Rutgers Stadium

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Rutgers Stadium

"On The Banks" "R" House "The Birthplace of College Football"
Location	1 Scarlet Knight Way Piscataway, NJ 08854
Broke ground	March 9, 1993
Opened	September 3, 1994
Owner	Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Operator	Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Surface	FieldTurf
Construction cost	$28 million
Capacity	41,500 (official)[1] 44,267 (record)[1]
Tenants
Rutgers Scarlet Knights (NCAA) (1994-Present)

Rutgers Stadium is the home stadium for the football program at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. It is located in the Busch Campus of Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey, USA, and overlooks the Raritan River. Rutgers Stadium was opened on 3 September 1994^[2] when the Rutgers Scarlet Knights hosted the Kent State University Golden Flashes. Rutgers Stadium seats 41,500 spectators,^[2] although on a few occasions several thousand more spectators have been accommodated by the addition of temporary bleachers.

[edit] History

Statue next to Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway near the New Brunswick site where the first college football game was played.

The first intercollegiate football game, in which Rutgers beat Princeton by a score of 6-4 on 6 November 1869, was played on College Field, which is now the location of the College Avenue Gymnasium and its parking lot.^[3] From 1891 to 1938 the Rutgers football team played at Neilson Field on the College Avenue Campus in New Brunswick, New Jersey.^[3]

With the aid of grants from the Works Progress Administration, and after three years of construction, the original Rutgers Stadium was completed in 1938.^[4] The stadium was dedicated on November 5, 1938^[4] and served the university's football program until 1992, hosting 225 football games.^{[citation needed]}

The current Rutgers Stadium was built on the site of the original Rutgers Stadium. During the construction of the second, and current, Rutgers Stadium, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team played the 1993 season at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, a facility operated by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA). The NJSEA financed the construction of the current Rutgers Stadium through a bond issue.^[2] The Scarlet Knights had previously played several games at Giants Stadium, including the first college football game hosted at that venue: a 47-0 victory over Columbia University on October 23, 1976.^[5]

Heralded by many newspapers, sports writers, and Rutgers fans as the "most important game in Rutgers history", on 9 November 2006, a then record crowd of 44,111^[1] attended a football game between the Scarlet Knights and the Louisville Cardinals. The Scarlet Knights were ranked #15 and the Louisville Cardinals #3 in the nation in the Associated Press poll at the time. The game drew the third ESPN's third-largest audience for a college football game.^[6] The usual official capacity was exceeded by the addition of bleachers for extra student seating in the Southern end of the stadium, as well as by moving the marching band from their usual spot in the stands to temporary bleachers in the corner of the North end zone. At the next home game, against the Syracuse Orange on 25 November 2006, Rutgers Stadium posted its second largest crowd with 43,791 in attendance.^[1]

[edit] Other events hosted

In addition to football, Rutgers Stadium has also hosted NCAA tournament soccer and lacrosse games, including the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship games in 1998, 2001, and 2002. It is also worth noting that, prior to 1994, the original Rutgers Stadium hosted the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship games in 1974, 1978, 1983, 1987 and 1990.

On 25 September 2005, Rutgers Stadium was the site of a lecture delivered by the Dalai Lama.^[7]

[edit] Attendance records

The stadium attendance records were repeatedly broken in the 2006 and 2007 football seasons, with the current record number of spectators being 44,267.^[1] This record was set on October 18, 2007, when the Scarlet Knights played against the then #2 ranked South Florida Bulls.^[8]

[edit] Current facilities

The Rutgers Stadium provides seating for 41,500 spectators.^[9] The stadium features a 5,000-seat upper deck on each side of the field, as well as 968 loge and club seats on the mezzanine level of the East side of the stadium.^[9] Electronic scoreboards spanning the length of the field have been installed at the bases of both upper decks prior to the start of the 2008 season, which compliment the video scoreboard in the South end zone.

The stadium also features light stanchions that allow for night games, a two-level press box on the West mezzanine level, and eight 1,000-square-foot (93 m²) concession stands.^[9] Until 2004, the field maintained a grass surface, but has since been replaced with Field Turf.^[9]

[edit] Stadium expansion

In January 2008, the Board of Governors of Rutgers University announced a $102 million stadium expansion project in order to increase the stadium’s seating capacity to nearly 56,000,^[10] which has since been scaled down to 54,000.^[11]

The first phase of the project, which included 968 loge and club seats, and related infrastructure, was completed on time and within budget for the 2008 football season.^[12] The second phase of construction has also commenced, and on completion will result in the addition of approximately 11,500 seats, restrooms and concession stands to the south end of the stadium.^[12]

[edit] Expansion financing plan

The $102 million cost of the stadium expansion project was originally to be financed by raising $30 million through private fundraising and $72 million by the issuance of Rutgers bonds.^[13] The private fundraising effort, however, fell significantly short of the original goal.^[14]

This situation prompted the Board of Governors of Rutgers University to approve a new financing plan for the stadium expansion in which the entire amount of $102 million will be borrowed. Specifically, the university will issue $85 million in bonds, and has borrowed the remaining $17 million by way of low-interest commercial paper.^[12] In addition, a few aspects of the stadium expansion project have been scaled back, e.g., approximately 12,500 new seats are to be added instead of the original plan for 14,000, and the addition of new locker rooms are being deferred to a later date.^[12]

[edit] See also

• Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
• Busch Campus (Rutgers University)
• Big East Conference
• College football

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
• Rutgers Stadium information at College Gridirons
• Rutgers Stadium crowd noise (YouTube clip)

Coordinates: 40°30′48.76″N 74°27′54.95″W / 40.5135444°N 74.4652639°W / 40.5135444; -74.4652639