It also hosted many large concerts, and for a time, it held the record for the largest audience to ever see a single artist when a crowd of almost 57,000 witnessed a Led Zeppelin show in the facility in 1973.

Though the city of Tampa already had a long history with amateur and minor league professional sports and had undergone tremendous growth after World War 2, it did not yet have a modern football stadium as the 1960s began.

The plot purchased by the city in 1949 was large enough to host separate football and baseball venues, training facilities for the Reds, and several acres of parking spaces.

The top of the stadium was in the shape of a wave which was highest at the center of the two sideline grandstands and gently sloped downward to a rounded corner where it met the endzone sections, which were a little more than half as tall.

Much later, the stadium was dubbed "The Big Sombrero" by ESPN's Chris Berman for the unique undulating hat / wave shape created by the 1975 expansion.

While the stadium's minimalist design allowed for very good sight lines, it also exposed both spectators and players to the full brunt of Tampa's subtropical climate.

This was especially true after the stadium was fully enclosed for the Buccaneers' 1976 inaugural season, cutting off breezes which had flowed through the open endzones.

[18] While fans could retreat under the grandstands to the shade of the wide concourses where concessions and restrooms were located, players and personnel on the field had no such recourse.

During the summer and early autumn, events in the stadium were often scheduled in the evening hours to avoid the often oppressive afternoon heat and humidity.

In another nod to local weather, the natural grass playing surface was highly crowned to provide rapid drainage during Tampa's intense thunderstorms, with the sidelines almost 18 inches lower than the center of the field.

[19] While the Spartans lost that game 38-0, they would enjoy later success in their new home, moving up to Division I football in 1971, defeating several established programs, and sending several players to the NFL, including Freddie Solomon and John Matuszak.

[21] The Tampa Bay Rowdies were the stadium's first professional tenant, starting play in 1975 and winning their only (outdoor) championship in their inaugural season.

The Rowdies played their home games in Tampa Stadium every summer until the original North American Soccer League disbanded in 1984.

The stadium hosted concerts by many famous artists, including Deep Purple, The Who, Jethro Tull, Santana, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, U2, The Rolling Stones, Jimmy Buffett, The Eagles, Whitney Houston, Jonathan Butler, Genesis, Kenny G, George Michael, Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead, and several big acts at the same time during the 1988 Monsters of Rock Tour, among others.

On May 5, 1973, the band attracted 56,800 people, which at the time represented the largest audience for a single artist performance in history, breaking the record set by The Beatles at Shea Stadium in 1965.

The crowd became unruly after the announcement of the cancellation, and the Tampa police ultimately dispersed the "riot" using tear gas and billy clubs.

[42] In March 1979, evangelist Billy Graham held a "Florida West Coast Crusade" at Tampa Stadium and drew a combined crowd of about 175,000 over five consecutive days.