Surf Stadium is a 5,500-seat baseball stadium in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

that opened in 1998 and has been mostly closed since 2009, although some renovation was performed in 2011 and 2012. The stadium was officially renamed as Surf Stadium in April 2012, and hosted a few events in 2012. The stadium was called The Sandcastle until 2006, and has continued to be referred to by that name in some sources. It was built as the home of the

Atlantic City Surf The Atlantic City Surf were a professional minor league baseball team based in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Surf was most recently a member of the Can-Am League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. The Surf played its home games ...

baseball team, which discontinued operations prior to the 2009 season. College and youthBaseball is back at Atlantic City's Surf Stadium with start of Babe Ruth tournament
''

Press of Atlantic City ''The Press of Atlantic City'' is the fourth-largest daily newspaper in New Jersey. Originally based in Pleasantville, it is the primary newspaper for southeastern New Jersey and the Jersey Shore. The newspaper designated market runs from Ware ...

'', Aug. 3, 2012 teams have also used the stadium, and a music concert was held there in 2011. The stadium is located on Albany Avenue, near the eastern terminus of U.S. Routes 40 and

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and several blocks inland from the

Boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway built with wooden planks that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land. They are also in effect a low type of bri ...

and

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live enterta ...

strip. The casinos are visible from the seating areas. Seating is in two primary sections, split by a "cross aisle". Luxury boxes are located above the main seating bowl. It is now the home stadium of the Atlantic Cape Community College Buccaneers baseball team.

History

1998-2008

The stadium, originally known as The Sandcastle, opened in 1998 on a parcel located on the sprawling Bader Field, a closed municipal airport. When the park first opened, the seating sections were named for the various properties on the U.S. version of the

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...

board, which took its names from the streets of Atlantic City and surrounding towns. However, saying "I'm sitting in Pacific Avenue" was not sufficiently descriptive, and so the seating sections were assigned numbers, as at most other stadiums. In 2006, the Bernie Robbins jewelry chain purchased the naming rights and the stadium was renamed as "Bernie Robbins Stadium". Surf Stadium (then known as Bernie Robbins Stadium) played host to the Atlantic League All-Star Game in 1998 and 2005 as well as to various amateur baseball events and concerts. In October 2006, it was the venue for Atlantic regional qualifying for the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 tournament. The tournament was held in Australia from 26 October, culminating in the final b ...

. In May 2008,

WCAU-TV WCAU (channel 10) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Mount Laurel, New Jerse ...

sports director and former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the maj ...

player

Vai Sikahema Vai Sikahema (born 29 August 1962) is a former professional football player and broadcaster, who has served as a general authority seventy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since April 2021. Of Tongan descent, h ...

accepted an open challenge from former

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player

Jose Canseco José Canseco Capas Jr. (born July 2, 1964), nicknamed Parkway Jose, Mr. 40-40 and El Cañonero Cubano (The Cuban Cannon), is a Cuban-American former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and designated hitter. During his time with the Oaklan ...

to fight him in a celebrity boxing match for $5,000. Canseco claims to have earned black belts in

Kung Fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to commo ...

Taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. ...

, and

Muay Thai Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterise ...

, while Sikahema, who grew up wanting to be a professional boxer, had once fought in a National Golden Gloves Championship that was eventually won by

Sugar Ray Leonard Ray Charles Leonard (born May 17, 1956), best known as "Sugar" Ray Leonard, is an American former professional boxer, motivational speaker, and occasional actor. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed professiona ...

. The fight, dubbed the "War At The Shore", took place on July 12, 2008, and was hosted by Philadelphia-native adult film personality Steven Sheaffer. Sikahema won by knockout in the first round.

2009-Present

After the stadium closed, its condition seriously deteriorated due to lack of maintenance and vandalism.Crowds, players long gone from abandoned Atlantic City baseball stadium
''

'', Nov. 28, 2010. However, the abandoned stadium received considerable restoration in 2011 to prepare it to be used as a VIP area for a three-day musical festival headlined by the

Dave Matthews Band Dave Matthews Band (also known by the initials DMB) is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and back ...

that was held at the former Bader Field airport. Most of the improvements focused on repairing the facility's fire-suppression system and plumbing, as well as rejuvenating the field itself. The stadium was used for VIP seating for special ticket holders for the festival, and for a "Summer Fest" concert featuring rapper

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'", in 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war, receiving offers from Diddy's Bad ...

. In April 2012, the stadium was officially renamed as "Surf Stadium",Atlantic City's Sandcastle Stadium Officially Renamed Surf Stadium
''

'', April 12, 2012 and after additional renovation work, a youth baseball league tournament was held there in August 2012.Regional tournament brings baseball back to Surf Stadium
, ''Shore News Today'', Aug. 1, 2012.

References

{{Reflist Buildings and structures in Atlantic City, New Jersey Tourist attractions in Atlantic County, New Jersey Minor league baseball venues Sports venues in Atlantic City, New Jersey 1998 establishments in New Jersey Sports venues completed in 1998 College baseball venues in the United States

History

1998-2008

2009-Present

See also

References