Today with a capacity over
80,000, Royal Memorial Stadium looks very different than when it
opened. After playing more than two decades at Clark Field, it was
time for the Longhorns to look to the future and build a new stadium
for the Texas Longhorns. Led by Athletic Director L. Theo Bellmont the
University decided to construct a new stadium in the early 1920s. The
stadium was built in 1924 and the Longhorns played their first game at
Memorial Stadium on November 8, 1924. At a cost of $275,000, Memorial
Stadium had a seating capacity of 27,000. As interest in the team
increased the stadium was expanded.
Two years after opening, Memorial Stadium was
expanded on the north side to give it a horseshow configuration
increasing the capacity to 40,500. By the 1940 season the east and
west grandstands were expanded and the grandstand on the south side of
the field was built allowing 60,000 fans at Memorial Stadium. Lights
were added at Memorial Stadium in 1955 and Astroturf replaced the
grass field in 1969. The upper deck was constructed in 1971. Fans
attending games at Memorial Stadium in the 1990s saw numerous
changes. In 1996, the playing field was changed to grass and a new
video/scoreboard was added. Memorial Stadium was officially renamed
Darrell K. Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium in 1996 after legendary
Longhorns coach Darrell Royal. The following year, 14 suites were
added on the west side and in 1998, the 5,000 seat upper deck was
constructed on the east side along with 52 luxury suites. In 1999 the
track around the field was removed and the field was lowered three
feet allowing for additional seats along the field. After the 2005
season, the Longhorns added a 55ft. high by 134ft. wide video display
to the south endzone. It has been nicknamed, Godzillatron, and is the
largest videoboard in college football. Temporary seating was added in
the south endzone in 2006 and expanded for the 2007 season. Today Royal Memorial Stadium
has a seating capacity of
94,113 with the completion of the north endzone expansion after the
2007 season. This
project includes a new war memorial plaza, construction of upper deck
seating, club seats and athletic offices. Future plans call for the
stadium to be expanded in the south endzone increasing the seating
capacity to 112,000. Plans for this project have not been approved.
For the 2009 season, the grass field will be replaced by Fieldturf.
Famous Players: Chris Simms, Tony
Brackens, Phil Dawson, Dan Neil, Vince Young School Traditions: Bevo, the Longhorn
Mascot, Hook'Em Horns, Hex Rally, Eyes of Texas Song
