| Built
in 1965 at a cost of $ 3 million, Memphis
Memorial Stadium was constructed as part
of the city's Mid-South Fairgrounds, and
was initially dedicated to Memphis'
military service veterans. It was
built in part to provide a permanent home
to the Liberty Bowl, a college bowl game
that had moved to Memphis from
Philadelphia (by way of Atlantic City),
and shortly after the first game there the
stadium was rechristened the Liberty Bowl.
With
seating for 50,180 at the time Logan Young
was awarded the USFL franchise for
Memphis, today the facility boasts a
seating capacity of 62,380 thanks to a
1987 expansion. In the early 1990's
this expansion helped facilitate an effort
to get an NFL expansion franchise, and did
help in welcoming the CFL's Memphis Mad
Dogs for a year. The NFL finally
came calling in 1997 when the Houston
Oilers relocated, intending to play two
seasons in Memphis while a stadium in
Nashville was being constructed for them.
Disgusted at the thought that the NFL was
going to Nashville instead of Memphis,
fans stayed away in droves - and after
just a year the Oilers left, moving into
Nashville's Vanderbilt Stadium rather than
play to Memphis crowds that were smaller
than what the Showboats had drawn 15 years
earlier.
On New Years' Day 2007, Memphis mayor
Willie Herenton proposed the Liberty Bowl
be replaced with a new, state-of-the-art
stadium.
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LIBERTY
BOWL |
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Memphis,
Tennessee |
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