NCAA Division 1-A football stadiums (bandwidth warning)

[Simmo79]

I’ve spent a lot of spare time over the last few months getting my head around US college football so I’d thought I’d get a thread started on US college teams and their home stadiums.

I'll go by capacity (the 100k+ monsters first up)

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Start with

#1 Michigan Stadium, University of Michingan (Ann Arbor, Michigan- not far SW of Detroit) - Big Ten conference.

Capacity: 107,501







The University of Michigan Wolverines played their inaugural game at Michigan Stadium on October 1, 1927 against Ohio Wesleyan. The official capacity when Michigan Stadium when it opened was 84,401.The entire single tier grandstand circles the playing field and there is a

Various expansions bumped the capacity up to 100,000 and the most recent addition to Michigan Stadium occurred before the 1998 season when 5,000 seats where added bringing the current capacity to 107,501.

For nearly 200 games the Wolverines have attracted more than 100,000 fans and hosted 111,238 fans in a game against Michigan State on November 20, 1999. The stadium is undergoing a renovation and expansion project, which is expected to be completed by 2008. This will include replacement of all bleachers, widening of individual seats, the addition of luxury boxes on the east side of the stadium, expansion of the press box, and the addition of upper-deck seating at one or both end zones. The stadium's official capacity at the conclusion of this project is yet to be determined.

UM has fierce rivalries with many teams, including Michigan State and Notre Dame; however, its football rivalry with Ohio State is widely considered to be the fiercest in all of college athletics. In the 2005 season the Wolverines averaged 110,915 people for each of their 7 home games. They finished the season with 7-5 overall record and a 5-3 record within the Big Ten (their home conference) finishing in third-place finish which led to an invitation to the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas. They lost 32-28 to Nebraska.


Edit on 2 June 2006:

MICHIGAN
Previous home: Regents field.

Regents Field served Michigan football for its first quarter century (1883-1905). Originally accomodating just 400 fans, it was expanded through the years to seat 17,000. The Wolverines compiled a 87-2-3 record in all games at Regents Field.

The Big House








Spring training and renovations to the bowl.



Michigan stadium under construction.

http://www.umich.edu/~bhl/stadium/stadtext/scrapcov.htm
Slideshow of Michigan Stadium’s construction during the 1920s– highly recommended!

Planned renovation:
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May 23, 2006, 7:53 PM ET
Michigan Stadium adding luxury boxes, seats
Associated Press
DEARBORN, Mich. -- Michigan Stadium will get luxury boxes and more seats as part of an estimated $226 million renovation to the American sports icon.

The University of Michigan Board of Regents voted 5-3 in favor of the plan, which would increase the stadium's capacity by about 750 to 108,251. The final design and construction contracts still require board approval.

"You've got some major challenges at the Big House," Michigan athletic director Bill Martin said. "We initiated a process to address those challenges to come up with a financial model that would pay for it without putting a burden on the backs of all of our fans in the seats.

"What you saw today was a major step forward; it's a step that is really a beginning and not an end at all."

The target for completion of work on the home of the Wolverines is 2010. About 83 indoor suites and 3,200 outdoor club seats will be added, the university said, while widening seats and aisles will cut seats in some parts of the stadium.

The project will feature building structures -- six and eight stories tall -- on the east and west sides of the stadium and include bench seats, new media facilities, restrooms, concessions areas and an additional concourse.

Details of the plan first were reported Friday by The Ann Arbor News, which obtained details through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Michigan Stadium was built in 1927 at a cost of $950,000. Expanded several times over the years, it is one of the largest football stadiums in the country with a seating capacity of 107,501.

The athletics department proposed that Michigan build private suites like those that many colleges have added in recent years. But the plan had drawn some opposition from Michigan football fans.
--
Simmo says: I’ve read on some UM blogs that despite the huge cost of the new stands the capacity of the stadium probably won’t increase because of the widening of the seats in the main bowl. Where have we heard that before?

[the guy]

I love NCAA Div-1 stadiums!

My favs are... (not bowls)

#1
Carrier dome, home of the Syracuse Orangemen in Football, lacrosse, basketball and indoor athletics. Located in Syracuse, New York. capacity 50,000(field mode), 32,000 (basketball mode).




#2
Navy-Marine corps memorial stadium, home of the Navy Midshipmen (check my avatar) in football, lacrosse and soccer. Located in Annapolis, Maryland. The scene for Australia's 2005 womens lacrosse world championship victory. capacity 30,000.

[Jeffles]

In a country with such a cold climate building stadiums for winter sports in places where snow is common and surfaces do not rely on sunlight for growth, why do so many older grounds and some of the newer ones have such little covered seating?

Love the stadiums by the way. I am looking forqward to this thread.

[Simmo79]

A mix of factors -

- the fans don't demand covered seating (to roof or not ot roof always causes arguments on skyscrapercity - Europeans insisting on it and yanks saying they couldn't care less);
- although most college athletics programs have enough money to build their own stadium without loans, they would still prefer the cheaper option;
- the bulk of the season is played in autumn rather than winter; and
- as you can see from this really useful map,
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c4/Cfdia.PNG
there aren't all that many teams that play in the cold climates (ie/ the whole of New England has just two Div 1-A programs and NY state has just three - compare to Texas, Florida, North Carolina or even Tennessee which maintain more teams proportionaly than the states in colder climes). Maybe that's a chicken and egg thing [are there fewer teams in the North because its cold or because football is just more popular in the South]

[sandyhill]

In a country with such a cold climate building stadiums for winter sports in places where snow is common and surfaces do not rely on sunlight for growth, why do so many older grounds and some of the newer ones have such little covered seating?

Put it down to the different type of barracker than the pro-leagues. The NCAA are very traditional - so too are there fans. Unlike the NFL and other pro-leagues, teams never relocate, fans tend to have life long committment, with many travelling long distances to attend games. Minor things such as freezing weather therefore is no real impediment to these type of fans (like Collingwood fans!). Also tends to be an egalitarian crowd, with little or no provision being made for corporate facilities (as an amatuer league, there is little need), which greatly affects stadium designs compared to say NFL.

NCAA football has a far greater following in the US than NFL. I can well understand why, as it has far greater heritage, history and traditions which resonates with dedicated sports lovers.

[DH]

I was guessing at it coming down to the amount of money the Universities have and want to spend on the stadiums. As Sandyhill said, the fans are hardcore so there is no need to upgrade the stadiums to suit corperates, so all that is really needed is general upkeep and add a tier here and there to meet the demands of 100K crowds. Millions of dollars can then be spent on the many sports programs and facilities the colleges have.

[hot_dogma]

Considering we have all thse monolith stadiums, which one would be the most poxy? That is smallest, insignificant, crappest etc.

Curiosity is calling me.

[Simmo79]

#2 Beaver Stadium, Pennsylvania State University (the Nittany Lions)

Capacity: 107,282

Penn State is located smack bang in the middle of Pennsylvania - a largely rural part of the state (Pittsburgh is right at the West end of the state and Philly at the East end).
The football program competes in the Big Ten conference (along with Michigan, above).








Beaver Stadium, home of the Penn State Nittany Lions, is now the second largest stadium in college football after its latest renovation. The original Beaver Stadium was located on the west side of campus and seated 30,000 fans. Named for James Beaver, President of the Board of Trustees, the Nittany Lions played at the original Beaver Stadium from 1909 until 1959. The university decided to disassemble the stadium and move it to its current location after the 1959 season. The team played its first game in the rebuilt stadium on September 17, 1960 against Boston University. Beaver Stadium had a new capacity of 46,284 in a horseshoe configuration.




The first of many expansions to Beaver Stadium came in 1969 when the capacity was increased by 2,000. Several additions came in the 1970’s including increasing the capacity to 57,000. In 1976, the bleachers in the south end zone were expanded. By 1978 the capacity was at 76,000 after the track was removed from the stadium and the stadium was cut into sections and raised, adding new seats where the track was. Two years later the capacity was raised to 83,770 and lights were installed in 1984. An upper deck was added above the Northern end in 1991 increasing the capacity by 10,000.

looking to the Northern end



The latest rounds of renovations were completed before the start of the 2001 season. These renovations included the addition of a 10,000 seat upper deck and 4,000 club seats in the Southern end which obscured the famous view of nearby Mt Nittany. Club seats are in the middle deck of the South stand and cost $1200 per season as part of a 10 year lease.


view towards the Southern end




60 luxury suites were also built above the East stand before the 2001 season.


View of the West stand and Press Box

Today, Beaver Stadium is the second largest stadium in college football with a capacity of 107,282. The largest crowd ever at Beaver Stadium was on September 14, 2002, as 110,753 watched the Nittany Lions defeat the University of Nebraska by a score of 40-7. In 2005 Penn State averaged 104,859 people per game for its 7 home games at 98.4% of capacity.

They had a stellar season which culminated in a thrilling 26-23, triple-overtime win over Florida State in the Orange Bowl after a first class 11-1 season that featured a Big Ten title.



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Next: Ohio Stadium, Ohio State University (another Big Ten school).

[Simmo79]

Considering we have all thse monolith stadiums, which one would be the most poxy? That is smallest, insignificant, crappest etc.

Curiosity is calling me.

There are 117 Division I-A schools and a lot of them have stadiums with a capacity of 30,000 or less that aren't flash. Only (!) 60 or so play in stadiums with a 40,00+ capacity.

For really poxy stadiums you'd need to look at Div I, Div II or III - those grounds would be no different to the grounds our own universities play at. That level of athletics is like any other uni competition, just competing against neighbouring unis with g/fs in attendance.

[Simmo79]

North Vs. South Football


STADIUM SIZE
North: College football stadiums hold 20,000 people
South: High School football stadiums hold 20,000 people.


FATHERS
North: Expect their daughters to understand Sylvia Plath
South: Expect their daughters to understand pass interference.

ATTIRE
North: Male and female alike: wooly sweater or sweatshirt and jeans.
South: Male - pressed khakis, oxford shirt, cap with frat logo.
Female - ankle-length skirt, coordinated cardigan, flat riding boots.

ALUMNI
North: Take prospects on sailing trips before they join the law firm.
South: Take prospects on fishing trip so they don't leave for NFL before their senior year.


CAMPUS DECOR
North: Statues of founding fathers.
South: Statues of Heisman Trophy winners.


HOMECOMING QUEEN
North: Also a physics major.
South: Also Miss USA


HEROES
North: Mario Cuomo
South: Paul "Bear" Bryant

GETTING TICKETS
North: 5 days before the game you walk into the ticket office on campus and purchase tickets.
South: 5 months before the game walk into the ticket office on campus and put name on waiting list for tickets.

FRIDAY CLASSES AFTER A THURSDAY NIGHT GAME
North: Students and teacher are not sure if they are going to the game, because they have classes on Friday.
South: Teachers cancel Friday classes because they don't want to see the few hungover students that might actually make it to class.

PARKING
North: An hour before game time the University opens the campus for game parking.
South: RV's sporting their school flags begin arriving on Wednesday for the weekend festivities. The really faithful arrive on Tuesday.

GAME DAY
North: A few students party in the dorm and watch ESPN on TV.
South: Every student wakes up, has a beer for breakfast and rushes over to where ESPN is broadcasting "Game Day Live" to get on camera and wave to the idiots up North who wonder why "Game Day Live" is never broadcast from their campus.

TAILGATING
North: Raw meat on a grill, beer with lime in it, listening to local radio station with truck tailgate down.
South: 30-foot custom pig-shaped smoker fires up at dawn. Cooking accompanied by live performance by "Hootie and the Blowfish," who come over during breaks and ask for a hit off bottle of bourbon.

GETTING TO THE STADIUM
North: You ask "Where's the stadium?". When you find it, you walk right in.
South: When you're near it, you'll hear it. On game day it becomes the state's third largest city.

CONCESSIONS
North: Drinks served in a paper cup, filled to the top with soda.
South: Drinks served in a plastic cup with the home team's mascot on it. Filled less than halfway with soda, to ensure enough room for bourbon.


WHEN NATIONAL ANTHEM IS PLAYED
North: Stands are less than half full, and less than half of them stand up.
South: 100,000 fans, all standing, sing along in perfect 3-part harmony.


THE SMELL IN THE AIR AFTER THE FIRST SCORE
North: Nothing changes.
South: Fireworks, with a touch of bourbon.


COMMENTARY (MALE)
North: "Nice play."
South: "Dammit, you slow sumbitch - tackle him and break his legs!!"


COMMENTARY (FEMALE)
North: "My, this certainly is a violent sport."
South: "Dammit, you slow sumbitch - tackle him and break his legs!!"

ANNOUNCERS
North: Neutral and paid.
South: Announcer harmonizes with the crowd in the fight song, with a tear in his eye because he is so proud of his team.

AFTER THE GAME
North: The stadium is empty way before the game ends.
South: Another rack of ribs goes on the smoker. While somebody goes to the nearest package store for more bourbon, planning begins for next week's game.

http://www.wibble.co.uk/collette/2000/sep/msg00012.html

[Egan]

Minor things such as freezing weather therefore is no real impediment to these type of fans (like Collingwood fans!).

What a laugh.

Dockers v Collingwood crowd at MCG last year.

[Simmo79]

#3 Neyland Stadium, University of Tennessee (Knoxville, Tennessee)

Capacity: 104,079

Tennessee Volunteers


UT is the first uni from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) to be featured in this thread but will be far from the last. The SEC is one of the dominant conferences within Div I-A gridiron.

Located on the banks of the Tennessee River, Knoxville has a metro population of 687,249 and is the third-largest city in the state of Tennessee behind Memphis and Nashville. Neyland Stadium is the 3rd largest stadium in the US. It has a capacity of 104,079, with a record attendance of 109,061. Needless to say the Volunteers are extremely popular in eastern Tennessee. In fact, the area code comprising Knoxville and the surrounding counties is 865 (VOL).



Completed in 1921, the stadium was originally known as Shields-Watkins Field after Shields and his wife Alice Watkins. The Volunteers played their inaugural first game at the stadium on September 24, 1921 against Emory and Henry. The first of 16 expansions of the stadium began in 1926 when a grandstand that could seat 3,600 was constructed.



Additional additions to the stadium have continued over the years. In 1929, an additional 11,060 seats were added on the west side, 12,000 seats on the east side in 1938, and stands were constructed in the south endzone by the 1948 season bringing the capacity of the stadium to 46,390. Shields Watkins Stadium was renamed Neyland Stadium in 1962, after the famous Vols head coach. Also prior to that year, the first of the upper deck was constructed on the west side boosting the capacity to over 50,000 and also included a modern press box. Additional seating was added in the north endzone and upper deck before the 1966, ‘68, ‘72, and ’80 seasons increasing the seating capacity at Neyland Stadium to 91,249. In 1987, 42 luxury suites were added to the stadium and an additional 78 were added prior to the 2000 season. The last large addition to Neyland Stadium was completed before the 1996 season when 10,642 seats were added in the north upper deck bringing the capacity to 102,544.





Today, Neyland Stadium is one of the most well known stadiums in the sport. It is one of the loudest stadiums in football with two decks of seats enclosing the playing field. Over the years, the expansions have been worth it as Neyland Stadium was voted as the Best College Football Stadium in a poll by The Sporting News.




Tennessee competes in the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division, along with Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt, and competes in longstanding football rivalries with all of them along with another long-time rival, Alabama, in The Third Saturday In October.

In 2005, UT finished with a 5-6 record which precluded them from being invited to a post-season bowl game. The Volunteers averaged 107,593 to their 6 home games.

[Simmo79]

#4 Ohio Stadium, Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio)

Capcity: 101,568


Located near the geographic center of the state, the state capital has a population of 1,612,694, ranking it third in Ohio (behind Cleveland and Cincinnati). The Columbus campus of OSU is currently one of the largest student bodies in the United States, with 50,504 students enrolled.



The Buckeyes played their first game at Ohio Stadium on October 7, 1922 against Ohio Wesleyan. When it opened in 1922, Ohio Stadium had a seating capacity of 66,210 in a distinctive double decked horseshoe configuration. The Buckeyes have been very successful over the years and additional renovations have been completed at Ohio Stadium.





The latest renovations and expansions came between 1998 and 2001. This expansion included the removal of the Jesse Owens Track and lowering the field by 14 feet. With the lowering of the field, additional rows were added. Furthermore, a 40 foot tall shell was added on the east and west sides of the stadium to allow the rim to be raised and to add 17 rows of seats. A new video/scoreboard along with 76 luxury suites and 2,500 club seats were added.




Temporary bleachers in the open end of the horseshoe were replaced with a permanent grandstand, as well as improving the seating and concourse areas.


The result of the $194 million renovation was to raise capacity to 101,568. Amazingly, 80% of the cost of the renovation was funded by the sale of leases on the suites and club seats, with the rest funded by various gifts and the sale of the naming rights of portions of the stadium, using no public or university money.


Ohio Stadium brought in its largest crowd on September 10, 2005, with 105,565 fans in attendance to watch the Buckeyes' first ever match-up against the University of Texas at Austin (and eventual 2005 national champions), a game which the Buckeyes lost 25-22.

Today, Ohio Stadium is one of the finest stadiums in the nation with a seating capacity of 101,568. The Buckeyes have led the nation in attendance 20 times throughout the years. In 2005, OSU averaged crowds of 105,107 over their 7 home games.

The Buckeye football team won the 2002 college football national championship at the 2003 Fiesta Bowl. It was the seventh national championship for the football team, which also topped the nation in 1942, 1954, 1957, 1961, 1968, and 1970. The Buckeyes closed out the 2005 season with seven consecutive victories (finishing 10-2), were Big Ten co-champions, defeated Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl and wound up fourth in the final national rankings.


Next…not sure. I mistakenly thought Ohio was 3rd biggest so I need a good list to work off. edit: http://www.infoplease.com/ipsa/A0105761.html#A0105762

Edit on 2 June 2006:
Old view before horseshoe filled in.


Rotunda (under the old curved Endzone). Class.


Before the running track was removed (and before Global warming)

[DH]

Top thread Simmo, after reading that North vs South comparison, makes you realise that they don’t need to upgrade the stadiums to first-class standard, all that needs to be taken care of is ensuring the stadium has sufficient capacity, the fans will turn up and have a blast anyway.

Kyle Field (Texas A&M) is my favourite

[sandyhill]

I'm loving this thread - including (naturally) the history info, but also all the rest. Wished I saw more of the NCAA. Thanks Simmo - great stuff.