The Dallas Bandits played in the historic Exxon Oil Bowl at Fair Park from the team's inception in 1947 until 2015. The stadium, built in 1931, had an opening capacity of 90,000, which was expanded to 102,500 by expansions in 1965, 1983, and 1998. Many saw the lackluster amenities as a key factor in the "Fort Worth Scandal."


In 2013, a large group of Fort Worth businessmen set out to claim the Bandits as their own. They made offers regarding the purchase of the franchise to the achronistic engima J. H. Ark. The businessmen wrangled from the city of Ft. Worth a commitment to pay for half of the construction of the Fort Worth Bandits' new home. Counteroffers were made by a sizable cohort of Dallasites to purchase the Bandits and keep the Dallas moniker. Some suburbs marketed themselves as a neutral site for the Texas Bandits. All of North Texas was in an uproar about the name of the team, the stadium, the owner, and how much everyone disliked the Phantoms (though North Texas is always in an uproar about the Phantoms). In January 2014, financially savvy businessman and masterful negotiator J. H. Ark put a deal on the table that pleased everyone involved — and JHA Holding's pocketbook. The city of Dallas would pay for renovations to the Oil Bowl to maintain a professional-football-friendly venue. Dallas and Fort Worth businesspeople would pay for half of the construction of a gargantuan Mecca of football in Fort Worthon the condition that the team would retain the Dallas name. Primetime home games would be played at the Oil Bowl, under the new lights and massive scoreboard (bankrolled by Exxon). All other home games would be played at the new Fort Worth Field on the former site of Farrington Field. Not one red cent left the JHA Holdings treasury in a move that ensured two world-class stadiums for one team.

Nearly three billion dollars were spent in the construction of Fort Worth Field and the renovation of Exxon Oil Bowl. "The Fort," as it is lovingly called, seats a whopping 123,456 people on gameday. Its retractable roof and massive jumbotron along with a tiered seating system means that any seat is a great seat. Fans can stop by one of the three bars to enjoy a drink or grab a bite to eat at Texadelphia, Whataburger, Torchy's Tacos, or Waffle House. Fans can park at one of three team-owned garages or park and ride to the TexRail/Trinity Railway Express station along the back side of the stadium.

The Minnesota Voyageurs began their history playing outdoors at Riverside Stadium along the shores of the Mississippi in Minneapolis. Riverside Stadium was a classic football venue, being a simple bowl that sat just under 50,000. Riverside was a nice stadium for its time, but it became dated as time moved on. The Voyageurs decided that it was time for a new place to call home when Minnesota was announced as a member of the AltFL.

The Voyageurs have been calling Buffalo Wild Wings Stadium home since the 2020 season. BW3 Stadium as it is often referred to by locals, is built in nearby Arden Hills where there was a large plot of land available for development, it is conveniently located about 10 minutes north of both Minneapolis and St. Paul, allowing easy access to fans from all across the Twin Cities. Buffalo Wild Wings paid for the rights to put their name on the new state of the art stadium, B-Dubs is based out of Minneapolis.

The new stadium seats 70,000 and is surrounded by parking lots, this was done to allow for fans to tailgate on game days, turning the area into a party from sunrise to sunset on game days. Much like at Loons games, the environment inside the arena can best be related to that of a college football game with fans having pregamed in the tailgate before enjoying some Grain Belt or Surly once inside. Along with the numerous drink locations, there are also several food and merchandise vendors throughout the stadium. Some of the most popular food items for sale are Juicy Lucy's, Battered Walleye, Brats, and of course the famous $1 hot chocolate available on game days where the temp gets below freezing.

BW3 Stadium was built with an overhang above the bleachers to help with bad weather or the sun on spectators. The center of the stadium is left open though to allow for the cold Minnesota winters to have their impact felt on game day. There were rumors early on of the team potentially moving indoors in downtown Minneapolis into a billion dollar building made of glass, but local scientists said that it would be deadly to local bird species so that idea was scrapped. Fans were not upset by the news though, as many actually find pride in the cold winters we get here in the North Star State.

sportsfan7 wrote:

Associated Press
Nashville, Tennessee

“The warden threw a party in the county jail” sang Elvis Impersonator and Tennessee Copperheads Minister of Culture Rod Blagojevich to kick-off yet another virtual Copperheads press conference. After finishing an average at-best rendition of Jailhouse Rock, Blagojevich ceded the floor to SportsFan7. While an episode of Seinfeld played in the background, the new Copperheads owner, still wearing his signature Copperheads hat and dirty Texas Longhorns polo, began his press conference by complaining that he still hadn’t gotten his Copperheads polo from AltFLShop.com. He eventually moved on to his big announcement, that the Tennessee Copperheads would finally be receiving a new stadium. Images of the proposed stadium, dubbed Prince’s Field after Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack somehow managed to buy the naming rights, were released, and the stadium is expected to be open in time for the 2021 Season.

This will replace the old Nashville Stadium, shown below in images from its opening game. Nashville Stadium was built in 1954 for the then Nashville Copperheads, who played their first few years at Dudley Field, home of the Vanderbilt Commodores and since rechristened Vanderbilt Stadium. Nashville Stadium has drawn the ire of fans since its opening, as the bleacher sections did not connect and there were initially no concourses.

In 1970, the team first petitioned the city for a new stadium, but were turned down and given money to slightly expand the stadium. The stadium was expanded again in 1977, and in 1985 the Nashville city council voted to build the Nashville Coliseum, a domed stadium in downtown Nashville. The Coliseum opened to much fanfare in August of 1988. However, the air conditioning failed on what was an exceptionally hot day in Tennessee, infamously sending 13 people to the hospital with heat stroke, all of whom survived. The official temperature that day was 97, but felt like 105-110 due to the humidity. No official temperature was taken, but estimates say that it felt somewhere around 130 degrees in the Coliseum on that day. This incident led the Copperheads to play the season at Nashville Stadium. The Coliseum was reopened with considerably less fanfare the next year. However, when the team held their first practice there before the Home Opener of the 1989 season, the team staged a strike over the temperature, as it was believed to be roughly 115 degrees inside the Coliseum that day and players claimed the turf was melting, and these reports were confirmed later. This caused the Copperheads to scramble, halting the demolition of Nashville Stadium and playing a third lame duck season there. Instead of fixing the Coliseum, which required almost a complete rebuild to improve ventilation and would’ve nearly doubled the already 150% over-budget price, the city voted to remove 20,000 seats, put in an actual roof and convert it into a concert venue and a hockey arena for a potential AHA expansion franchise. That effort proved futile and today the 57,000 seat Coca-Cola Coliseum remains empty most of the year, save for Vanderbilt-Tennessee basketball games and the occasional concert.

The city also voted to provide more money for renovations to Nashville Stadium to prevent the team from leaving for the suburbs. The team responded by renaming themselves the Tennessee Copperheads and playing one game a year at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis starting in 1992. This arrangement lasted until 2001, when the City of Memphis and the University of Memphis wanted the Copperheads to begin paying their share of the costs associated with renovations. The Copperheads then began playing one game a year in foreign countries, all while receiving money for renovations of Nashville Stadium in 1994, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2017, and continuously threatening to move. These threats involved almost every major city in America, most commonly New York, Houston, Atlanta, and San Francisco. The team also played a game in Jackson in 2004 after a section of the concourse collapsed and a game in Shreveport in 2013 after failing a health and safety inspection. SportsFan7 also announced that every home game this season will be played at Nashville Stadium, in what is dubbed “The 4th Final Season of Nashville Stadium”.

That the new Prince’s Field will be privately funded comes as a relief to taxpayers, who are still footing the bill for every renovation since 2001 as well as the Nashville Coliseum. The final payment on the Coliseum is set to be made in 2035, and the final payment on the loans for the renovations won’t come until 2037. When asked where the money for the estimated $1.3 Billion, 78,000 seat Prince’s Field is coming from, SportsFan7 said that he had picked up a large contract recently, declining to get into any more details. He then turned the podium over to Coach Eli Manning who gave a brief statement that went, “Since watching coach … uh … Cutliffe at Ole Miss, I always knew I wanted to be a coach. Thank you. Oh yeah, I also want to wish Peyton good luck. Little brothers rule! Happy 4th. Go Coppersnakes!”

The future promises to be interesting here in Nashville, with a coach who doesn’t know the name of his own team, a convicted felon singing Elvis Presley jams to set the culture, and a shady 18 year old owner privately financing a stadium sponsored by a local restaurant with only 2 locations.

 
This is Stickman level ridiculous.

Here's the coach

Here's the stadium. An upgrade from the previous "AMD Stadium" but not quite an "AMB" or even "AMA Stadium".

It's Dan O'Mac's time again, apparently. He's announced his coach, stadium and training grounds, so no one really knows why he's out there again.

Well, let me be the first to announce the mascot for their team. For many years, the Emperors have had a pretty lousy mascot. So lousy, I can't even remember his name. Tonight, that changes.

No, no, no, no, no. That's not right at all. She's wonderful and beautiful, but not the new team mascot. That honor belongs to Coogan, named after the bluff overlooking the stadium.

Coogan comes out, lacking his scarf in gray, black and yellow.


Seriously, where's his scarf? Is my PR team a bunch of incompetents? I... I just can't.

Dan wanders off, Coogan the Penguin doing a bunch of promotional stuff, even though it's just reporters that 100% are not reacting to his shenanigans.
 

Last edited by Dan O'Mac (7/01/2020 10:17 pm)