Michigan Stadium
Michigan Stadium, nicknamed
the Big House, is the
football stadium for the
University of Michigan in
Ann Arbor,
Michigan. It was built in
1927, at a cost of
$ 950,000 and had an original capacity of 84,401. Previous to playing football at the stadium the Wolverines played on
Ferry Field. Today, it has an official capacity of 107,501, though football game attendance often exceeds 111,000 when bands, stadium staff, and other people are added. It is the largest
American football stadium in the world and the 29th largest sports venue in general (most of the larger ones are auto racing tracks or horse racing tracks). The one "extra seat" in its capacity is "reserved" for former head coach
Fritz Crisler, although its location is not specified. Home games are invariably sellouts, and residents of Ann Arbor are aware of "football Saturdays" because of the influx of traffic and business at local establishments. The size of the crowd in the stadium nearly matches the city's population of 114,000.
Michigan Stadium was designed with footings to allow the stadium's capacity to be expanded beyond 100,000. According to the University of Michigan's Library and Athletics Department history of the stadium, Fielding Yost envisioned a day where 150,000 seats would be needed. To keep construction costs low at the time it was decided to build a smaller stadium than Yost envisioned, but include the footings for future expansion.
Michigan Stadium's immense size is not entirely apparent to ground-level observers, as it is constructed partially into the ground, leaving only the upper 20 rows (in most sections) visible from the outside. The stadium's original capacity was 72,000, but then-athletic director
Fielding Yost made certain to install steel footings that could allow for massive expansion; some believe that these footings can support up to 150,001 spectators if needed. Initially, all seating consisted of wood bleachers. These were replaced with permanent metal seating in
1949 by Crisler, who had become athletic director. The stadium has been dubbed "The Hole that Yost dug, Crisler built,
Canham carpeted, and
Schembechler filled." Since
1975 - Bo Schembechler's seventh season as coach - the stadium has held over 100,000 fans for every home game, a string of nearly 200 contests. Traditionally, when the game's attendance is announced, the
public address announcer thanks the fans for "being part of the largest crowd watching a football game anywhere in America." (The tradition was temporarily stopped in
1996, when Michigan Stadium's capacity was overtaken by that of
Neyland Stadium, but resumed when it was expanded two years later.) [
1]
From
1927 to
1968, the stadium's field was covered in natural grass. This was replaced with TartanTurf in
1969 to give players better traction. However, this surface was thought to be unforgiving on players' joints, and the stadium returned to natural turf in
1991. This too became problematic, as the field's below-surface location near the water table made it difficult for grass to permanently take root. The field was converted to
FieldTurf, an artificial surface that was designed to give grass-like playing characteristics, in
2003.
 |
The stadium near ground level. |
As of 2006, the stadium is undergoing a
renovation and expansion project, which is expected to be completed by
2010. This will include replacement of all bleachers, widening of individual seats, widening of the aisles with a hand rail, increasing the number of bathrooms and vendors, expansion of the press box, and the addition of
luxury boxes. The stadium's official capacity at the conclusion of this project is projected to be 108,335.
Michigan Stadium is also the site of University of Michigan
graduation ceremonies.
While the official seating capacity is 107,501, the largest crowd in stadium history was 112,118 vs Ohio State on Nov. 22, 2003. This is also an all-time NCAA record for people at a football game.
*
Michigan Wolverines*
Lloyd Carr*
List of Michigan Football coaches#
The Biggest House Again. Accessed July 13, 2006.
