died in a plane crash.

The stadium played host to The Monsters of Rock
Monsters of Rock Tour 1988
The Monsters of Rock Tour 1988 was a festival tour of the USA in 1988, headlined by hard rock band Van Halen as part of their promotion for their OU812 album with heavy metal band Metallica as well as other bands including Scorpions, Dokken, and Kingdom Come. It formed the first section of the...

 Festival Tour, featuring Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...

, Scorpions
Scorpions (band)
Scorpions are a heavy metal/hard rock band from Hannover, Germany, formed in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who is the band's only constant member. They are known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and many singles, such as "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel", "Still...

, Dokken
Dokken
Dokken is an American heavy metal and hard rock band formed in 1978. They split up in 1989 but reformed four years later. The group accumulated numerous charting singles and has sold more than 10 million albums worldwide...

, Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...

 and Kingdom Come
Kingdom Come (band)
Kingdom Come is a hard rock band fronted by Hamburg-born vocalist Lenny Wolf. The group's first album, Kingdom Come was that band's only international hit. It currently consists of an entirely German line-up.-History:...

, on July 9, 1988.

Major tenants

Since its opening, the stadium has hosted the University of Memphis
University of Memphis
The University of Memphis is an American public research university located in the Normal Station neighborhood of Memphis, Tennessee and is the flagship public research university of the Tennessee Board of Regents system....

 Tigers
Memphis Tigers
The Memphis Tigers represent the University of Memphis in Division I of the NCAA. They are members of C-USA and currently feature nine women's sports and nine men's sports...

 football team. Before this, the team had spent 28 seasons at Crump Stadium
Crump Stadium
Crump Stadium was a sports stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, built in 1934 and largely demolished in 2006. It was built as a WPA project with a capacity of 7,500. In 1939 it was enlarged to hold 25,000 spectators. In 1948 and 1949 it staged the NCAA football Delta Bowl; in 1950 the college football...

. It was not the first time the team had played at the Fairgrounds; before playing at Crump, the team had played two seasons there at a former park. As of the start of the 2006 season, the team has a 130-106-7 record at the stadium.

Also since its opening, the stadium has hosted the Liberty Bowl
Liberty Bowl
The Liberty Bowl is an annual U.S. American college football bowl game played in December of each year from 1959 to 2007 and in January in 2009 and 2010. The Liberty Bowl was sponsored by AXA Financial and was known as the AXA Liberty Bowl from 1997 to 2003...

 game. It has usually hosted a Southern team playing against an at-large team (usually a team from either the Big 8
Big Eight Conference
The Big Eight Conference, a former NCAA-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football, was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association by its charter member schools: the University of Kansas, University of Missouri, University...

 or Southwest Conference, but occasionally another Southern team). Since 1997, the game has been hosted by the champion of Conference USA
Conference USA
Conference USA, officially abbreviated C-USA, is a college athletic conference whose member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports...

, of which the Tigers are a member. From 1998 to 2003, the opponent was the champion of the Mountain West Conference
Mountain West Conference
The Mountain West Conference , popularly known as the Mountain West, is the youngest of the college athletic conferences affiliated with the NCAA’s Division I FBS . The MWC officially began operations in July 1999...

. This arrangement was ended, however, partially because in the last two years of the agreement, the Mountain West Champion declined to play in the game. The University of Utah
Utah Utes
The Utah Utes are the athletics teams of the University of Utah. They are named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans. The men's basketball team is known as the "Runnin' Utes"; the women's basketball team, formerly known as the "Lady Utes," now prefers to be referred to as the "Utes"; and the...

 turned down the 2004 bid to accept a bid to the BCS
Bowl Championship Series
The Bowl Championship Series is a selection system that creates five bowl match-ups involving ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , including an opportunity for the top two to compete in the BCS National Championship Game.The BCS relies on a combination of...

 and the Fiesta Bowl
Fiesta Bowl
The Fiesta Bowl, now sponsored by Frito-Lay and named with their Tostitos brand, is a United States college football bowl game played annually at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Between its origination in 1971 and 2006, the game was hosted in Tempe, Arizona at Sun Devil...

. The winner of the Western Athletic Conference
Western Athletic Conference
The Western Athletic Conference is an American collegiate athletic conference, which was formed on July 27, 1962, making it the sixth oldest of the 11 college athletic conferences currently participating in the NCAA's Division I FBS...

, Boise State
Boise State Broncos football
This page discusses the Boise State football program. For more Boise State athletics, see Boise State Broncos.The Boise State Broncos football program represents Boise State University in college football and compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I as a member of the Mountain West...

, took the bid instead. In 2005, Fresno State
Fresno State Bulldogs football
The Fresno State Bulldogs football team represents California State University, Fresno in NCAA Division I FBS college football. The green “V” on the Bulldogs' helmets, uniforms, field symbolize California Central Valley, specifically the San Joaquin Valley, the agricultural valley from which they...

 took the bid as an at-large team after Mountain West Champion TCU
Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...

 instead chose to play in the Houston Bowl
Houston Bowl
The Houston Bowl is a now-defunct NCAA-sanctioned Division I-A college football bowl game that was played annually in Houston, Texas from 2000 to 2005. The game was originally known as the galleryfurniture.com Bowl in 2000 and 2001...

.

Since 2006, the second bid has gone to a team from the SEC
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...

, setting up an all-Southern bowl game. As of 2010, the SEC has the right to override the Conference USA champion and instead replace them with an opponent from the Big East Conference
Big East Conference
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of sixteen universities in the eastern half of the United States. The conference's 17 members participate in 24 NCAA sports...

. At the same time, the PapaJohns.com Bowl was given the option of a Conference USA team instead of a Big East team. They chose not to do this for the first year of this arrangement, allowing C-USA champions UCF to play Georgia
Georgia Bulldogs football
The Georgia Bulldogs football team represents the University of Georgia in football. The Bulldogs are a member of the Southeastern Conference and are frequently a top-25 team. The University of Georgia has had a football team since 1892 and has an all-time record of 738–398–54...

.

The stadium is also the host of the “Southern Heritage Classic,” a game between two historically black schools
Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Historically black colleges and universities are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before 1964 with the intention of serving the black community....

, Jackson State University
Jackson State University
Jackson State University is a historically black university founded in 1877 in Natchez, MS by the American Baptist Home Mission Society of New York. The Society moved the school to Jackson in 1882, renaming it Jackson College, and developed its present campus in 1902. It became a state supported...

 and Tennessee State University
Tennessee State University
Tennessee State University is a land-grant university located in Nashville, Tennessee. TSU is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennessee.-History:...

. The stadium also has hosted home games of the University of Tennessee
Tennessee Volunteers football
The Tennessee Volunteers football team are an American college football team at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville . The NCAA Division I team is also a member of the Southeastern Conference ....

, Ole Miss
Ole Miss Rebels
University of Mississippi sports teams, originally known as the "Mississippi Flood" , were re-named the Rebels in 1936 and compete in the twelve-member Southeastern Conference of the NCAA's Division I. The school's colors are cardinal red and navy blue , purposely chosen to mirror the school...

, and Mississippi State
Mississippi State Bulldogs
The Mississippi State Bulldogs are the athletic teams of Mississippi State University. They participate in NCAA's Division I in the competitive 12-member Southeastern Conference under the mascot Bulldogs and the school colors of maroon and white...

.

Former tenants

The stadium has been used to host professional football and soccer teams in the past. In 1974 and 1975, the stadium hosted the Memphis Southmen
Memphis Southmen
The Memphis Southmen were a franchise in the World Football League which operated in 1974 and 1975. They played their home games at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, United States.-From North to South:...

, aka “Grizzlies,” of the World Football League
World Football League
The World Football League was a short-lived gridiron football league that played in 1974 and part of 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest the WFL reached was placing a team – the Hawaiians – in Honolulu, Hawaii. The...

. The Southmen drew fairly well, at least by WFL standards, in part due to the presence on their roster of some well-known players recruited away from the NFL at considerable expense. Much, perhaps too much, was read into this relative success at the gate, and when the WFL folded, the team formally changed its name to the Grizzlies and made a bid to join the NFL as an expansion team for the 1976 NFL season
1976 NFL season
The 1976 NFL season was the 57th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded to 28 teams with the addition of the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers...

, with a telethon even being staged for this purpose. Over 40,000 people bought season tickets for the would-be NFL team. Despite this seemingly-overwhelming show of support, the NFL ignored Memphis' pleas and the Southmen folded. Owner John Bassett filed a lawsuit against the league
Mid-South Grizzlies v. NFL
Mid-South Grizzlies v. NFL 550 F.Supp. 558 , 720 F. 2d 772 , was a lawsuit filed by John F. Bassett, the owner of the World Football League's Memphis Grizzlies against the National Football League claiming that the NFL violated the antitrust laws by refusing to admit his club to their league.The...

, but was unsuccessful.

From 1978 to 1980, the Memphis Rogues
Memphis Rogues
The Memphis Rogues were a professional soccer team in the former North American Soccer League. They operated in the 1978, 1979, and 1980 seasons and played their home games in Memphis' Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.-History:...

 of the North American Soccer League
North American Soccer League
North American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...

 called the stadium home. The playing surface is somewhat smaller than that generally favored by soccer, but that sport adapts to smaller playing surfaces better than some others (the preferred width of a soccer pitch is 70 to 80 yards, but the rules allow for a pitch as narrow as 50 yards wide). Like the Southmen, the Rogues seemingly did fairly well in a league that wasn't doing all that well as a whole. Despite their success, the team moved to Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

, although this move was due more to the owner, Nelson Skalbania
Nelson Skalbania
Nelson M. Skalbania is a Canadian businessman from Vancouver, British Columbia best known for signing a 17-year-old Wayne Gretzky to the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association....

, a Canadian businessman, wanting to move the team to his home country.

In 1984, the United States Football League
United States Football League
The United States Football League was an American football league which was in active operation from 1983 to 1987. It played a spring/summer schedule in its first three seasons and a traditional autumn/winter schedule was set to commence before league operations ceased.The USFL was conceived in...

 added the Memphis Showboats
Memphis Showboats
The Memphis Showboats were a franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders...

 as an expansion team. The Showboats, featuring defensive end Reggie White
Reggie White
Reginald Howard "Reggie" White was a professional American football player. He played 15 seasons as a defensive end in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers, becoming one of the most decorated players in NFL history...

 and coached by flamboyant Memphian Pepper Rodgers
Pepper Rodgers
Franklin C. "Pepper" Rodgers is a former American football player and coach in the United States. He served as the head coach at the University of Kansas , University of California, Los Angeles , and the Georgia Institute of Technology , compiling a career college football record of...

, were one of the better draws in the league. They advanced to the Western Conference semifinals in 1985. Much like the Southmen before them, it was generally believed the Showboats would have been a viable venture had their league been better organized.

However, this attempt caused the city of Memphis to decide on expanding the stadium, in the hopes of luring an NFL franchise to the city. To this end, the Liberty Bowl underwent a $12,000,000 facelift. The east stands were built up to the same level as the west ones, adding about 12,000 seats, and a "skybox" of luxury suites was added to the top of those stands. After the renovation, the then-St. Louis Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 played an exhibition game there before a sellout crowd.

Despite its efforts, the city was unsuccessful in luring an NFL team (which would have been called the "Memphis Hound Dogs") to the Liberty Bowl. Not willing to give up on pro football, in 1995 the Liberty Bowl welcomed the Memphis Mad Dogs
Memphis Mad Dogs
The Memphis Mad Dogs were a Canadian football team that played the 1995 season in the Canadian Football League. The Mad Dogs were part of a failed attempt to expand the CFL into the United States....

 as part of the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....

’s attempt at bringing their league into American markets. The field of play in Canadian football
Canadian football
Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...

 is 10 yards longer and 35 feet wider than in the U.S. version, and the end zones are 20 yards deep rather than 10; few U.S. stadiums are designed readily to accommodate a playing surface of this size. In the Liberty Bowl these changes were necessarily largely ignored, due to the design features noted earlier. Had the attempt to play the Canadian game included an attempt to use the full width of that game's field, players not participating in the game and the coaching staffs would have to have been seated in the stands. Likewise, 20 yards past the goal line at the Liberty Bowl puts one several rows up into the end zone stands. The only real concession to the Canadian format that was feasible at the Liberty Bowl was the moving of the goal posts to the goal line, where they are in the Canadian game, as opposed to the end line. The result was a hybrid game, mostly played by Canadian rules on essentially a U.S. field.

Despite these limitations, the Mad Dogs, coached by Rodgers, drew fairly well during the early part of the season (the CFL season runs from July-November so as to conclude its season before most Canadian cities become unbearably cold for players, coaches, officials, and especially spectators). The stadium became a virtual ghost town on home game days, however, once college football season started, with crowds under 10,000, and it soon became apparent that the Mad Dogs were not a viable venture. Although they finished one game out of the playoffs, their dreadful attendance figures caused them to fold at the end of the season.

The city finally lured an NFL team to the stadium in 1997, when the Houston Oilers announced that they would play two seasons in Memphis as the Tennessee Oilers before their new stadium
LP Field
LP Field is a football stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, owned by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County....

 in Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

 was completed in time for the 1999 season. The largest stadium in Nashville at the time, Vanderbilt Stadium
Vanderbilt Stadium
Vanderbilt Stadium at Dudley Field is a football stadium located in Nashville, Tennessee. Completed in 1922 as the first stadium in the South to be used exclusively for college football, it is the home of the Vanderbilt University football team...

, seated only 41,000 fans and was considered inadequate even as a temporary facility. Although Neyland Stadium
Neyland Stadium
Neyland Stadium is a sports stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It serves primarily as the home of the Tennessee Volunteers football team, but is also used to host large conventions and has been a site for several NFL exhibition games. The stadium's official capacity is 102,455...

 in Knoxville was much closer to Nashville, it was deemed too big (at over 102,000 seats) for an NFL team. Pepper Rodgers was named the Oilers' "Director of Memphis Operations." The team was to live and practice in Nashville, commuting to Memphis only for games.

Although the idea seemed acceptable enough to the league and the team at the time, the 1997 season was an unmitigated disaster for all involved. The Oilers played before some of the smallest home crowds seen in the NFL since the 1950s for most games, and the visiting team often seemed to have more supporters than the Oilers. Memphians wanted nothing to do with a team which would be lost in two short years, while Nashvillians were skittish about having to drive 210 miles to see "their" team play. In an unfortunate coincidence, Interstate 40
Interstate 40
Interstate 40 is the third-longest major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90 and I-80. Its western end is at Interstate 15 in Barstow, California; its eastern end is at a concurrency of U.S. Route 117 and North Carolina Highway 132 in Wilmington, North Carolina...

 was under construction. This lengthened the normal three-and-a-half hour drive from Nashville to Memphis to five hours or longer. Only one game drew more fans than could have comfortably been accommodated at Vanderbilt, the year's final game against the Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

. While 50,677 people showed up, by at least one estimate three-fourths of the crowd was Steeler fans
Steeler Nation
Steeler Nation is the unofficial name of the fan base of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers, coined by NFL Films narrator John Facenda in "Blueprint for Victory," the team's 1975 highlights film...

. Oilers' owner Bud Adams
Bud Adams
Kenneth Stanley "Bud" Adams, Jr. is the owner of the Tennessee Titans' National Football League franchise. He was instrumental in the founding and establishment of the former American Football League. Adams became a charter AFL owner with the establishment of the Titans franchise, which was...

 was so disgusted that he ripped up the Memphis agreement a year early in favor of playing at Vanderbilt in 1998.

The stadium’s last major professional tenant to date was the Memphis Maniax
Memphis Maniax
The Memphis Maniax was an American football team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The team was part of the XFL begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major television network in the United States...

 of the XFL
XFL
The XFL was a professional American football league that played for one season in 2001. The league was founded by Vince McMahon, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of WWE...

, a joint venture of NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 and the WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...

. This football league played its games during the spring of 2001. The league folded after television ratings for the games on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 became the lowest for any program in the history of network television. Its many marketing gimmicks aimed at younger audiences alienated older, more financially secure fans who could have supported the league better.

One of the more interesting events held in the stadium was an exhibition baseball game involving the Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers during the 1975 season. The game was sponsored by the Memphis Blues minor league team. The right-field fence was only 174 feet from home plate.

Future

As of 2006, it is considered highly unlikely that there will be an NFL franchise in the stadium or in the city. The stadium is more than adequate for the Tigers, a team which is currently fairly successful playing in one of the larger stadiums in its conference. The AutoZone Liberty Bowl game is well-attended and averages crowds just under stadium's maximum capacity. There are a variety of factors that play into the city’s prospects, including:
  • Memphis, although it is the largest city in the state, is now considered to be in the Titans’ market under the current television agreements in the NFL. Also, while Memphis is the 18th-largest city in the United States, it is only the 44th-largest television market because the surrounding metropolitan area is not much bigger than the city proper. Its per capita income is far less than is customary for a market that is usually under consideration for expansion or relocation of an existing team.
  • The league itself is not in the position to be considering expansion at this time, due to there being a balanced schedule in place. In addition, the city is located within 500 miles of six teams: the Titans, St. Louis Rams
    St. Louis Rams
    The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...

    , New Orleans Saints
    New Orleans Saints
    The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....

    , Dallas Cowboys
    Dallas Cowboys
    The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...

    , Atlanta Falcons
    Atlanta Falcons
    The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

    , and Indianapolis Colts
    Indianapolis Colts
    The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....

    .
  • The city, county and state have already pumped a large amount of capital into several other structures in the city. The Pyramid
    Pyramid Arena
    The Pyramid Arena is a 20,142-seat arena located in downtown Memphis at the banks of the Mississippi River. The facility was built in 1991 and was originally owned and operated jointly by the city of Memphis and Shelby County. Its unique structure plays on the city's namesake in Egypt, known for...

     was completed in 1991 and has already been replaced. FedExForum
    FedExForum
    The FedEx Forum is an arena located in downtown Memphis, Tennessee. It is the home of the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA and the NCAA Division I men's basketball program of the University of Memphis, both of whom previously played home games at the Pyramid Arena...

    , which replaced The Pyramid, and AutoZone Park
    AutoZone Park
    AutoZone Park is a minor league baseball stadium located in downtown Memphis, Tennessee and the home of the Memphis Redbirds of the Pacific Coast League, the AAA affiliate of the St...

     were both completed in the first five years of the 2000s, and neither structure has yet to pay off any funds spent on its construction. The latter cost several times more than has ever been spent on the Liberty Bowl.
  • Finally, the stadium itself is considered obsolete by current NFL standards. It does not have many luxury boxes, and it does have a large number of backless bench seats, both of which are substantial drawbacks. Restroom facilities and concession stands seem relatively antiquated compared to those of newer facilities. The facility itself generally shows the nearly four decades of use and Mid-South weather that it has endured. Perhaps the greatest hindrance is the one thing about its design that originally had made it so attractive to many. The one-deck, open bowl design precludes the construction of true "club seats", the luxury seats located between the main lower and upper decks of most modern football stadiums which are a major source of additional revenues to ownership. Due to the factors listed above, it is highly unlikely that a major upgrade could be performed on the stadium.
  • On January 1, 2007, Mayor Willie Herenton of Memphis proposed a new stadium be built in place of the old one. The future of Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium is currently unclear.

Legacy

Both the annual AutoZone Liberty Bowl game and the stadium bearing its name have been integral parts of the Memphis community for almost four decades, and it can be argued that, unlike the cases of massive amounts that have been spent on many luxurious sports venues for professional sports teams in other cities in recent years, the citizens of Memphis have received a reasonable return on the capital invested in the stadium in the economic activity resulting from all of the events that the stadium has hosted over the years. The failure of the Liberty Bowl to become the long-term host of a successful professional football team has been more a result of the poorly-planned and executed sports leagues that have attempted to operate teams there than any inherent fault in the stadium, which was superior to many hosting major sports teams at the time of its construction, or the Memphis market.

The stadium, despite all its faults, must be deemed to have been largely successful. It has provided the University of Memphis football team with a more-than-suitable home, and the City of Memphis a venue for other large events and an annual attraction that may not be in the top echelon of collegiate sports but nonetheless provides crowds at Memphis hotels and restaurants annually at a time when they would ordinarily be lacking, the last week in December. The Southern Heritage Classic, usually played near the beginning of the football season in September, has become one of the premier events in black collegiate
Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Historically black colleges and universities are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before 1964 with the intention of serving the black community....

 sports and always brings a large crowd (sometimes 60,000 or more). Additionally, the AutoZone Liberty Bowl game has seen some of its best days since playing host to the champion of Conference USA
Conference USA
Conference USA, officially abbreviated C-USA, is a college athletic conference whose member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports...

 beginning in 1997. The 2007 AutoZone Liberty Bowl
2007 Liberty Bowl
The 2007 AutoZone Liberty Bowl, part of the 2007-08 NCAA football bowl games season, was played on December 29, 2007 at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee....

 set an all-time attendance record as 63,816 fans packed the stadium to watch Mississippi State University
2007 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team
The 2007 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team represented Mississippi State University during the 2007 college football season. The team's head coach was Sylvester Croom, who served his fourth season in the position...

 defeat the University of Central Florida
2007 UCF Knights football team
The 2007 UCF Knights football team represented the University of Central Florida in the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Their head coach is George O'Leary...

.

In popular culture

In the SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series, created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg. Much of the series centers on the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the underwater city of "Bikini Bottom"...

episode "Band Geeks", the band led by Squidward Tentacles
Squidward Tentacles
Squidward Quincy Tentacles is a fictional character on the television cartoon series SpongeBob SquarePants. He is voiced by Rodger Bumpass. The character is an octopus, as his name would not imply Squidward appears in 270 episodes of the series, second only to Spongebob's 305.-Personality:Unlike...

 plays at the "Bubble Bowl", during which clips of a Memphis Showboats game (played at the Liberty Bowl) are shown.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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