DRV PNK Stadium (pronounced as Drive Pink Stadium, formerly Inter Miami CF Stadium) is a

soccer-specific stadium Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi-p ...

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

. Built on the site of the former

Lockhart Stadium Lockhart Stadium was a stadium used mostly for soccer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. It was used in a variety of sports, particularly soccer and American football. Originally designed in 1959 for high school sports, the stadium's ...

, the 18,000-seat stadium is the home pitch of

Inter Miami CF Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami, known as Inter Miami CF or simply Inter Miami, is an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. Established in 2018, the club began play in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the 202 ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

and its

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro is a men's professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer. It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and will expand to 28 in 2023. The league comprises 27 reserve sides for MLS club ...

reserve side

Inter Miami CF II Inter Miami Club de Fútbol II, commonly known as Inter Miami CF II, is an American professional soccer club based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that plays in the MLS Next Pro, the third-tier of American soccer. The club was established on F ...

. DRV PNK Stadium opened in 2020 as an interim venue for Inter Miami CF until the completion of the proposed Freedom Park stadium. The stadium is the primary headquarters for the team and its youth academy, in addition to further training grounds.

History

The Fort Lauderdale Strikers announced in 2016 that they were moving out of

, after which the stadium fell into a state of disrepair. In January 2019,

expansion team

announced its intentions to pursue the Lockhart Stadium site to serve as the club's training ground for its first team, youth academy, and future

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019. The Division III league is operated by United Soccer League, the same group that operates the Division II USL Championsh ...

(USL1) team

Fort Lauderdale CF Inter Miami Club de Fútbol II, commonly known as Inter Miami CF II, is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that plays in the MLS Next Pro, the third-tier of A ...

. The Fort Lauderdale city council unanimously approved Inter Miami's bid for the

site in March 2019. In April, the Fort Lauderdale City Commission cleared Inter Miami to begin the demolition process. On July 9, 2019, the Fort Lauderdale City Commission unanimously approved a 50-year lease agreement for the Lockhart Stadium site with Inter Miami; under the terms of the agreement, the city of Fort Lauderdale will retain ownership of the property while Inter Miami will be responsible for the construction, operation, and maintenance of the new facilities. The stadium is intended to be an interim facility for Inter Miami CF until the completion of the proposed Freedom Park stadium in downtown Miami; the expansion franchise was granted on the condition that a stadium eventually be built in downtown Miami. On November 13, 2019, Inter Miami CF announced that the club's inaugural home match would be scheduled for March 14, 2020, against the

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, the MLS season was paused. Fort Lauderdale CF therefore played the first match of the new stadium, a 0–2 loss to

Greenville Triumph SC Greenville Triumph SC is a professional soccer team based in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. The club began play in USL League One in 2019. History The formation of USL D3 was first announced in April 2017, and league officials beg ...

. Inter Miami CF would not play home matches until August 22, 2020, when they beat their in-state rival

Orlando City SC Orlando City SC is an American professional soccer club in Orlando, Florida, that competes as a member of the Eastern Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). Orlando City SC began play in 2015 as the 21st franchise in MLS, succeeding the ...

3–2 in the first MLS match at the stadium. On April 8, 2021, it was reported that Inter Miami CF had reached a

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

agreement with

AutoNation AutoNation is an American automotive retailer based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which provides new and pre-owned vehicles and associated services in the United States. The company was founded by Wayne Huizenga in 1996, starting with twelve Aut ...

; the agreement was officially announced the next day. The stadium is branded as DRV PNK Stadium, a tie-in with AutoNation's

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or ...

awareness campaign.

Soccer

On December 9, 2020, the stadium hosted its first international match between the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

and

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by ...

; the United States won 6–0. During the

2021 MLS season The 2021 Major League Soccer season was the 26th season of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. The 2021 season included the addition of Austin FC as an expansion club, which took the ...

CF Montréal CF Montréal is a Soccer in Canada, Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Montreal, Montréal, Québec, Canada. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. Found ...

used the stadium to play their home matches since the start of the season after travel restrictions prevented the team from playing their matches in Montreal.

Notable matches

American football

DRV PNK Stadium has also hosted American football games, including the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

spring game, and the

Florida High School Athletic Association The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) is an organization whose purpose is to organize sports competition for high schools in Florida. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Florida uses ...

state championships.

Transportation

DRV PNK Stadium is located near

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadi ...

at its junction with Commercial Boulevard (State Route 870) in Fort Lauderdale. The stadium has three designated parking lots for pre-purchased ticketholders and an additional lot for other visitors. The nearest

Tri-Rail Tri-Rail is a commuter rail line linking Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach in Florida, United States. The ''Tri'' prefix in the name refers to the three counties served by the railroad: Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade. Tri-Rail ...

commuter rail station is Cypress Creek, but additional nighttime train service is not provided for Inter Miami CF matches. In April 2022, Inter Miami CF announced a partnership with

Brightline Brightline (reporting mark BLFX) is an inter-city rail route between Miami and West Palm Beach, Florida that runs on track owned by Florida East Coast Railway. Brightline is the only privately owned and operated intercity passenger railroad ...

to provide passenger trains from Miami and West Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale station with a dedicated shuttle for fans. The service, named the GOOOL Getter, will have three round-trips before and after home matches.

References

External links

* {{USL League One venues 2020 establishments in Florida Buildings and structures in Fort Lauderdale, Florida Major League Soccer stadiums Soccer venues in Florida Sports in Fort Lauderdale, Florida Sports venues in Broward County, Florida Tourist attractions in Fort Lauderdale, Florida Sports venues completed in 2020 American football venues in Florida