The Gator Bowl was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. Originally built in 1927, all but a small portion was razed in 1994 in preparation for the NFL's

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

' inaugural season; the reconstructed stadium became Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, now

TIAA Bank Field TIAA Bank Field is an American football stadium located in Jacksonville, Florida, that primarily serves as the home facility of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL) and the headquarters of the professional wrestling prom ...

. The old stadium and its replacement have hosted the

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, operated by Gator Bowl Sports. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised natio ...

, a post-season

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 ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

, since its inception in 1946. It also hosted the Florida–Georgia game, an annual

rivalry game between the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

and the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, and was home to several professional sports teams, including the

Jacksonville Sharks The Jacksonville Sharks are a professional indoor football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, playing their home games at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Beginning in 2017, the Sharks began play as charter members of the National Arena Leag ...

and

Jacksonville Express The Jacksonville Express were a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida which competed in the World Football League (WFL) in 1975. They were preceded in 1974 by the WFL's Jacksonville Sharks, though the two teams had s ...

of the

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest t ...

(WFL), the

Jacksonville Tea Men The Jacksonville Tea Men were a soccer team based in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Overall, the Tea Men played a total of four seasons in Jacksonville, first in the major league-level North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1980–1982, ...

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 ...

team, and the

Jacksonville Bulls The Jacksonville Bulls were a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They were members of the United States Football League (USFL) during its final two seasons, 1984 and 1985. They played their home games in the Gator ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

Origins

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 – Lee,

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

and Landon. At the opening of the stadium, Florida Governor

John W. Martin John Wellborn Martin (June 21, 1884 – February 22, 1958) was an American politician who served as the List of Governors of Florida, 24th Governor of Florida, from 1925 to 1929. He also served as Mayor of Jacksonville, Mayor of Jacksonville, Flo ...

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

game. The stadium was expanded to 16,000 seats in 1948, and the structure was renamed the Gator Bowl. Prior to the 1949 game, the

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

was expanded to 36,058, at which it remained until 1957.

College and professional sports tenants

The stadium was home to the

in 1974 and the

in 1975. It was the home of a

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

team, the

from 1981 to 1984 and then a

team, the

from 1984 to 1985. The stadium was the site of the

from 1949 to 1993. It also hosted the annual Florida–Georgia game between the

and the

teams from 1933 to 1993. The

1950 Senior Bowl The 1950 Senior Bowl was a college football exhibition game featuring players from the 1949 college football season and prospects in the 1950 NFL Draft. The inaugural edition of the Senior Bowl was played on January 7, 1950, at Gator Bowl Stadium ...

, the first game in that bowl's history, was also played at the stadium. The Gator Bowl hosted the

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

and 1969 AFL All-Star Games.

The Beatles at the Gator Bowl

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

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

racially segregated Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...

and the Black audience degraded, they refused to play there unless they allowed the audience to be desegregated, as Black folk had the freedom to sit where they liked in Europe.

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

went on record about their disapproval of the situation, and their lack of understanding of segregation in the first place, while

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

said, "We never play to segregated audiences and we aren't going to start now. I'd sooner lose our appearance money."BBC News September 18, 2011-The Beatles banned segregated audiences, contract shows
/ref> After city officials relented, the band played to an integrated audience. The concert was held the day after

Hurricane Dora Hurricane Dora was the first tropical cyclone on record to make landfall over the Atlantic coast of North Florida at hurricane intensity. The sixth tropical storm and second hurricane of the 1964 season, Dora developed from a tropical wave nea ...

struck St. Augustine and Jacksonville; most of Jacksonville was without electricity and power was not restored for several days. Despite the hurricane, 23,000 fans attended, paying $4 and $5 for tickets. During the concert,

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

's drumkit was nailed to the stage because of the 45 mph winds.Orlando Sentinel: September 13, 2004-DM's Beatles forums/The Beatles blew into Jacksonville once, after Hurricane Dora
/ref>

Near-total demolition

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 (known as Alltel Stadium from 1997 through 2006, EverBank Field from August 2010 through June 2018, and

since June 2018). Almost none of the original infrastructure remains, except for the west upper deck (which had been added in 1982) and the ramping system. While Jacksonville Municipal Stadium was being constructed, the Florida–Georgia game alternated between the two schools' home stadiums, with Florida's

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (in full Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium),Sanford Stadium Sanford Stadium is the on-campus playing venue for football at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States (also known as UGA). The 92,746-seat stadium is the tenth-largest stadium in the NCAA. Architecturally, the stadium is kn ...

hosting in 1995. The 1994 Gator Bowl was also held in Gainesville. Both games returned to Jacksonville the following season.

Gallery

File:GatorBowl1948.jpg, View of the audience at the 1948 Gator Bowl File:Aerial View of the Gator Bowl Stadium During Show at the 1954 Game Between Auburn University and Baylor University- Jacksonville, Florida (5296888516).jpg, Aerial view of the 1954 Gator Bowl File:BeatlesJAX.jpg,

performing at the Gator Bowl in 1964. File:GatorBowl1967.jpg, 1965 Gator Bowl

References

{{Senior Bowl navbox Defunct American football venues in the United States Defunct soccer venues in the United States Sports venues in Jacksonville, Florida American football venues in Florida NCAA bowl game venues Demolished sports venues in Florida United States Football League venues Defunct college football venues Defunct college soccer venues in the United States World Football League venues North American Soccer League (1968–1984) stadiums 1927 establishments in Florida 1994 disestablishments in Florida Sports venues completed in 1927 Sports venues demolished in 1994 Jacksonville Bulls stadiums