Florida International Panthers Tickets

Florida International Panthers
The Florida International University (FIU) offers a variety of sports at its athletics department and its sports teams are known as the Golden Panthers. The Golden Panthers participate in the NCAA's Division I and in the Sun Belt Conference. The university offers a variety of sports for men including baseball, basketball, cross country, football, soccer and track and field. Womens sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field and volleyball.

FIUs sports colors are dark blue and gold. The universitys original nickname was the Sunblazers but was changed to the Golden Panthers in 1987. The Golden Panthers are a member of the NCAA participating in Division I and also participate in the Sun Belt Conference since 1998 in all sports except mens soccer. Mens soccer competes as an affiliate member in Conference USA. The university has also participated in the Trans America Athletic Conference from 1991 to 1998.

A number of professional and Olympic athletes have arisen out of FIU's athletics department. These athletes are now participating in Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, the National Basketball Association, the National Football League, and in the Women's National Basketball Association. The universitys traditional athletic rivals are the University of Miami Hurricanes and the FAU Owls.

Baseball at the University Park Stadium
FIUs baseball team plays its home baseball matches at the University Park Stadium located on the University Park campus of Florida International University in Miami, Florida. The stadium was opened on January 26, 1996 with a FIU victory against Bethune-Cookman, 1-0. The stadium underwent expansion in the 2000 season, during which the baseball team spent the season at the Homestead Sports Complex in Homestead, Florida. In August 2002, the stadium housed the largest crowd, of 17,314 people, in the stadiums history and in 2005 it was used to host the Sun Belt Conference Baseball Tournament.

The Pharmed Arena
The Pharmed Arena is a multi-purpose stadium with a seating capacity of 5,000 and opened on February 1, 1986 and was originally named the Sunblazers Arena. The Arena is used by FIUs Golden Panthers basketball and volleyball teams. Its name was changed to the Golden Panthers Arena in 1987 when the universitys sports teams changed their name from the Sunblazers to the Golden Panthers. The Arena was again renamed in September 2004 following a $1 million donation to the universitys athletics department made by the Pharmed Group owners, Jorge and Carlos de Cespedes. In addition to basketball and volleyball, the arena is also used for other year-round events such as MTVs Campus Invasion, music concerts, ceremonies and fairs.

Football at The Cage
FIUs Golden Panthers football team plays in the annual Shula Bowl against close rival Florida Atlantic University. The Panthers football team is coached by Mario Cristoball and plays its home matches at FIUs stadium nicknamed The Cage. The stadium was opened in 1995 and has a seating capacity of 18,000. It is also used by FIUs track and field teams. The stadium is currently undergoing expansion to increase the seating capacity to 25,000 and scheduled for completion in time for the 2008 football season. Additional expansion plans are also expected in later years to achieve a seating capacity of 45,000 by 2010.

In 2005, the Golden Panthers football team joined the Sun Belt Conference and won its first season in the conference. In October 2006, after a football game between the Panthers and the University of Miamis football team, one of the largest brawls in collegiate history took place. Students from both sides erupted in violence following a dispute over the match. Despite the violence, however, games between the two teams are expected to continue.

Soccer
Presently, FIUs mens soccer team competes as an affiliate member of the Conference USA since 2005, since the Sun Belt Conference does not sponsor mens soccer. It is the only sport from the university that participates in this Conference. Previously the mens soccer team was a member of the Atlantic Soccer Conference from 2000 to 2004.

To date, FIUs soccer team has won two NCAA Division II national championships in men's soccer, in 1982 and 1984 and it is the only sport at the university to achieve a national title in an athletic competition. In 1996, the men's soccer team made it to the Division I championship but lost (4-1) to St. John's University. The construction of a new and third soccer field is presently underway and scheduled for completion in summer 2007 that will be used for both men and womens soccer.