The new stadiums that would follow (Veterans Stadium, Royals Stadium, Louisiana Superdome, Olympic Stadium (Montreal), Exhibition Stadium, Kingdome, Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, B.C. Named after the Bengals' founder Paul Brown, the stadium is located on approximately 22 acres (8.9 ha) of land and has a listed seating capacity of 65,515. The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football franchise based in Cincinnati. The Bengals–Browns rivalry, often referred to as the Battle of Ohio, is a rivalry between the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). Crosley Field was on an asymmetrical block bounded by Findlay Street (south), Western Avenue, Dalton Avenue (east), York Street (north) and McLean Avenue (west) in the Queensgate section of the city. Riverfront Stadium quickly earned a place in Cincinnati's century-long baseball tradition as the home of one of the best teams in baseball history. Their only home playoff loss came to the New York Jets. [4] The astroturf panels covering the tracks could be seen in left field during Reds games. Would you like Wikipedia to always look as professional and up-to-date? 60,389 (1992-1999). Longest home run, 473': Mark McGwire, May 5, 2000. The Jehovah's Witnesses hosted three conventions in the stadium, in 1971, 1974 and 1978. The 1999 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 32nd year in professional football and its 30th with the National Football League. Take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat. Place, SkyDome) installed sliding pits as the original layout, and the existing artificial turf fields in San Francisco, Houston, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis would change to the cut-out configuration within the next few years. The Bearcats, led by first-year head coach Watson Brown, participated as independent and played their home games at Nippert Stadium. Multi-purpose stadiums in the United States, Demolished sports venues in the United States, Buildings and structures completed in 1970. Catcher Johnny Bench and first baseman Tony Perez played here. The announcement was made by commissioner Bowie Kuhn. The site on which Riverfront Stadium sat originally included the 2nd Street tenement, birthplace and boyhood home of cowboy singer and actor Roy Rogers, who joked that he was born "somewhere between second base and center field.". 51,500 (1970) The next day’s Enquirer included a response from Mayor Eugene P. Ruehlmann, who called Krabach’s assessment “premature” while at the same time allowing that the Reds might have to wait until July 4 to play a couple of games as “rehearsals” for the July 14 All-Star Game at a partially completed Riverfront before returning to Crosley until Aug. 11. The Dayton Daily News published a spread of six photos showing, among other things, seats being installed in the football configuration and steps leading down to the tunnel from a dugout to a locker room. During the 1988 season as the Bengals were making another Super Bowl run, Riverfront Stadium was nicknamed the Jungle as the Bengals went a perfect 10-0 at home during the regular season and in the playoffs. Despite Cincinnati's love of baseball, it was the prospect of a professional football team that finally moved the city to end 20 years of discussion and build a new stadium on the downtown riverfront. First in 1970 with President Richard Nixon in attendance, and again in 1988. Between 1970 and 1990 Riverfront Stadium hosted 25 University of Cincinnati football games to accommodate higher-caliber visiting teams and local rivals which would overwhelm demand in their usual home, Nippert Stadium (which then could only hold 28,000). This game is best remembered for the often-replayed collision at home plate between Reds star Pete Rose and catcher Ray Fosse of the Cleveland Indians. The New Year’s Eve edition of The Cincinnati Enquirer included a two-photo spread displaying the stadium’s progress in one year. The air temperature during the game was −9 °F (−23 °C) and the wind chill was −59 °F (−51 °C), the coldest in NFL history. Designed by the Atlanta-based architectural firm of Heery-Heery-Alexander-Rothschild Associated Architects, the new facility was projected to consume 48 acres and include 10,000 tons of steel, 13,000 tons of reinforcing steel and 175,000 cubic yards of concrete. Consequently, in its last years, the stadium achieved an openness and a degree of aesthetic appeal that it had lacked for most of its existence. Pete Rose breaks the all-time hit record with number 4,192: September 11, 1985. Riverfront hosted the MLB All-Star Game twice: first on July 14, 1970 with President Richard Nixon in attendance (51,838 total attendance), and again on July 12, 1988 (55,837 attendance). Busch Memorial Stadium, also known as Busch Stadium II, was a multi-purpose sports facility in St. Louis, Missouri, that operated for 40 years, from 1966 through 2005. Continuing to use this site, you agree with this. Today, part of the site is now occupied by Great American Ball Park and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, along with several mixed-use developments and parking facilities. The new stadiums that would follow (Veterans Stadium, Royals Stadium, Kingdome, Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Skydome) would install sliding pits as the original layout, and the existing artificial turf fields in San Francisco, Houston, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis would change to the cut-out configuration within the next few years. The Reds moved to Riverfront Stadium midway through the 1970 season, after spending over 86 years at the intersection of Findlay Street and Western Avenue – the last 57½ of those years at Crosley Field. The new stadiums that would follow (Veterans Stadium, Royals Stadium, Kingdome, Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Skydome) would install sliding pits as the original layout, and the existing artificial turf fields in San Francisco, Houston, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis would change to the cut-out configuration within the next few years. In the 1980s, Riverfront Stadium also hosted University of Cincinnati football games. First rain checks issued: August 30, 1978. Prior to the 2001 baseball season, the stadium was remodeled into a baseball-only configuration, and the artificial surface was replaced with grass. First stadium to display Metric distances on the outfield walls (100.58 meters down the lines, 114.30 to the alleys, 123.13 to center): 1970. Baseball purists disliked Riverfront's artificial turf, but Reds' Manager Sparky Anderson and General Manager Bob Howsam took advantage of it by encouraging speed and line drive hitting that could produce doubles, triples and high-bouncing infield hits. The site on which Riverfront Stadium sat originally included the 2nd Street tenement, birthplace and boyhood home of cowboy singer and actor Roy Rogers, who joked that he was born "somewhere between second base and center field.". Riverfront Stadium's scoreboard was designed by American Sign and Indicator, but in its last years was maintained by Trans-Lux. It will enhance any encyclopedic page you visit with the magic of the WIKI 2 technology. Baseball purists disliked Riverfront's artificial turf, but Reds' Manager Sparky Anderson and General Manager Bob Howsam took advantage of it by encouraging speed and line drive hitting that could produce doubles, triples and high-bouncing infield hits. Between 1970 and 1990 Riverfront Stadium hosted 25 University of Cincinnati football games to accommodate higher-caliber visiting teams and local rivals which would overwhelm demand in their usual home, Nippert Stadium (which then could only hold 28,000). The two schools are separated by less than 3 miles (4.8 km) in Cincinnati, making the archrivalry one of the closest major rivalries in the country. During the mid 1940s discussion began on the possibility of building a stadium along the banks of the Ohio River. After winning two straight, the Bengals faced the expansion Cleveland Browns in the final game at Riverfront Stadium. [5] A variation of this design was also used at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Located on the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati, the stadium was best known as the home of "The Big Red Machine," as the Reds were often called in the 1970s. Riverfront Stadium quickly earned a place in Cincinnati's century-long baseball tradition as the home of one of the best teams in baseball history. Construction began on February 1, 1968, and was completed at a cost of less than $50 million. Riverfront was a multi-purpose, circular "cookie-cutter" stadium, one of many built in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s as communities sought to save money by having their football and baseball teams share the same facility. There was a huge wall in Center Field visible after the renovations, to serve as the batter's eye. Just more than seven months. The win earned the Bengals their first of two trips to the Super Bowl (XVI) while playing at Riverfront. ", Frankford High School's Community Memorial Stadium, First stadium to have its entire field covered by. One feature of Riverfront that distinguished it from other cookie-cutters was that the field level seats for baseball were divided in half directly behind home plate, with the third-base side stands wheeled to left field and the ones on the first-base side remaining stationary for conversion to a football seating configuration. In rudimentary form since 1901, permanent concrete stands were built along each sideline for the 1915 season and as a complete horseshoe stadium since 1924, making it the fourth-oldest playing site and fifth-oldest stadium in college football, respectively. In 2001, to make room for Great American Ball Park, the seating capacity at Cinergy Field was reduced to 39,000. The game became known as the Freezer Bowl and was won by the Bengals over the San Diego Chargers, 27-7. Their divisional opponents are the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers. The win earned the Bengals their first of two trips to the Super Bowl (XVI) while playing at Riverfront. Since starting off as an expansion franchise in the American Football League in 1968, they have appeared in two Super Bowls, but lost both times to the San Francisco 49ers. Great American Ball Park is a baseball stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, which is the home field of Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds. During the Bengals' tenure, they posted a 5-1 record in playoff games played in Riverfront Stadium, with victories over the Buffalo Bills (twice), San Diego Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, and Houston Oilers. The logo the Reds used in 2002 for their final season at Riverfront Stadium/Cinergy Field. Riverfront was a multi-purpose, circular "cookie-cutter" stadium, one of many built in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s as communities sought to save money by having their football and baseball teams share the same facility. 59,754 (1981-1991)[3] The All-Star Game previously had been played in Cincinnati four times, including 1970. In the Reds' final two seasons in the stadium, ongoing construction on Great American was plainly visible just beyond the outfield walls while the team played their games. Despite Nippert being the home field of the Bearcats, for this season the Bearcats played more game at the downtown Riverfront Stadium.