University of Phoenix Stadium, opened August 1, 2006, is a multipurpose football stadium located in Glendale, Arizona, west of Phoenix. It is the home of the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL) and the annual Fiesta Bowl, and replaced Tempe's Sun Devil Stadium as the Valley of the Sun's main outdoor stadium. The stadium is adjacent to the Gila River Arena and it features the first fully retractable natural grass playing surface built in the United States on top of an AirField Systems drainage system. An opening on one side of the stadium allows the playing field to move to the exterior of the building, allowing the entire natural turf playing surface to be exposed to daylight and also allowing the floor of the stadium to be used for any other purpose (such as seating for concerts) without damaging the turf.
The stadium has hosted the Fiesta Bowl, the 2007 BCS National Championship Game, 2011 BCS National Championship Game and 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship a game that it hosted every four years, which set the venue's entertainment attendance record of 78,603 on January 11, 2011, 2008 Super Bowl XLII, 2015 Super Bowl XLIX, the 2015 Pro Bowl, WrestleMania XXVI, and matches from the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup. It will be one of the stadiums for the Copa América Centenario in 2016, and will host the NCAA Final Four in 2017.
The University of Phoenix (UOPX) is an American for-profit institution of higher learning, headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. The university has an open-enrollment admission policy, requiring a high-school diploma, GED, or its equivalent as its criterion for admissions. The university has 112 campuses worldwide and confers degrees in over 100 degree programs at the associate, bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree levels. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Apollo Education Group Inc., a publicly traded (NASDAQ: APOL) Phoenix-based corporation that owns several for-profit educational institutions.
History
The university was founded by John Sperling. Started in 1976, the first class consisted of eight students. In 1980, the school expanded to San Jose, California, and in 1989, the university launched its online program.
In 1994, University of Phoenix leaders made the decision to take the parent company, Apollo Group public. Capital from Wall Street launched the school. Phoenix had more than 100,000 students within the first five years of going public. Growth in the company made John Sperling a billionaire.