The Sun Bowl is an outdoor football stadium in the southwestern United States, on the campus of the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

. It is home to the

UTEP Miners The UTEP Miners is the name given to the sports teams of the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). They are informally referred to as the Miners, UTEP, or Texas–El Paso. UTEP was a member of the Western Athletic Conference from 1967 to 2005, ...

of Conference USA, and the late December college football

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 Subdivi ...

, the Sun Bowl. The stadium opened in 1963 and has a nominal

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 ...

of 51,500, although UTEP currently lists the capacity as 46,670.

History

The stadium, named for the game it hosts, was opened in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

with a

Texas Western The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

win over

North Texas State The University of North Texas (UNT) is a Public university, public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private Normal school, teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 y ...

on September 21. The opening play was a 54-yard touchdown run by Larry Durham of the Miners. The land on which the stadium sits was originally donated by the university to El Paso County, who built the stadium for the school and the Sun Bowl game. Both had previously used

Kidd Field Kidd Field is an athletic facility used primarily by the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in El Paso, Texas. Constructed for its then-primary use as a football field in 1938, it was the site of the Sun Bowl until 1963 when Sun Bowl Stadium ...

, the current

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

venue, which seats 15,000. The city had realized that the game could not expand its audience or the list of teams that it could invite without a bigger stadium, so the Sun Bowl was built in a natural bowl adjacent to the west. It originally sat 30,000, with only the sideline grandstands. The playing field runs nearly north–south (tilted about at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...

of above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

Renovations

The current press box was added in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

, and the stadium reached the capacity of 52,000 in 1982 with the addition of the north end zone stands and the expansion of the east stands. (The south end zone is still vacant, with the ground of the bowl covered with the school's logos.) The school retook control of the land and stadium in 2001, when hundreds of seats were removed as part of a re–configuration of the seating bowl to accommodate soccer, which lowered capacity to its current figure of 51,500. The school's Athletics Director, Jim Senter, announced on April 13, 2018 plans to renovate the Sun Bowl stadium. The $15 million project would include luxury boxes installed in a new press facility, renovation of the concourses and premium seating added on the west side of the stadium. The renovations are projected to be completed in a 16-month timespan.

Notable events

Postseason college football

Sun Bowl

The college football bowl game began in January

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

and moved to the new stadium in December

. All games have been played in El Paso.

All-star game

On February 2, 2007, the stadium hosted the inaugural Texas vs. The Nation all-star college football game; the Nation defeated Texas

Concerts

The Sun Bowl is also a venue for music and other large public events, having hosted concerts by U2,

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

, Pink Floyd, and

Kenny Chesney Kenneth Arnold Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has recorded more than 20 albums and has produced more than 40 Top 10 singles on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs and Country ...

Other events

On February 17, 2016, the stadium hosted festivities and a simulcast of the Mass held by

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

during the pontiff's visit to Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, several miles away across the Rio Grande.

Other tenants

For a short time before moving to

Dudley Field FirstBank Stadium (formerly Dudley Field and Vanderbilt Stadium) 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 Vander ...

, the El Paso Patriots soccer team in the Premier Development League (now known as

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syst ...

) made its home at the Sun Bowl. The Patriots played their final seasons at

Patriot Stadium Patriot Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium located in El Paso, Texas. It was the home stadium of the PDL club, Chivas El Paso Patriots. The stadium replaced Dudley Field FirstBank Stadium (formerly Dudley Field and Vanderbilt Stadium) is ...

Photos

File:SunBowl1.jpg, View from the Durham Center File:SunBowl3.jpg, View from tunnel File:SunBowl4.jpg, View from within the stadium File:SunBowl2.jpg File:UTEPDurhamcenter.jpg, View from northern entrance

References

External links

UTEP Athletics
– Sun Bowl {{Texas college football venues 1963 establishments in Texas American football venues in Texas NCAA bowl game venues Soccer venues in Texas Sports venues completed in 1963 Sports venues in El Paso, Texas Sun Bowl UTEP Miners football venues