Riccardo Silva Stadium is a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

stadium on the campus of

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest uni ...

(FIU) in

Westchester, Florida Westchester is a census-designated place (CDP) and neighborhood in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Prior to the 2020 U.S. Census, neighboring University Park CDP was merged into Westchester CDP, effectively doubling its geography and population. Per ...

. It is home stadium of the FIU Panthers football team and the

Miami FC The Miami FC is an American professional soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 2016 se ...

soccer team from the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

. 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 County Public Schools (M-DCPS) is a public school district serving Miami-Dade County in the U.S. state of Florida. Founded in 1885, it is the largest school district in Florida and the Southeastern United States, and, , the fourth la ...

, Miami-Dade Parks, and the Miami-Dade County Youth Fair. In anticipation of the inaugural

FIU Golden Panthers football FIU Panthers football program represents Florida International University (FIU) in the sport of American football. The Panthers compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the East Di ...

season in fall 2002, the university placed movable

bleachers Bleachers (North American English), or stands, are raised, tiered rows of benches found at sports fields and other spectator events. Stairways provide access to the horizontal rows of seats, often with every other step gaining access to a row ...

around the stadium's

all-weather running track An all-weather running track is a rubberized, artificial running surface for track and field athletics. It provides a consistent surface for competitors to test their athletic ability unencumbered by adverse weather conditions. Historically, v ...

in 2001, which increased the stadium's capacity to 17,000 seats.

Renovation

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. During construction, the 2007 FIU Golden Panthers football team played its home games in the

Miami Orange Bowl The Miami Orange Bowl was an outdoor athletic stadium in Miami, Florida from 1937 until 2008. The stadium was located in the Little Havana neighborhood west of Downtown Miami. The Miami Orange Bowl was considered a landmark and served as the ho ...

. The new facility opened for the first home game of the 2008 football season against the

South Florida Bulls The South Florida Bulls (also known as the USF Bulls) are the athletic teams that represent the University of South Florida. USF competes in NCAA Division I and is a member of the American Athletic Conference for all sports besides sailing, ...

on September 20. The Golden Panthers lost 17–9 in front of a crowd of 16,717. The team won its first game in the new stadium on October 11, 2008, against

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

rival the

Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders are the men's and women's athletic teams at Middle Tennessee State University, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. MT athletic teams participate in NCAA Division I (Bowl Subdivision in football) in Conference USA. MT com ...

, 31–21. The team finished its first season in the new stadium with three wins and two losses. In 2009, the university began the second phase of the stadium expansion, which included the construction of a new football

field house Field house or fieldhouse is an American English term for an indoor sports arena or stadium, mostly used for college basketball, volleyball, or ice hockey, or a support building for various adjacent sports fields, e.g. locker room, team room, coac ...

. 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 Riccardo Silva is an Italian businessman and investor. He is owner of Silva International Investments, which has investments in a range of companies across media, sports, entertainment, art, and real estate. He is also the president and co-own ...

, part owner of

. Before the deal, Silva had donated $3.76 million for various improvements to the stadium including a new playing surface and Jumbotron video scoreboard.

Attendance

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 The Miami Tower is a 47-story, landmark office skyscraper in Miami, Florida, United States. It is located in central Downtown. It is currently the 16th tallest building in Miami and Florida. On April 18, 2012, the AIA's Florida Chapter placed it ...

Downtown Miami Downtown Miami is the urban city center of Miami, Florida. The city's greater downtown region consists of the Central Business District, Brickell, the Historic District, Government Center, the Arts & Entertainment District, and Park West. It ...

was also lit in blue and gold from September 26 to October 1, 2011, in honor of the game. On April 19, Miami FC set a club record for attendance at the stadium. The match against

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

team

Inter Miami CF Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami, known as Inter Miami CF or simply Inter Miami, is an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. Established in 2018, the club began play in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the 2020 ...

in the Third Round of the

2022 U.S. Open Cup The 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was the 107th edition of the U.S. Open Cup, a knockout cup competition in American soccer. After the 2020 and 2021 competitions were suspended and ultimately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the United St ...

drew 11,158 fans.

Renaming

On April 3, 2017, FIU Stadium was renamed Riccardo Silva Stadium. The decision to rename the stadium is in recognition of the support given by Italian businessman

to the FIU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics since 2015. The newly renamed stadium home opener featured a performance by Grammy-nominated Latin star

Maluma Juan Luis Londoño Arias (born 28 January 1994), known professionally as Maluma, is a Colombian singer, songwriter, and actor. Born and raised in Medellín, he developed an interest in music at a young age, recording songs since age sixteen. ...

. Maluma returned to the stadium in April 2018 to record the video for the Spanish-language version of

Jason Derulo Jason Joel Desrouleaux (born September 21, 1989), known professionally as Jason Derulo (; formerly stylized as Derülo), is an American singer and songwriter.

's World Cup 2018 anthem for Coca-Cola.

Structure and facilities

Rossetti Architects ROSSETTI is an architectural design and planning firm headquartered in Detroit, Michigan.Contact
" ROSSETTI. Retrieved on November 16, 2009.

, the stadium has a Panther Club on the ground level, an upper concourse for additional fan seating and concessions, a jumbotron scoreboard, and 19

luxury suites The luxury box (or skybox) and club seating constitute the most exclusive class of seating in arenas and stadiums, and generate much higher revenues than regular seating. Club ticketholders often receive exclusive access to an indoor part of t ...

. 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 Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abso ...

throughout the steel and aluminum stadium. The Rattling of the Cage is done throughout the game, notably while the team is on defense and during cheers. In April 2017 Riccardo Silva Stadium has also seen 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. Riccardo Silva 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 , 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, field house, named for

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

R. Kirk Landon, which includes a weight room. The stadium also includes 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. FIU Stadium, October 13, 2012

Transportation

Miami-Dade Transit Miami-Dade Transit (MDT) is the primary public transit authority of Miami, Florida and the greater Miami-Dade County area. It is the largest transit system in Florida and the 15th-largest transit system in the United States. As of , the system ...

serves Riccardo Silva Stadium with Metrobus lines 8, 11, 24, and 71. Bus lines 8, 11, and 24 connect Riccardo Silva Stadium directly with

and

Brickell Brickell ( ) is a neighborhood in Miami, Florida located directly east of Interstate 95, south of the historic CBD, and north of Coconut Grove. Brickell is known as the financial district in Miami, as well as South Florida. Brickell was founded ...

. For students at the

Biscayne Bay Campus The Biscayne Bay Campus (BBC), located in North Miami, Florida, is a branch campus of Florida International University. With a student body of more than 7,000, it is the largest branch campus in Florida's State University System. FIU's nation ...

, the Riccardo Silva Golden Panther Express offers direct bus service to Riccardo Silva Stadium. Riccardo Silva 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.

Notes

References

External links

FIU Stadium Construction – Official Website

FIU Facilities Planning & Construction Site

FIU Stadium construction history
{{Greater Miami College football venues FIU Panthers football Fort Lauderdale Strikers stadiums CONCACAF Gold Cup stadiums Legends Football League venues Sports venues in Miami American football venues in Florida Soccer venues in Florida 1995 establishments in Florida Sports venues completed in 1995 North American Soccer League stadiums Miami FC