College football bowl season adds to events in unique settings

The 2023 school football bowl season has arrived which implies we’ll see prime matchups in unique settings.

Similar to final 12 months, there will likely be 4 bowl video games held in baseball stadiums: Chase Field (Arizona Diamondbacks), Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox), Petco Park (San Diego Padres) and Yankee Stadium (New York Yankees).

The Kansas Jayhawks and UNLV Rebels will play at Chase Field in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. Petco Park will host the DIRECTV Holiday Bowl between the No. 15 Louisville Cardinals and USC Trojans.

The Wasabi Fenway Bowl at Fenway Park is between the No. 24 SMU Mustangs and the Boston College Eagles. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights and Miami Hurricanes will face off at Yankee Stadium in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl.

Bowl video games in unique places is nothing out of the odd, however they do not occur usually in different sports activities. Here’s a have a look at events that passed off in an uncommon venue:

College football

The Tennessee Volunteers and Virginia Tech Hokies matchup in 2016 passed off on the Bristol Motor Speedway. Josh Dobbs and the Volunteers dominated for a 45-27 victory in a sport nicknamed the “Battle at Bristol.” The sport broke the document for the biggest crowd to ever watch a school football sport, with 156,990 followers in attendance.

NBA

From 2008 to 2010, the NBA held preseason video games on the Indian Wells tennis court docket in California. The Phoenix Suns performed three straight preseason matchups there, debuting the venue in opposition to the Denver Nuggets.

Weather all the time appeared to be an element through the video games. The first matchup was marred by winds, whereas the finale had 90 diploma temperatures. Stephen Curry performed in the 2009 version as a rookie in a sport the Golden State Warriors gained 104-101.

College volleyball

A sea of purple in Nebraska

On Aug. 30, the University of Nebraska hosted Omaha at Memorial Stadium, with 92,003 followers in attendance. This obliterated the prior document for an NCAA volleyball match (18,755). It additionally set a brand new document for attendance at a ladies’s sports activities occasion (beforehand held by a Champions League match in Barcelona).

“It’s unimaginable. I don’t have enough words to describe it,” Nebraska center blocker Andi Jackson instructed ESPN’s Michael Voepel. “We were walking out of the tunnel after the second set, and we heard on the speaker we had just broken the world record. Everyone was trying to stay locked in, but we were also so excited. I can’t describe how grateful I am to be a part of it.”

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Nebraska volleyball units document with over 92,000 followers in attendance

Nebraska volleyball fills the football stadium with 92,003 followers to set a document for largest crowd at a ladies’s sporting occasion.

WNBA

Liberty Outdoor Classic

Months earlier than the Suns performed at Indian Wells, the WNBA hosted a daily season sport at one other tennis stadium — Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York City. The Indiana Fever defeated the New York Liberty 71-55 on the 23,771-seater.

Hoops at Radio City

While Madison Square Garden hosted the 2004 Republican National Convention, the Liberty performed six video games at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. Fans might watch just one facet of the court docket, however it’s remembered as one of many extra fascinating setups.

On at the present time in 2004, the @nyliberty performs its first of 6 house video games at Radio City Music Hall 🎶#CountIt pic.twitter.com/Gx7ZCNnw5x

— WNBA (@WNBA) July 24, 2021

Tennis

Federer and Agassi attain new heights

Tennis went to one other stage in 2005 with Roger Federer and Andre Agassi enjoying on a helipad in Dubai. Federer and Agassi hit for 20 minutes on the Burj Al Arab resort helipad, which is sort of 700 ft above sea stage.

Rallying on water

To promote a 2011 tennis event in Qatar, Federer and Rafael Nadal hit tennis balls on a court docket floating on water. Though it wasn’t an official match, Federer and Nadal might solely carry out volleys with the water at ankle stage.

College basketball

Carrier Classic

In 2011, the Michigan State Spartans confronted the North Carolina Tar Heels on the USS Carl Vinson in San Diego. President Barack Obama attended the sport, sitting courtside and assembly with Tom Izzo and Roy Williams after the Tar Heels gained 67-55.

USS Abraham Lincoln sport

Michigan State returned to one other plane provider in 2022, enjoying in opposition to the Gonzaga Bulldogs on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in the San Diego Bay. It was performed 11 years to the day of the unique Carrier Classic, and included a crowd of largely sailors from the provider. The Bulldogs defeated the Spartans 64-63.

Crossover at Kinnick

In October, the Iowa Hawkeyes confronted the DePaul Blue Demons at Kinnick Stadium in a historic sport. Home to the Hawkeyes football workforce, a basketball court docket was positioned close to the endzone on one facet of the sector.

Iowa and Caitlin Clark defeated DePaul in entrance of 55,646 followers, a brand new ladies’s school basketball attendance document.

This is 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/nWcRnw2RT4

— Iowa Women’s Basketball (@IowaWBB) October 15, 2023

NHL

Lake Tahoe Doubleheader

There might not be knowledgeable league that makes use of unique venues as a lot because the NHL, which has the Winter Classic, Heritage Classic and Stadium Series. In February 2021, the NHL held back-to-back video games throughout two days subsequent to Lake Tahoe in California.

The first sport with the Las Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche had an eight-hour delay between the primary and second interval due to poor ice situations from the sunshine. The begin time of the second sport between the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins was pushed hours forward to keep away from any points with the ice.

It’s nearly time for #NHLOutdoorsAfterDark… 🌄@GoldenKnights vs. @Avalanche at MIDNIGHT on @NHLonNBCSports and @Sportsnet. pic.twitter.com/SHEbZE5jWp

— NHL (@NHL) February 21, 2021

Missin’ this. 😍#NHLOutdoors pic.twitter.com/BpUc8wWAu0

— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) February 27, 2021

A sport at Caesar’s Palace… kinda

In 1991, the NHL held a preseason sport between the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers in the car parking zone of Caesars Palace.

Temperatures reached 85 levels, nearing a sport cancellation because the ice started to soften when the tarp was eliminated. But it was salvaged by Zamboni work and the Kings gained 5-2 in a sport that featured Wayne Gretzky.

Prison sport

The first ever NHL out of doors sport passed off on Groundhog Day in 1954 at an unlikely spot — Marquette Branch Prison, a most safety facility in Michigan, between the Detroit Red Wings and inmates.

Red Wings normal supervisor Jack Adams and ahead Ted Lindsay visited the jail months earlier than on a promotional journey. The warden requested Adams if he’d convey the Red Wings to play in the jail yard. Adams did some extra visiting and speaking forwards and backwards, in accordance to Lindsay, earlier than agreeing to play the sport months later.

It wasn’t a lot of a contest — by the top of the primary interval, Detroit had an 18-0 lead. At the top of the sport, the Red Wings have been awarded a “honey bucket,” which serves as a rest room in jail.

MLB

Field of Dreams

The first version of the “Field of Dreams” sport in August 2021 lived up to all of the hype.

Held on a ballpark close to the well-known set of the 1989 movie, the Chicago White Sox defeated the New York Yankees 9-8 after a stroll off house run. Actor Kevin Costner led the gamers out on the sector after strolling by a cornfield.

This entrance is every part. #MLBatFieldofDreams pic.twitter.com/ve6Q0Rmuff

— MLB (@MLB) August 12, 2021