Protective Stadium – stadium description

The multi-purpose stadium is located in the center of Birmingham, Alabama. It was built within the boundaries of the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex. The venue is home for UAB Blazers (football) and Birmingham Legion FC (soccer).

The present name of the facility is valid until 2034. This is the result of an agreement concluded on April 11, 2019, with Protective Life Corporation. The arena was funded by Birmingham City Council, The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), and the uni's corporate partners.

Preparatory work on the construction site began in 2018. On September 18, 2019, Populous presented the final design of the stadium. On December 20, 2019, Brasfield & Gorrie signed a general contracting agreement. Construction work commenced in early 2020 and ended in the second half of 2021. On October 2, 2021, the venue opened. On that day there was a game of the local college football team.

The architecture of the facility refers to the industrial traditions of the city. Thanks to this, the stadium fits well with the surrounding buildings. Protective Stadium does not have a roof over the stands. The lighting is placed on massive steel frames around the stands. The venue stands out with one of the largest scoreboards in college football (44 m x 13 m). It is located at the entrance on the south side, and it can be said that it welcomes fans.

The west stand consists of a lower tier and a superstructure instead of the upper tier of the regular stands. The four-story superstructure includes boxes (537 seats), media zones and most of the back-up facilities. On the eastern side, there are two tiers of the stands and only one level of the auditorium behind both end zones. The lower bowl of the stands on the eastern and western sides consists of 33 rows. The corners on the east side are taller than those on the west side.

The auditorium has a capacity of 42,000 “physical” seats, although the stadium can accommodate 3,000 fans more. This is due to the fact that some zones of the arena are not included in its capacity. This applies to grassy areas behind the end zones as well as club and deck areas.

Supporters have at their disposal a spacious plaza and a 360-degree concourse around the stadium. There are 34 boxes for fans who value comfort. Football and soccer players have access to 5 dressing rooms. The facility covers an area of more than 77,000 square meters. There are 10,000 parking spaces only a 10-minute walk from the stadium.