Tulane Stadium

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Tulane Stadium was an outdoor football stadium located in New Orleans, Louisiana from 1926 to 1980. Officially known as the Third Tulane Stadium, it replaced the "Second Tulane Stadium" where Telephone Exchange Building is now located ^[2]. It was bounded by Willow and Calhoun Streets, Audubon Boulevard, and North Claiborne Avenue.

The stadium was opened in 1926 with a seating capacity of roughly 35,000. Tulane Stadium was built on Tulane University's campus (before 1871, Tulane's campus was Paul Foucher's Plantation, where Foucher's father-in-law, Etienne de Bore, had first granulated sugar from cane syrup).

In 1935, the first Sugar Bowl was played in Tulane Stadium. The term "Sugar Bowl" had been coined by Fred Digby, sports editor of the New Orleans Item, who had been pushing for an annual New Year's Day football game since 1927.^[3]

Since the institution of the annual Sugar Bowl game, Tulane Stadium itself was often informally referred to as "the Sugar Bowl". It was also billed as "The Queen of Southern Stadiums". It was in a portion of Tulane University's main campus in Uptown New Orleans fronting Willow Street, with parking stretching to Claiborne Avenue. The original 1926 structure was mostly of brick and concrete. The first Sugar Bowl game was played on January 1, 1935 (Tulane vs Temple University).

The stadium was eventually expanded to seat up to 80,985 fans. The additional seating sections were metal. Lights were installed in 1957. The record attendance for the stadium was set on December 1, 1973, when 86,598 watched Tulane defeat in-state rival LSU 14-0, ending a 25-year winless streak for the Green Wave against the Bayou Bengals. It was the last installment of the LSU-Tulane rivalry played on the Tulane campus.

Tulane's final game on campus came 364 days later, a 26-10 loss to Ole Miss on a miserably cold afternoon November 30, 1974. One month later, Nebraska won the final college game in the stadium, defeating Florida 13-10 in the Sugar Bowl on December 31.

In addition to hosting Tulane University football games and the Sugar Bowl, the stadium was also home to the National Football League's New Orleans Saints from 1967 through 1974. The Saints' first game was a 27-13 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on September 17, 1967, although New Orleans provided fans with a memorable highlight when John Gilliam returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown. The Saints won their last game in the stadium, 14-0 over the St. Louis Cardinals on December 8, 1974.

Tulane Stadium was the site of Super Bowl IV, Super Bowl VI and Super Bowl IX. Super Bowl IX was the last professional league game ever played at the stadium.

Aside from the various bowls, the most memorable moment at the stadium might have been the Saints victory over the Detroit Lions on November 8, 1970. Prior to 1974, in the NFL the goal posts were on the goal line instead of the end line. With seconds remaining, the Saints attempted a place kick with the holder spotting at the Saints' own 37 yard line. Kicker Tom Dempsey nailed the 63-yard field goal with a couple of feet to spare, and the Saints won the game 19-17, one of only two games the Saints won that year. That record would stand alone for 28 years before it was tied by Jason Elam of the Denver Broncos.

In 1975, the day the new Louisiana Superdome was opened, Tulane Stadium was condemned. Upon appeal by the University, the older concrete and brick section was deemed fit to use, but not the newer metal seating section. The stadium then continued in more limited use for five years with the smaller seating area, used for football practice, high-school games, and other smaller events. The Denver Broncos used Tulane Stadium as its practice facility prior to Super Bowl XII, the first Super Bowl played in the Superdome.

The last game played in the stadium was a game between New Orleans Catholic League rivals De La Salle High School, located less than two miles from the Tulane campus, and Archbishop Rummel High on November 1,1979. The last point scored in Tulane Stadium History was by Rummel High placekicker Gary Boudreaux.

On November 2, 1979, Tulane President Sheldon Hackney announced that the stadium would be demolished. The demolition started on November 18, 1979 and ended in 1980. The site is currently home to the Aron and Willow student housing complexes, the Diboll parking structure, the Reily Student Fitness Center and Brown Quad, a Fieldturf quad that roughly occupies the site of the football field.

Tulane Stadium was the first stadium to be demolished which hosted a Super Bowl. The second was Tampa Stadium, which was razed in 1999 when Raymond James Stadium was completed.

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Coordinates: 29°56′34″N, 90°7′3″W