Notre Dame Stadium
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or all the legendary players and memorable moments it has hosted over the past 437 games, Notre Dame Stadium has unquestionably developed a lore of its own. The stadium, which celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2010, continues to be one of the most recognizable and revered structures in the world of sport. It was the success of Knute Rockne’s football teams that prompted the addition of the original Notre Dame Stadium to the University’s athletics plant back in 1930. The spirit that was imbued by that Rockne era – and has been sustained by seven Heisman Trophy winners and dozens more All-Americans who have competed there – has changed little in eight decades of football at Notre Dame Stadium. Originally designed by Osborn Engineering Company – the same firm that designed Comiskey Park in Chicago and New York’s Yankee Stadium and Polo Grounds – the total cost of construction exceeded $750,000 and it was patterned on a smaller scale after the University of Michigan’s stadium. The 1996 season was the final one played with the customary 59,075 fans at Notre Dame Stadium. A $50-million expansion adding over 21,000 seats was completed before the 1997 kickoff, bringing capacity to its present-day 80,795. Entering 2014, the Irish have played in front of sellout crowds at Notre Dame Stadium in 237 consecutive games and 285 of the last 286 home contests have been held before capacity crowds. Every home game starting with the final two home dates in 1964 has been a sellout except one – a 1973 Thanksgiving Day matchup with Air Force. Notre Dame has played 437 games inside Notre Dame Stadium and compiled a 325-107-5 record (.749).
196 11 National Championships | 7 Heisman Trophy Winners | 188 First-Team All-Americans 193-208University.indd 196
8/20/14 10:37 AM