Movable seating

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Movable seating is a feature of some modern stadiums, often known as convertible stadiums, or moduable stadiums. It allows for the movement of parts of the grandstand to allow for a change of the playing surface shape. This allows games that use various shaped playing surfaces such as an oval field, for cricket and/or Australian rules football; or a rectangular field, for football (soccer), rugby league, rugby union, American football and/or Canadian football; or a diamond field, for baseball; to be played in the same stadium. This is particularly useful in Australia and the United States, where sports in general are very popular, and many different playing surfaces are used. The process of conversion from one form to another is time consuming - depending on the stadium it can take from 8^[1] to 20^[2] hours. Many stadiums were built in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s to host both baseball and American football.

[edit] Stadiums with movable seating

ANZ Stadium with seats arranged in its oval configuration (for Australian rules football and cricket). The seats in the centre of the picture can be moved closer to the field, to create a rectangular configuration (suitable for football (soccer) and the rugby codes).

• Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, opened in 1975, and has four movable sections allowing it to be reconfigured for baseball, (American) football, soccer, or concerts. However, the stadium managers permanently locked the stands in the football configuration effective in 2007, citing maintenance costs for the equipment used to move the sections.
• ANZ Stadium (formerly Stadium Australia, then Telstra Stadium) was the Olympic Stadium at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Between 2001-2003 it was re-configured and the movable seating was implemented. ^[1]
• Dolphin Stadium in Miami, Florida, USA, home of the Miami Dolphins (National Football League) and Miami Hurricanes (NCAA football), has a movable stand to accommodate the Florida Marlins (National League).
• Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA also features movable seating, with layouts for the Minnesota Twins (American League) and for its two football tenants, the Minnesota Vikings (NFL) and Minnesota Golden Gophers (NCAA). It has also hosted NBA and college basketball games as well as soccer events. However, new stadiums for both the Twins and Gophers are currently under construction.
• McAfee Coliseum in Oakland, California, USA is the home venue for the Oakland Raiders (National Football League) and Oakland Athletics (American League).
• Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California, USA, was formerly shared by the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball, the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League, and a local college football team, the San Diego State Aztecs, and thus had movable seating. The Padres moved to PETCO Park in 2004, leaving football as the only major sport played in Qualcomm Stadium.
• Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C., USA used movable seating to accommodate two different pairs of teams:
  • Starting in 1962, the year after the stadium opened, the NFL's Washington Redskins and the second incarnation of the Washington Senators (American League) shared the stadium until the Senators moved to the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex in 1971. During this time, several different soccer teams also used RFK in its (American) football configuration.
  • The Washington Nationals (National League) and D.C. United (Major League Soccer) shared the stadium from 2005 until 2008, when the Nationals moved to a new stadium.^[3]
• Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada has separate layouts for the Toronto Blue Jays (American League) and the Toronto Argonauts (Canadian Football League). The Buffalo Bills (NFL) now play one regular-season home game there every year, using the CFL configuration.
• Saitama Super Arena in Saitama City, Saitama, Japan has separate layouts for an Arena type seating for Basketball and Hockey, to a Stadium-like seating for Soccer, American Football, and concerts. This is possible because of a large movable block.
• Stade de France in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, France was built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. It has a movable stand which covers an athletics track. ^[2]
• Telstra Dome (formerly Colonial Stadium, Docklands Stadium) in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia was completed in 2000. Features such as movable seating and a closable roof allow for the venue to host many sports and entertainment events. ^[4] It is also the first stadium in Australia to have this feature.

[edit] Proposed stadiums with movable seating

• The Major Stadia Taskforce, in Western Australia has released its report on proposed stadia in Perth, Western Australia, of which the major recommendation is for a multi-purpose stadium with movable seating.

[edit] Former stadiums with movable seating

• Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado, USA, added a large movable stand in a 1977 expansion project. A hydraulic process allowed the stadium to change from a football to a baseball configuration in about two hours. The longtime home of the NFL's Denver Broncos, it became the original home of baseball's Colorado Rockies in 1993. The Rockies drew all-time MLB record crowds in their first two seasons before leaving Mile High for their new Coors Field in 1995. Mile High was torn down after its football-only replacement, INVESCO Field at Mile High, was opened in 2001.

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} Telstra Stadium - Reconfiguration.
2. ^ ^{a b} State de France - Key figures.
3. ^ Johnson, Chuck (2005-01-25). Nationals rounding third, heading home. USA Today. Retrieved on 2006-08-11.
4. ^ Telstra Dome Fact Sheet.