Home of the North Carolina Tar Heels, Kenan Stadium is often considered one of the most beautiful college football stadiums in the country. In the mid 1920s, the North Carolina football program needed a new stadium to replace the 2,400 seat Emerson Field. By 1926, donations were being accepted to help build a new facility. After only a small portion of the funds needed for construction had been raised, William Rand Kenan Jr. made a significant contribution. He provided financial support for the construction of a new stadium in honor of his parents, and the facility was named Kenan Stadium. Construction began in November 1926 and was completed in 1927.
The Tar Heels played their first game at Kenan Stadium on November 27, 1927, against Davidson College. The stadium originally had a seating capacity of 24,000. In the 1950s, Kenan provided an additional $1 million to fund the construction of a second deck. The upper deck was completed in 1963, increasing the capacity to 48,000 and marking the beginning of several expansions. Additional expansions took place in 1979, 1988, 1997 and 1998, bringing the seating capacity to 60,000.
In 2007, a $2 million scoreboard was installed along with the construction of the Kenan Football Center, which houses the Hall of Honor, locker rooms and the Carolina football program. In May 2010, UNC approved construction of the $70 million Carolina Student Athletic Center. The facility replaced the Kenan Field House and provides an academic center, strength and conditioning center and visitors locker room. Completed in the fall of 2011, the project also transformed Kenan Stadium into a bowl configuration with the addition of nearly 3,000 seats in the end zone. This new area, known as the Blue Zone, provides additional seating and premium amenities for fans.
In 2018, the metal bleachers throughout the stadium were removed and replaced with individual Carolina Blue seats, reducing the seating capacity to approximately 50,500. Prior to the start of the 2019 season, the natural grass playing field was replaced with synthetic turf. The stadium reverted back to a grass field beginning in 2025.
