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BREAKERS
TRIVIA |
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| The
Breakers are the only team in major professional
sports history to play three full seasons in
three different cities, one in each location. |
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| As
the team was located in cities near sources of
open water (the Atlantic Ocean in Boston, the
Gulf of Mexico in New Orleans, and the Pacific
Ocean in Portland), it kept the Breakers name
throughout its existence. |
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| When
the team relocated to New Orleans for 1984,
there were frequent unsolicited suggestions from
fans to rename the team, redubbing it "New
Orleans Pelicans" or "New Orleans
Navigators." |
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9 8 3 B O S T O N
B R E A K E R S |
| Built
in 1915 as a home for the Boston Braves
National League baseball team, when the
team moved to Milwaukee the stadium was
purchased by Boston University. In
1955 renovated the facility two years
later, renaming it for William E.
Nickerson, a member of BU's Board of
Trustees.
The
home of the Boston Patriots during their
first four years, the site was seen as
inadequate then let alone by the time the
USFL and the Boston Breakers came along.
Boston University's modifications to the
facility had reduced seating capacity to
just over 20,000, and Breakers partners
George Matthews and Randy Vataha's
decision to sell the team after the 1983
season was largely based in their
inability to secure use of a bigger,
better facility for home games.
Today the facility is even smaller, as
further modifications have reduced seating
capacity to just over 9,000.
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NICKERSON
FIELD |
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Boston,
Massachusetts |
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1
9 8 4 N E W O R L
E A N S B R E A K E R S |
The
home of more Super Bowls (XII, XV, XX,
XXIV, XXXI and XXXVI) was built in the
early 1970's thanks in part to the man who
later would bring the USFL to life - David
Dixon. Hosting exhibition games at
Tulane Stadium in an effort to lure an NFL
expansion team to New Orleans, NFL
commissioner Pete Rozelle advised Dixon
the NFL would never move into the city
without a domed stadium. Dixon
enlisted the support of Louisiana Governor
John McKeithen, and five years later
construction began.
With a 1984 seating capacity of 72,675 and
the ability to seat 72,003 today, the
Louisiana Superdome was, at the time of
its construction, the world's largest
domed structure. Placed on 52 acres
of land, the top of the dome stands 253
feet above ground level.
In
addition to serving as the home of the New
Orleans Breakers of 1984, six Super Bowls
and the NFL's New Orleans Saints, the
Louisiana Superdome has been used as a
mass shelter from those unable to evacuate
from the area during hurricanes, most
notably in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina.
While the hurricane peeled parts of the
roof off of the structure causing millions
of dollars in damage and requiring a year
of extensive renovations, the facility
re-opened for football on September 25,
2006. |
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LOUISIANA
SUPERDOME |
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New
Orleans, Louisiana |
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1
9 8 5 P O R T L A N D B R E A K
E R S
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Built
in 1926, Civic Stadium in Portland was the home of the
USFL's Portland Breakers in 1985, but that wasn't the
first pro football team to call the stadium home.
The Portland Storm/Thunder of the World Football League
had previously occupied the facility, which seated
32,500 during the era.
Today Civic Stadium has a new name (PG&E Stadium)
and a new purpose, serving as the home stadium for the
Portland Beavers AAA baseball team. Reconfigured
several years ago, seating capacity for the facility has
been reduced substantially, down to 19,566, and today
would likely not be considered suitable for any pro
football purpose.
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CIVIC
STADIUM |
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Portland,
Oregon |
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