Infinity Park
Infinity Park is a stadium in the Denver enclave of Glendale, Colorado, and was formerly the unofficial home venue of the United States national rugby union team. The stadium has a seating capacity of 5,000 people. It opened in 2007, at a cost of $22.5 million.[1] It is the first rugby-specific, municipally-owned stadium in the United States.[2][3]
Address | 4500 E. Kentucky Ave. Glendale, CO United States |
---|---|
Coordinates | 39.6992°N 104.9349°W |
Owner | City of Glendale |
Capacity | 5,000 (rugby) |
Field size | 100 x 68 m |
Surface | Grass |
Opened | 2007 |
Tenants | |
American Raptors (SRA) (2023–present) Glendale Merlins (2007–present) Denver Barbarians (PRP) (2014–present) Denver Stampede (PRO) (April – May 2016) | |
Website | |
infinityparkatglendale.com/stadium |
Infinity Park is the venue for several domestic rugby union teams. The field is home to the Glendale Merlins, a Division I men's rugby team that have won the national championship,[4] and of the Denver Barbarians. The stadium also hosts the Women's Premier League's Glendale Lady Merlins.[5] The defunct Denver Stampede of the defunct PRO Rugby played at the stadium between April and May 2016 as did the Merlins' professional offshoot Colorado Raptors who played in Major League Rugby between 2018 and 2020.
Infinity Park also hosts various tournaments. The stadium regularly hosts USA Rugby national men's club semifinals and finals championships. Infinity Park is the home of the Serevi Rugbytown Sevens Tournament which takes place in August each year and attracts teams from around the world to compete for a winner-take-all $10,000 cash prize. Most notably, it became the new home of the USA Women's Sevens, the country's stop in the annual World Rugby Women's Sevens Series, starting with the 2018–19 season.[6]
International rugby
Infinity Park has hosted international rugby test matches. It hosted the 2009 and 2010 Churchill Cup, a now-defunct international rugby tournament involving the United States, Canada, England, France, Argentina and other countries. It has also been the venue for various international test matches, such as the August 2011 United States v. Canada match, which sold out; and the June 2012 United States v. Georgia match.
On April 26, 2019, it hosted the USA women taking on the invitational Barbarians Women, the first-ever match against international competition for the Barbarians.[7]
In 2021, Infinity Park hosted home matches for the United States as part of the 2023 Rugby World Cup Qualifiers.[8][9]
College rugby
Infinity Park has also hosted various college rugby championships and other matches. Infinity Park has hosted the men's collegiate all-stars (2008-2011). The stadium has also hosted Division I college rugby matches played by the University of Colorado and Colorado State University.[10] The venue has also hosted the Champions Cup of the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO).[11]
References
- Article on Infinity Park, Denver Post.
- Rainbird, "Site Report Infinity Park and Infinity Park South"
- Denver Post, "Glendale's ambition soars on raucous rugby", September 27, 2007.
- Glendale Raptors End Season Unbeaten, Reuters.
- "raptors-replace-valks-in-12" Archived 2012-06-09 at the Wayback Machine, Rugby Mag.
- "Schedule confirmed for HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2019" (Press release). World Rugby. July 7, 2018. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
- "Barbarians Women name squad to face the USA for the first time". ESPN.com. March 28, 2019. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
- "USA and Canada victorious in Rugby World Cup 2023 qualifiers". Rugby World Cup. 3 October 2021.
- "Uruguay make history as they qualify for Rugby World Cup 2023 as Americas 1". Rugby World Cup. October 2021.
- RugbyRugby, Feb. 28, 2012, "CSU vs CU Sat Infinity Park 4pm"
- RugbyRugby, March 27, 2012, "Time to Ruck'n'Roll on the Road to Infinity Park" Archived 2013-02-01 at archive.today