Spartan Stadium

Spartan Stadium was opened in 1923 in East Lansing, Michigan. It is primarily used for football, and is the home field of the Michigan State University Spartans. After the addition of luxury boxes and club seating in 2004-2005 the capacity of the stadium grew from 72,027 to 75,005, making it the Big Ten’s fifth largest stadium. Spartan Stadium has been recognized as the 8th most scenic college football venue in the country.

	Capacity		75,005
	Opened		1923
	Owner		Michigan State University
	Operator		Michigan State University
	Surface		Grass
	Location		Red Cedar Rd and Shaw Lane East Lansing, MI 48824
	Construction cost		$160,000

In the early 1920s school officials decided to construct a new stadium to replace Old College Field. The resulting stadium was ready in the fall of 1923 with a capacity of 14,000. Over the years the stadium grew. In 1935 the seating capacity was increased to 26,000 and the facility was dedicated as Macklin Field. John Macklin, football coach from 1911-15, put Michigan State football on the map with a 29-5 record over five seasons with victories over big name programs such as Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin. After admittance into the Big Ten in 1948, Michigan State increased capacity to 51,000 and the field was renamed Macklin Stadium. With Spartan football becoming a national player under Clarence “Biggie” Munn and Hugh “Duffy” Daugherty, 9,000 seats were added in 1956. The following season upper decks were added to the east and west ends boosting the capacity to 76,000. That same season Michigan State dropped the name Macklin Stadium in favor of Spartan Stadium.

In 1969, TartanTurf replaced the natural grass field and a modern scoreboard was added in 1973. Later in the 1970s Astroturf replaced the TartanTurf. A new modern video scoreboard was added before the 1991 season. Renovations improving sitelines, field security, handicap access and club seats in 1994 reduced Spartan Stadium’s capacity to 72,027. New turf was also installed in the summer of 1994. In 1998 Spartan Stadium upgraded their sound system, added a 21′ x 27′ Mitsubishi Diamond Vision videoboard to south end and a message board to the north end. Home to one of the top grass and turf programs in the nation, Michigan State installed a natural grass field in 2002. The most recent expansion was completed in August 2005. A new pressbox, 24 luxury suites, 862 club seats were constructed on the west side of Spartan Stadium.

The stadium currently holds the world record for the largest ice hockey crowd in history. On October 6, 2001, a rink was constructed at the center of the stadium for Michigan State’s opening season game against archrival Michigan. Dubbed “The Cold War”, 74,554 watched No. 1 nationally ranked Michigan State and No. 4 nationally ranked Michigan skate to a 3-3 tie. Country artist Shannon Brown sang during the second intermission. The game set off a wave of outdoor ice hockey games in large stadiums. In addition, the Rolling Stones performed at Spartan Stadium in October 1994 as part of their Voodoo Lounge tour.

(source .. wikipedia) reproduced under GFDL

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The ACC.com – The Official website of the Atlantic Coast Conference
NCAA – National Collegiate Athletic Association website
Michigan State University
MSU Spartans official site

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