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CINCINNATI — Miami football coach Chuck Martin has experienced the uniqueness of playing college games in soccer venues before, and now he said he looks forward to a chance to do it again.
The RedHawks will be playing the Battle for the Victory Bell against the University of Cincinnati at FC Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium this fall, marking the first time the soccer-specific facility will host a football game.
FC Cincinnati hosted a press conference Tuesday, June 16 to announce the event, which will take place at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 19, and the club’s Co-CEO, Jeff Berding, was joined by Martin and Cincinnati coach Scott Satterfield.
“These kids play a lot of football games, and in life, it's so hard to do something unique … especially in sports,” Martin said. “Everything's been done, and having the opportunity to play a football game at a soccer venue — and soccer venue as nice as this soccer venue — I've tried to explain it to our kids, like, how cool is it? I said, you're gonna have to feel it. … It's just totally different, totally different atmosphere. Just pretty cool to be a part of this. And then, obviously, with the rivalry with Cincinnati, it makes it even more special.
“So we're really excited from Miami's standpoint. I think my kids are gonna be even more excited when they hit the ground here and actually see it and feel it. … Just having these different types of memories that other people don't get to experience is really, really cool.”
When Martin was an assistant at Notre Dame, prior to his arrival at Miami in 2014, he and the Fighting Irish traveled to Dublin, Ireland, and played a game against Navy at the 51,711-capacity Aviva Stadium.
Miami played a bowl game in 2016 on a baseball field, at the Tampa Bay Rays’ Tropicana Field, and in a previous stint at Grand Valley State, Martin took his team to play a game at the West Michigan Whitecaps’ minor league baseball field.
Martin said those were all unique experiences, but playing in Dublin was probably the best.
“Because it was in Dublin, they were doing all the soccer chants all game,” Martin said. “There was certainly some Notre Dame and some Navy fans there, but there was mostly just Dublin soccer fans there, so they just it like a soccer game, so that was super cool, because it was like we don't get these crazy chants going just incessantly during the game, so that was awesome.”
Berding, an alumnus of Miami, had approached both schools with the idea of bringing the Battle for the Victory Bell to TQL Stadium. FC Cincinnati, which originally played its games at UC’s Nippert Stadium beginning in 2016 and until TQL opened in 2021, has been trying to bring in different events to the 25,513-seat stadium, but it’s mainly been soccer and concerts taking place there.
Martin said it was a “brilliant idea” to play the Battle for the Victory Bell at TQL Stadium.
The rivalry dates back to 1888 and is one of the oldest and most-played rivalries in college football, though Cincinnati holds a narrow edge in the all-time series at 61-60-7.
“This matchup carries deep regional significance, and we're thrilled to deliver a one-of-a-kind game-day experience for the fans and alumni of both schools in the heart of our city,” Berding said. “This game will offer fans a really unique opportunity to experience college football inside one of the premier soccer venues in the United States. TQL Stadium was designed to host world-class events, and we're proud to add this historic moment to that legacy.”
The game is expected to sell out, which will add to the atmosphere, Satterfield said.
Season-ticket members of the Bearcats, who are the home team, and FC Cincinnati will each have an exclusive opportunity to purchase tickets to the game before they open to the public June 22.
“I think this is going to be an awesome atmosphere for a football game, a very unique atmosphere when you think about a soccer stadium, but the way it's built, it goes straight up, it's going to keep that noise in there, so it's going to be incredible for our players and our fans to be able to experience this,” Satterfield said.
Cincinnati is coming off a 7-6 season, while Miami was 7-7 with a loss in the MAC Championship. Both lost bowl games.
Martin will have a lot of newcomers to the team this season, but said spring workouts “went great,” and he’s pleased with the talent level and character of the group.
“We feel like we won't be very fun to play against,” Martin said. “That's always our goal. If you're not fun to play against, you're probably gonna win your fair share of games. So we're working. We're having a great summer so far, so we have a really cool group of kids. So we're fired up about this year.”
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The RedHawks will be playing the Battle for the Victory Bell against the University of Cincinnati at FC Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium this fall, marking the first time the soccer-specific facility will host a football game.
FC Cincinnati hosted a press conference Tuesday, June 16 to announce the event, which will take place at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 19, and the club’s Co-CEO, Jeff Berding, was joined by Martin and Cincinnati coach Scott Satterfield.
“These kids play a lot of football games, and in life, it's so hard to do something unique … especially in sports,” Martin said. “Everything's been done, and having the opportunity to play a football game at a soccer venue — and soccer venue as nice as this soccer venue — I've tried to explain it to our kids, like, how cool is it? I said, you're gonna have to feel it. … It's just totally different, totally different atmosphere. Just pretty cool to be a part of this. And then, obviously, with the rivalry with Cincinnati, it makes it even more special.
“So we're really excited from Miami's standpoint. I think my kids are gonna be even more excited when they hit the ground here and actually see it and feel it. … Just having these different types of memories that other people don't get to experience is really, really cool.”
When Martin was an assistant at Notre Dame, prior to his arrival at Miami in 2014, he and the Fighting Irish traveled to Dublin, Ireland, and played a game against Navy at the 51,711-capacity Aviva Stadium.
Miami played a bowl game in 2016 on a baseball field, at the Tampa Bay Rays’ Tropicana Field, and in a previous stint at Grand Valley State, Martin took his team to play a game at the West Michigan Whitecaps’ minor league baseball field.
Martin said those were all unique experiences, but playing in Dublin was probably the best.
“Because it was in Dublin, they were doing all the soccer chants all game,” Martin said. “There was certainly some Notre Dame and some Navy fans there, but there was mostly just Dublin soccer fans there, so they just it like a soccer game, so that was super cool, because it was like we don't get these crazy chants going just incessantly during the game, so that was awesome.”
Berding, an alumnus of Miami, had approached both schools with the idea of bringing the Battle for the Victory Bell to TQL Stadium. FC Cincinnati, which originally played its games at UC’s Nippert Stadium beginning in 2016 and until TQL opened in 2021, has been trying to bring in different events to the 25,513-seat stadium, but it’s mainly been soccer and concerts taking place there.
Martin said it was a “brilliant idea” to play the Battle for the Victory Bell at TQL Stadium.
The rivalry dates back to 1888 and is one of the oldest and most-played rivalries in college football, though Cincinnati holds a narrow edge in the all-time series at 61-60-7.
“This matchup carries deep regional significance, and we're thrilled to deliver a one-of-a-kind game-day experience for the fans and alumni of both schools in the heart of our city,” Berding said. “This game will offer fans a really unique opportunity to experience college football inside one of the premier soccer venues in the United States. TQL Stadium was designed to host world-class events, and we're proud to add this historic moment to that legacy.”
The game is expected to sell out, which will add to the atmosphere, Satterfield said.
Season-ticket members of the Bearcats, who are the home team, and FC Cincinnati will each have an exclusive opportunity to purchase tickets to the game before they open to the public June 22.
“I think this is going to be an awesome atmosphere for a football game, a very unique atmosphere when you think about a soccer stadium, but the way it's built, it goes straight up, it's going to keep that noise in there, so it's going to be incredible for our players and our fans to be able to experience this,” Satterfield said.
Cincinnati is coming off a 7-6 season, while Miami was 7-7 with a loss in the MAC Championship. Both lost bowl games.
Martin will have a lot of newcomers to the team this season, but said spring workouts “went great,” and he’s pleased with the talent level and character of the group.
“We feel like we won't be very fun to play against,” Martin said. “That's always our goal. If you're not fun to play against, you're probably gonna win your fair share of games. So we're working. We're having a great summer so far, so we have a really cool group of kids. So we're fired up about this year.”
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