Notre Dame Stadium
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| Notre Dame Stadium | |
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| The House That Rockne Built | |
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| Location | Edison Road & Juniper Road South Bend, IN 46600 |
| Broke ground | 1930 |
| Opened | 1930 |
| Owner | University of Notre Dame |
| Operator | University of Notre Dame |
| Surface | Kentucky Blue Grass |
| Construction cost | US$750,000 |
| Former names | N/A |
| Tenants | Notre Dame Fighting Irish (NCAA) (1930-Present) |
| Capacity | 80,795 |
Notre Dame Stadium is the home football stadium for the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team. The stadium is located on the campus of the University of Notre Dame at Notre Dame, Indiana, just north of the city of South Bend, Indiana, USA.
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[edit] History
The stadium opened its gates in 1930, replacing the old stadium Cartier Field. Total cost of construction was more than $750,000. The original seating capacity was 54,000. Knute Rockne played a key role in its design, keeping the space between the playing field and the stands to a minimum. The stadium is patterned, on a smaller scale, after Michigan Stadium, the main difference being the tunnel location. The Irish played their first game in the new stadium on October 4, 1930, beating Southern Methodist University 20-14. The official dedication was on October 11 against Navy. Over the years, its capacity was gradually increased to 59,075. In 1997 21,000 new seats were added to the stadium, bringing the seating capacity to the present 80,795. The playing surface has always been natural grass.
[edit] Lighting
Prior to the 1997 expansion, Notre Dame Stadium lacked permanent lights. On September 18, 1982, portable lighting by Musco Lighting was used for first night game in the stadium's history. As a part of the expansion, lights were installed which were paid for by NBC, who has held exclusive rights to televising all home games since 1991. The main purpose of including lights in the stadium expansion was to have available lighting for games starting in mid-afternoon in November; part of the agreement with NBC was a stipulation that there would be no home night games.[citation needed]
[edit] "Touchdown Jesus"
The stadium is known for its view of "Touchdown Jesus", a nickname given to the large mural of the resurrected Jesus entitled "the Word of Life" which is located on the Hesburgh Library, looming over the stadium mirroring the raised arms of a referee signifying a touchdown. Expanding the stadium has had the side-effect of partially obscuring the view of Touchdown Jesus from the field.
[edit] Attendance
Prior to 1966, attendance figures were based on the total in the house. The largest crowd to attend a home game prior to expansion was 61,296 on October 6, 1962 against Purdue. Since 1966, attendance figures are based on paid admissions with a fixed number of tickets available, accounting for the familiar 59,075 figure through the 1996 season. Until Ara Parseghian arrived as coach at Notre Dame in 1963, sellouts were not the norm. Since then, tickets to a Notre Dame football game have been notoriously hard to come by. As of 2006 season, there have been 194 consecutive sellouts at Notre Dame Stadium, and 240 sellouts in the past 241 games dating back to 1966. The lone exception was a 1973 game against Air Force which had been moved midseason by ABC to Thanksgiving Day and was played with the students absent. The announced attendance was 57,235. Attendance at all five home games in 1965 exceeded 59,000 as well.
The official capacity was listed at 80,225 when the stadium was first expanded. A subsequent computer revision put it at 80,012. Sideline bleachers, which had been removed during expansion, were put back in after a few years, bringing the figure to its present 80,795.
[edit] External links
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