Why the football stadium in Glendale, Arizona was called the University of Phoenix Stadium


If you've ever been to Glendale, Arizona, I'm sure that you've seen the football stadium where the Arizona Cardinals play. It's big, and you can see it from the freeway. I live in Glendale, and most locals just call it the Cardinals Stadium. As of this writing, January 2021, it's the State Farm Stadium, and when it was built it was called, believe it or not, the University of Phoenix Stadium. I'll see if I can explain.

I'm no expert on football, but I'm an old marketing guy, and I know the importance of getting a company name out there, like on a stadium that millions of people see. It's worth a LOT of money, and companies are willing to pay the big bucks to get their name on a stadium. So when the football stadium here in Glendale was being built, many companies offered bids to get their name on it.

The winning bid was from an online college called the University of Phoenix. This caused some confusion, and a few smiles from people like me, as the stadium was for professional football, and had no connection whatsoever to a University. And besides, the University of Phoenix didn't have a football team - they didn't even have a campus, they were online only. And it gets sillier!

The University of Phoenix Stadium wasn't even in Phoenix, it was in Glendale. OK, to be fair it's all the greater Phoenix metro area, but here in Glendale we have our own mayor, police force, etc., which means that we're our own city. A small detail to people from out of town, but important to us Glendale civic pride folks!

In 2017, the name was changed to State Farm Stadium, which is a little bit better. It didn't cause us locals to start calling it that, we still call it the Cardinals stadium. State Farm, by the way, is an insurance company, and really has nothing to with "states" or "farms".

It is a beautiful building, and I toured it after it was built, but I really have no interest in football, so I've never gone to a game. It's just east of the 101, and I've always love seeing it when I come home from visiting friends in Los Angeles. If you've never seen it IRL (In Real Life) it's worth a look. If there's a game playing, or an event, there's plenty of parking, but it's quite a hike to the stadium. Wear comfortable shoes, and of course a jersey with the name of your favorite player on it.

Thank you for visiting the Cardinals Stadium with me!


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