Tulane
Stadium
Tulane Stadium is remembered as
being the home of the Sugar Bowl but it was also the home of three
Super Bowls.
In the early 1920s in recognition of the Green
Wave's achievements, 6,000 citizens of the area donated $300,000
to construct a football stadium. Named Tulane Stadium, it opened
on October 23, 1926 when Tulane played Auburn. The stadium had a
capacity of around 35,000 with stands on both sides of the
gridiron. The stadium was built on an old plantation where sugar
was first granulated in the United States, thus it became the site
of the Sugar Bowl. Tulane Stadium underwent many renovations
during its existence. In 1937 the north end stands were added
increasing the capacity by 14,000. Two years later the stadium was
double decked increasing the capacity to 69,000. The final
addition came in 1947 when the stadium was enlarged to seat 80,985
fans. Throughout the years improvements at the stadium included
permanent seats, portal seats, scoreboards, and lights.
In 1966, New Orleans was
awarded a NFL franchise, the Saints. The team needed a stadium to
play at so they chose Tulane Stadium as their home. On September
17, 1967 the Saints played their first game at Tulane Stadium
against the Los Angeles Rams. By 1970 talk began about building a
dome stadium near downtown New Orleans. A new stadium for the
Saints, the Superdome, was constructed and built in time for the
1975 NFL season. The Saints played their last game at Tulane
Stadium on December 8, 1974 against the Cardinals. The final game
ever at the stadium was Super Bowl IX in January 1975. Tulane
Stadium was the home of the Tulane Green Wave and the annual Sugar
Bowl game for near a half a century before both were moved to the
Superdome. Tulane Stadium was demolished in 1980 and is now the
site of a recreation and athletic center.
Get Tickets Here:
Falcons-Buccaneers-Saints-Panthers