Independence Stadium is an outdoor

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

. Formerly known as State Fair Stadium and Fairgrounds Stadium, the municipally owned stadium is the site of the annual

Independence Bowl The Independence Bowl is a post-season National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-sanctioned Division I college football bowl game that is played annually each December at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Independence Bow ...

post-season

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

game, first held in

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

as the ''Bicentennial Bowl''. It was also the home venue of the

Shreveport Steamer The Shreveport Steamer were a professional American football team in the World Football League. The franchise began the 1974 season in Houston, Texas, as the Houston Texans (no connection to the current NFL team of the same name), playing the ...

of the short-lived

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 in sports, 1974 and most of its second in 1975 in sports, 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a w ...

from 1974 to 1975 and the

Shreveport Pirates The Shreveport Pirates were a Canadian Football League team, playing at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States. They were established in 1994 as part of the CFL's expansion into the United States and disbanded upon the ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

from 1994 to 1995. The stadium is also host to numerous high school football games and soccer matches, since many schools in Shreveport lack an on-campus facility. Independence Stadium also hosted the LHSAA state football championship games in 2005 after the

Louisiana Superdome Caesars Superdome (originally Louisiana Superdome and formerly Mercedes-Benz Superdome), commonly known as the Superdome, is a domed multi-purpose stadium in the Southern United States, southern United States, located in New Orleans, Louisiana. ...

suffered heavy damage from

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

. The stadium also hosts concerts and other events.

History

The stadium first opened in 1924, and hosted the annual

Arkansas–LSU football rivalry The Arkansas–LSU football rivalry, formally known as the Battle for the Boot but more recently sometimes informally called the Battle for the Golden Boot, is an American college football rivalry between the Razorbacks of the University of A ...

as a neutral site that year. The game featured a silver football trophy as part of the dedication ceremonies for the new stadium. It would host the game again several times until 1936. From 1978 to 1983, Independence Stadium was home to the city's two teams in the

American Football Association American Football Association may refer to: * American Football Association (1884–1924), the first attempt in the United States to form an organizing association football body * American Football Association (1977–1983), a minor profession ...

, the Shreveport Steamer (with naming rights purchased from the defunct WFL team) and the Shreveport Americans. It hosted the AFA's first championship game, 1978's American Bowl I, which the Steamer won 17–14 over the San Antonio Charros. In 2001, Independence Stadium hosted the inaugural year of the annual Port City Classic—an NCAA college football competition featuring

Southern University Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a Public university, public historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. It i ...

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

—in an effort to revive the old

State Fair Classic The State Fair Classic (formerly known as the Southwest Airlines State Fair Classic, for sponsorship purposes) is an annual college football game between the Grambling State University Tigers and the Prairie View A&M University Panthers of t ...

game. The

classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of Masterpiece, lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or Literary merit, highest quality, class, or rank – something that Exemplification, exemplifies its ...

spun-off separately from the fair the following year and became an early September game. Eventually it also hosted a contest between

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public university, public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and Carnegie Classification of Institu ...

of Ruston and

Grambling State University Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana, United States. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African ...

Grambling Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana, United States. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African A ...

. Independence Stadium was considered as a possible playing site for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

during the 2005

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

season due to

, but Shreveport eventually lost out to the

Alamodome The Alamodome is a 64,000-seat domed indoor multi-purpose stadium in San Antonio, Texas. It is located on the southeastern fringe of downtown San Antonio. The facility opened on May 15, 1993, having been constructed at a cost of $186 milli ...

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, Texas, and

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

's Tiger Stadium in

. However, Independence Stadium eventually was chosen to host the Saints' first preseason home game for the 2006 season while the

prepared for its grand re-opening.

Field Turf FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by FieldTurf Tarkett, a division of French company Tarkett. FieldTurf is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and its primary manufacturing facility ...

was installed as the stadium's playing surface in 2010. It had been natural grass before that from the opening of the stadium. In 2010, a Texas

University Interscholastic League The University Interscholastic League (UIL) is an organization that creates rules for and administers almost all athletic, musical, and academic contests for public primary and secondary schools in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the largest organ ...

playoff game was played featuring Mesquite Horn high school and the technical host Longview. Longview won, 28–14. The first time Texas teams met in Louisiana for a playoff game was in 2006 when

Texas High School Texas High School (THS) is a public high school in Texarkana, Texas, United States. It is part of the Texarkana Independent School District and is classified as a 5A school by the University Interscholastic League. For the 2021–2022 school ye ...

from Texarkana topped Dallas Highland Park with quarterback

Ryan Mallett Ryan Michael Mallett (June 5, 1988 – June 27, 2023) was an American professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the New England Patriots, Houston Texans, and Baltimore Ravens. Mallett played college ...

. That game also was hosted at Independence Stadium.

References

External links

Independence Stadium
{{Music venues of Louisiana Independence Bowl College football venues in Louisiana NCAA bowl game venues Canadian Football League venues Canadian football venues in the United States Sports venues in Shreveport, Louisiana Soccer venues in Louisiana High school football venues in Louisiana High school football venues in the United States Music venues in Louisiana Shreveport Pirates Shreveport Steamer Sports venues completed in 1924 1924 establishments in Louisiana

History

See also

References

External links