Washington–Grizzly Stadium

Washington-Grizzly Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in Missoula, Montana, located on the campus of the University of Montana. It is home to the Montana Grizzlies college football team, a dominant program of the Big Sky Conference and consistently a top team in Division I FCS, formerly known as Division I-AA. The infilled SprinTurf playing field is 20 feet (6.1 m) below ground level; it runs in the traditional north-south configuration and sits at an elevation of 3,190 feet (970 m) above sea level. ^[2] The press box is above the west sideline. In October 2011, it was announced that the stadium would add light in time for the 2012 football season that would, in addition to making night games a possibility, make the stadium more multidimensional with the ability to host more campus rec sports, high school games or championships, and concerts.^[3]

History

The stadium is named after construction magnate Dennis Washington, a Montanan who donated $1 million to finance the stadium's construction in 1985. The stadium opened on October 18, 1986, and the Griz have racked up an impressive home record of 142-20 (.876).

Capacity and expansions

The stadium's current seating capacity is 25,203. The stadium has been expanded three times since opening in 1986, most recently in 2008 with an upper deck expansion of 2,000 seats on the east side.

The original capacity in 1986 was 12,500 permanent seats on the sidelines with open grass seating behind the end zones, an approximate capacity of 15,000, weather-permitting. Permanent seating for the end zones was installed in 1995, which brought the seating to over 19,000. Corner seating in the north end zone opened in 2003 and the most recent expansion in 2008 to the east grandstand brought the capacity to over 25,000.

Field surface

Infilled SprinTurf was installed in 2001, and replaced in 2008. For its first fifteen seasons the playing surface was natural grass.

GrizVision

The video screen GrizVision, was installed in 2002 in the south end zone; at 26×36' (8×11 m), it is one of the largest screens in an FCS football stadium.

Previous venues

Before Washington-Grizzly Stadium, the Grizzlies played off-campus at "new" Dornblaser Field from 1968-86. Prior to 1968, Montana played on-campus at "old" Dornblaser Field from 1920-67 (both named for Paul Dornblaser, football captain in 1912, killed in World War I). Prior to 1920, Montana played its home games at a field in downtown Missoula, near the former Missoulian newspaper building.

WA-Griz Largest Crowds

Home Field Advantage

Concerts

• June 20, 1998 — Pearl Jam kicked off their North American tour at a sold out Washington-Grizzly stadium.
• October 4, 2006 — The Rolling Stones played their first-ever concert in the state of Montana to a sold-out audience exceeding 22,000 on a Wednesday night during their A Bigger Bang Tour.^[4]

References

External links

• Montana Grizzlies.com - about Washington-Grizzly Stadium
• World Stadiums.com - Washington-Grizzly Stadium