Protective Stadium, American football stadium in downtown Birmingham, United States.
Protective Stadium is an open-air American football stadium in downtown Birmingham, Alabama, with an octagonal bowl of uncovered seating and a capacity of about 47,100. Eight massive masts carry the floodlights, and a 44 × 13 m video board stands at the south end zone. The west stand has a lower tier plus a four-story building with 34 suites instead of an upper deck.
The stadium opened on October 2, 2021, replacing the older Legion Field as the main venue for the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers. Construction took about two years and aimed to integrate a modern sports center into the downtown fabric.
The stadium's name comes from Protective Life, a Birmingham insurer holding naming rights through 2034 under a 15-year deal worth $1 million a year. Since 2022 it has also been home to Birmingham Legion FC, whose club-record crowd of 18,418 watched a June 7, 2023 U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal against Inter Miami CF.
The stadium borders the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex in downtown Birmingham, and about 10,000 parking spaces lie within a ten-minute walk. Concourses run all the way around the bowl, with a fan plaza and food and drink stands, and five locker rooms serve the teams. The west stand pairs a lower tier with a four-storey building holding 34 suites and media areas.
In 2022, the stadium transformed into an international stage for the World Games, hosting both opening and closing ceremonies for athletes from 110 countries. This global event brought an unusual variety of sports and cultures to a city better known for football.
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