Spectrum Stadium

Bright House Networks Stadium, sometimes referred to as "The Bouncehouse",  is an American football stadium located in Orlando, Florida, on the main campus of the University of Central Florida (UCF). It is the home venue for the UCF Knights football team. The stadium was the first on-campus stadium in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I FBS to open in the 21st century, and was the second newest BCS stadium in the country.

The stadium opened in 2007 with a a seating capacity of 45,323. The steel and brick clad stadium was designed by 360 Architecture and constructed in 18 months. UCF previously played their home games at Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium in downtown Orlando.

The attendance record was 48,453, for an October 18, 2009 match-up against the Miami Hurricanes. The stadium will undergo a renovation following the 2014 season to add a party deck to the east stands.

Location
Bright House Networks Stadium is located on the northern edge of the University of Central Florida's 1415 acre main campus, which is approximately 13 mi northeast of downtown Orlando and 55 mi southwest of Daytona Beach. The stadium is a part of UCF's Athletic Village and is bordered by McCulloch Road on the north side, Knights Plaza on the west side, and Orion Boulevard on the southern and eastern sides.

To the west in Knights Plaza is the CFE Arena, the indoor arena of UCF Knights basketball, and The Venue, home of the Knights volleyball program. Also located to the west, are Jay Bergman Field, the home field of Knights baseball, and the UCF Track and Soccer Complex. Also located in Knights Plaza are The Towers residence halls, housing 2,000 UCF students, including student-athletes.

Construction and expansion
The UCF Knights made notable changes to its athletic programs and facilities in 2007. A newly developed "athletic village" on the north end of campus known as Knights Plaza was opened which consisted of new sports facilities, including the new UCF Arena, the new 45,323 seat Bright House Networks Stadium, a new softball complex, and the only Division I indoor football practice facility in the state. This made UCF the first university to ever open a new stadium and arena during the same year, for the 2007–2008 season.

Initially projected to have a cost of $40 to $45 million, the most recent cost estimations of Bright House Networks Stadium run as high as $55 million. Construction of the new stadium was briefly delayed due to the concerns of local residents regarding potentially falling property values and noise levels from the stadium. The stadium was originally built without water fountains. The university argued that the building code used when the stadium was approved did not require water fountains. However, this claim turned out to be incorrect. The 2004 Florida building code (in effect in 2005 when the UCF Board of Trustees approved the stadium design) mandated that stadiums and other public arenas must have one water fountain for every 1000 seats, or half that number of fountains if water were also available for sale. During the opening game, vendors ran out of water at half time; 18 people were hospitalized for heat exhaustion during the game. In order to correct the issue, UCF provided a free bottle of water to each person at the next game, and immediately began work to install at least fifty water fountains throughout the stadium, in order to comply with the 2004 building code requirement.

On August 8, 2006, UCF announced a fifteen-year, $15 million stadium naming rights deal with cable company Bright House Networks. The stadium was designed for a planned expansion to 65,000 seats. Over the next 10 years, UCF plans to expand the Roth Tower with more suites and club seating, and also add an additional 10,000 seats in a third level on the east side of the stadium, increasing its capacity to 56,000.



Knights football
On May 9, 2006, it was announced that the Texas Longhorns would be the first opponent for the UCF Knights in the new stadium. The game, the first of three scheduled meetings between the schools, was held September 15, 2007, and televised nationally on ESPN2 at 3:30 pm EDT (1930 UTC). A sellout crowd of 45,622 saw the Knights put a scare into the Longhorns before falling 35–32.

Although the Knights lost their first on-campus home game, they finished the remainder of the stadium's inaugural season undefeated, including the Conference USA home opener against Memphis. The Knights hosted the 2007 C-USA Championship at their new stadium, defeating the Tulsa Golden Hurricane 44–25 in front of a crowd of 44,128. In 2010, the Knights again hosted the C-USA Championship, defeating the SMU Mustangs 17–7 before a crowd of 41,045. The highest attendance for games played at Bright House Networks Stadium against the Knights have included the University of South Florida Bulls, the Miami Hurricanes, and in 2013, the South Carolina Gamecocks.

The "Bounce House"
The stadium has been referred to by some as "The Trampoline" or "The Bounce House" because the stadium flexes when fans jump during Zombie Nation's song "Kernkraft 400". While many fans like this feature, some are uneasy with the bouncing. Stadium officials claimed the stadium was structurally sound, and an independent contractor confirmed that the bouncing will not damage the stadium and shorten its expected 50–year useful life. Still, a project was begun prior to the 2008 season to reinforce the stadium superstructure and mitigate the bouncing effect. While the bouncing has been greatly reduced, it is still noticeable, and sometimes enough to shake TV cameras during televised games. For the 2010 Conference USA Football Championship Game, television presenterESPN2 set-up a camera position outside of the stadium to eliminate camera bounce caused by fans.