"It's...A beautiful day for
football," announced at every Spartan football game, no matter the
weather, is just one of many traditions found at Spartan Stadium.
In the early 1920s
university officials decided to construct a new stadium for the
football team to replaced Old College Field. By 1923, a new stadium was constructed for the Spartans
and they began playing at the new facility that fall. Original seating capacity was 14,000. As the team grew in popularity, so did
the stadium. In 1935, the seating capacity was increased to 26,000 and
the facility was named Macklin Field after John Macklin, football
coach from 1911 to 1915. Thirteen years later the
stadium’s capacity nearly doubled and by 1956, the stadium had a
seating capacity of 60,000.
Prior to the 1957 season the upper decks
were constructed on both sides of the playing field boosting the
capacity to 76,000. Furthermore, the stadium was renamed Spartan
Stadium. Astroturf replaced the natural grass field before the 1969
season and a new modern scoreboard was added in 1973. The Spartans
installed a new modern video/scoreboard before the 1991. Throughout
the years the seating capacity at Spartan Stadium has changed
several times. The most recent expansion was
completed in August 2005. A new pressbox, 24 luxury suites and 862 club
seats were constructed on the west side of
Spartan Stadium. With the completion of this renovation, Spartan
Stadium seats around 75,000 fans.
Famous Players:
George Webster, Bubba Smith, Don Coleman, Brad Van Pelt, Herb Adderley,
Frank Waters, Joe DeLamielleure School Traditions: The Spartan Walk, Rowing, Zeke the Wonder
Dog, A beautiful day for football
PLANNING YOUR TRIP TO MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY AND
SPARTAN STADIUM
Spartan
Stadium
