Pizza Hut Park

Pizza Hut Park is a a 21,193 seat stadium, built and owned by the northern Dallas suburb of Frisco in Collin County, Texas. Its primary tenant is Major League Soccer team FC Dallas, which relocated from the Cotton Bowl in central Dallas to the fast-growing suburb. The naming rights to the facility were acquired by the large pizza chain Pizza Hut, whose corporate headquarters are in Dallas.

The stadium, which cost approximately $80 million, opened on August 6, 2005 with a match between FC Dallas and the MetroStars, which ended in a 2-2 draw. The stadium has a permanent seating capacity of 21193, and one end of the stadium, instead of having seats, has a permanent stage for hosting concerts. Like many of the soccer-specific stadiums being built around the country, it is expected that the stadium will make a significant amount of revenue by hosting mid-sized concerts (including George Strait, Rascal Flatts, and EdgeFest), as well as various other sporting events, such as high-school football games. The stadium includes 18 luxury suites as well as a private 6000 square foot stadium club.

The stadium played host to the 2005 MLS Cup final on November 13, seeing the Los Angeles Galaxy defeat the New England Revolution 1-0 in overtime for their 2nd MLS Cup. It was also selected to host the 2006 MLS Cup, won by the Houston Dynamo 1-1 (4-3 pks) in a penalty shootout over the New England Revolution.

The complex also has an additional 17 regulation size, stadium-quality soccer pitches (both grass and artificial turf) outside the main stadium. These fields are used as practice fields by FC Dallas, matches for the FC Dallas reserves squad, and also for hosting youth soccer tournaments and the like. Youth tournaments that have made use of the complexe include Dallas Cup, ODP National Championships, and the USYSA National Championships (summer ’07).

Nicknames for Pizza Hut Park are PHP, the Hut, Meat Lover’s Park (used by opposing fans), and The Brickoven, the former referring to Texas’ summer climate during afternoon games (and since the field is well below ground level).

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