Sahlen's Stadium
 |
|
| Former names | PAETEC Park (2006–2008) Rochester Rhinos Stadium (2008–2009) Marina Auto Stadium (2009–2010) |
|---|---|
| Location | Rochester, New York |
| Owner | City of Rochester |
| Operator | Rochester Soccer Corp. |
| Capacity | 13,768 (2006) |
| Record attendance | 15,404 on 7/20/2011[1] |
| Surface | FieldTurf |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | July 9, 2004 |
| Opened | June 3, 2006 |
| Construction cost | $35 million |
| Architect | Populous |
| Tenants | |
| Rochester Rhinos (USL) (2006–present) Rochester Rhinos Women (WL) (2006–2008) Rochester Rattlers (MLL) (2006–2008, 2011–2014) Rochester Ravens FC (WL) (2009–2010) Western New York Flash (NWSL) (2011–present) |
|
Sahlen's Stadium, formerly PAETEC Park and Marina Auto Stadium, is a soccer-specific stadium in Rochester, New York, US. It is home to the Rochester Rhinos of the USL league, and the Western New York Flash of the National Women's Soccer League. It is also home of the Rochester Rattlers of Major League Lacrosse. The stadium also hosts other sporting events such as collegiate soccer, Rochester Rhinos Elite youth soccer games and practices, American football, field hockey and drum and bugle corps competitions as well as concerts.
Contents
History
The stadium was designed by HOK Sport (now Populous). It was constructed on a filled-in section of the Erie Canal's original routing through Rochester. This was also once the route of the Rochester Subway, which was built in the old canal bed and ended operations in 1956. PAETEC Park was funded jointly by the state of New York, the city of Rochester, and the Rhinos (the State of New York paying $23 million while the Rhinos and the city will pay the remaining amount). Infrastructure improvements will be paid for by the city of Rochester.
The park hit some minor stumbling blocks even before the first shovel hit dirt: the original designs needed to be revised when it was revealed that the playing field was below the water table, and the environmental impact report revealed that the site had pockets of petroleum that needed to be treated.[citation needed] Notwithstanding these roadblocks, ground was broken on July 9, 2004, and Phase One of the construction was completed. The stadium had its grand opening (as PAETEC Park) on June 3, 2006, which featured the Rhinos' first home game of the season. The game was played in front of a capacity crowd of 13,768 fans and ended in a 2–2 draw against the Virginia Beach Mariners.
Naming rights
Naming rights to the park were purchased by PAETEC Communications, a local telecommunications company, in 2004 for a reported total of $23 million over 12 years. However, when the club changed ownership, the agreement was voided at the end of the 2008 season.[2] The stadium then became known as Rochester Rhinos Stadium. In mid-2009, the team had a raffle to determine the naming rights for the stadium. For each $1,000 an individual, group, company, or other entity paid to the Rhinos, they would be given one chance to win the right to name the stadium.[citation needed] On May 30, 2009, the night of the Rhinos' 2009 home opener, Marina Auto Group, a Webster-based automobile dealership group, won the raffle.[3]
The Marina Auto name was retained through 2010 under a traditional naming rights agreement.
On February 10, 2011, it was announced that the new name of the stadium would be Sahlen's Stadium after the deal with Marina Auto expired. This was part of a ten-year naming rights agreement with Sahlen's Packing Company, Inc. of Buffalo, New York. The cost of the agreement was not released, but is estimated at about $2 million.[4]
Events
The Rochester Rhinos and Rochester Rhinos Women soccer teams of the USL First Division and USL W-League, respectively, and the Rochester Rattlers of Major League Lacrosse moved to the facility in 2006. The Rattlers were dissolved following the 2008 MLL season but returned for the 2011 MLL season. The Rochester Rhinos Women dissolved and were replaced by the Rochester Ravens in 2009; the Ravens were replaced by the Western New York Flash in 2011.
PAETEC Park hosted Major League Lacrosse championship weekend in 2007.
On June 5, 2010, the stadium was the site of the first outdoor game in Indoor Football League history as the Rochester Raiders faced off against the Chicago Slaughter.
The Drum Corps Associates drum corps championships were held at the stadium each Labor Day weekend from 2006-2011. The championships will return to Rochester for 2014 and 2015.[5]
U.S Women's Soccer Team at Sahlen's
Prior to Sahlen's being built, Team USA played at Frontier Field and Eunice Kennedy Shriver Stadium
- On September 13, 2006, Team USA played Mexico in an international friendly winning 3-1 in front of 6,784.
- On July 19, 2009, Team USA played Vs. Canada in front of 8,433 winning 1-0 on a goal scored by Rochester native Abby Wambach.
- On September 1, 2012 the US Women's team played an international friendly as part of their 2012 Olympic championship celebration Vs. Costa Rica in front of 13,208 fans winning 8-0.
- On September 18, 2014 Team USA played Vs. Mexico in front of 5,680 fans winning 4-0.
References
- ↑ The homecoming of Rochester native, Abby Wambach, playing with magicJack in a league game against the New York Flash (Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.).
- ↑ http://www.rochesterhomepage.net/story/paetec-park-soon-to-change-names/d/story/hfCnzxqWs06dV6HRAhcBnA
- ↑ Rhinos Stadium Officially Renamed Marina Auto Stadium
- ↑ Sahlen's purchases naming rights for Rochester stadium. Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
- ↑ http://www.dcacorps.org/?p=4292
External links
| Events and tenants | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Home of the Rochester Rhinos 2006 – present |
Succeeded by Current |
| Preceded by | Home of the Rochester Rattlers 2006 – 2008 2011 – 2014 |
Succeeded by BMO Field (as Toronto Nationals) Eunice Kennedy Shriver Stadium |
| Preceded by | Host of Major League Lacrosse championship weekend 2007 |
Succeeded by Harvard Stadium |
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
