Bryant–Denny Stadium Informations

Bryant–Denny Stadium is an outdoor stadium in the southeastern United States, on the campus of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. It is the home field of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

Opened 90 years ago in 1929, it was originally named Denny Stadium in honor of George H. Denny, the school's president from 1912 to 1932. In 1975, the state legislature added longtime head coach and alumnus Paul "Bear" Bryant to the stadium's name. Bryant led the Tide for seven more seasons, through 1982, and is one of the few in Division I to have coached in a venue bearing his name.

With a seating capacity of 101,821, it is the fourth-largest stadium in the Southeastern Conference, the seventh largest stadium in the United States and the eighth largest stadium in the world.

The replacement for Denny Field, Denny Stadium opened in 1929, with 6,000 in attendance for a 55–0 victory over Mississippi College on September 28. It was officially dedicated the following week at homecoming ceremonies against Ole Miss, a 22–7 Crimson Tide victory. Originally, the stadium had a capacity of 12,000—the lower half of the current stadium's east grandstand. However, President Denny initially envisioned a full bowl stadium capable of seating 66,000.

Before the 1937 season, permanent seats were built along the east sideline, increasing the capacity to 24,000. Further expansions in 1946 (bleachers in both end zones), 1961 (new seats in west grandstand), and 1966 (both end zones fully enclosed, new seats in east grandstand) raised capacity to 31,000, 43,000, and 60,210, respectively. An upper deck was added to the west side in 1988 and raised the seating by nearly 10,000 to 70,123. During the construction, the Crimson Tide played its entire 1987 home schedule at Legion Field in Birmingham, 57 miles (90 km) northeast of Bryant-Denny.

In September 1995, the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees approved the construction of the east upper deck. Designed by the architectural firm of Heery-Chambless-Adams, the construction was financed by the university and $4.65 million from the city of Tuscaloosa, the city of Northport, and Tuscaloosa County. The localities contributed to construction costs in return for the university pledging to move all Crimson Tide home games to Bryant–Denny and not play any at Legion Field.

The new upper deck provided 10,000 additional bleacher seats and 81 skyboxes on two levels—63 16-seat and 18 24-seat capacity boxes. In 1999, four additional skyboxes were built to bring the total number of skyboxes to 85. A JumboTron scoreboard with video display capabilities was erected in the south end zone and was at the time the largest in collegiate sports. Additionally, a new east side entrance tower, a brick facade and reception areas for the Scholarship and A-Club level patrons was also added during the 1998 expansion.

The stadium's eastern upper deck was opened in 1998 and raised its official seating capacity to 83,818 at a final cost of $35 million for the addition. The newly expanded venue debuted on September 5, and Alabama defeated BYU 38–31 as running back Shaun Alexander set a Tide single-game record with five touchdowns.

Following the 2004 season, the university spent approximately $47 million on an expansion to the north end zone, which was completed days before the 2006 opener against Hawaii. It added a new upper deck to the North end zone area, complete with three different levels of skyboxes, which collectively are known as "The Zone", which brought the number of skyboxes in the stadium to 123. Two large display screens by Daktronics were placed in each corner of the north end zone, and LCD ribbon screens, 3.5 feet (1.1 m) tall by 422 feet (129 m) wide, were placed along the front edge of the east and west upper decks.

Massive changes were made to the grounds of the north side of the stadium with the addition of a Walk of Champions. Building the Walk of Champions required the demolition of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity house and the grading of the hill it sat upon. The Walk of Champions comprises a brick plaza leading from University Boulevard to the north end zone entrances. The plaza features 16 granite monuments set into the walkway commemorating the Crimson Tide's SEC and national championship teams throughout the years. Along the west side of the plaza are five roughly 2,000-pound (910 kg), 9-foot (2.7 m) tall bronze statues, one for each Alabama football coach who has led the Crimson Tide to a national championship. Each statue has a semicircular wall behind it bearing the coach's name and the year(s) that he led the team to a national championship. The first four statues, unveiled during the opening in 2006, included Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, Paul "Bear" Bryant, and Gene Stallings. The fifth statue, that of Nick Saban, was unveiled prior to the A-Day game on April 16, 2011. It commemorates Saban guiding Alabama to its 13th National Championship with a 37–21 win over the Texas Longhorns.

Finally, there is a bronze statuary group of two anonymous Alabama football players at the entrance to the north end zone, with the one on the left holding a large Alabama Crimson Tide flag upright on a flagpole. This player is wearing the number 18 and a helmet, with the player on the right wearing the number 92 and pointing into the distance. The jersey numbers represent 1892, the first season of Crimson Tide football.

The north end zone was opened for the 2006 season opener versus Hawaii, which set a new record attendance of 92,138. The Crimson Tide was victorious, 25–17.

The University of Alabama Board of Trustees approved a study for further expansion of Bryant–Denny on September 19, 2008. The Physical Properties Committee of the University of Alabama Board of Trustees heard a presentation from the UA athletic department on November 13, 2008 regarding the proposed $80.6 million expansion of the south end zone upper deck and suite level of Bryant–Denny Stadium. The proposed expansion would bring the stadium's capacity to approximately 101,600, therefore making it the second largest stadium in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and the fifth largest stadium in college football. The committee unanimously approved the project to move into the third of four stages, the fourth being final approval to begin construction.

On February 6, 2009, the university's Board of Trustees voted unanimously and without discussion to give the final approval for construction to commence on the south end zone expansion. With the approval of the Board of Trustees, construction began in the Spring of 2009 and continued throughout the 2009 football season. The expansion was finished in time for the first game of the team's 2010 season.

The Tuscaloosa News reported on April 17, 2009 that due to the economic climate and resultant lowered construction costs, the stadium expansion cost $15 million less than expected, coming in around $65.6 million.

The expanded south end zone now includes a two level South Zone club with a total of 1,700 seats and 36 skyboxes to bring the total number of skyboxes in Bryant–Denny Stadium to 159, as well as an 8,500 seat upper deck. The entire stadium's audio/visual system was upgraded to include two new video boards in both corners of the south end zone.

Prior to the 2009 season, the large south scoreboard was disassembled to make way for the construction of the new stadium expansion. During this process, some welding equipment started a fire that burned the inside of the scoreboard. Also, during this time, four new play clocks and down/distance indicators were installed (one behind each corner of the end zones) and a new LED game clock was placed behind the south goalpost.

The expansion was completed in mid-summer 2010 and held an official capacity of 101,821 making it the fifth largest college football stadium in the country. The new seats were all sold out quickly for the entire 2010 football season. Subsequent expansions included stores and other extra amenities on the bottom of the end zone.

As part of a larger, 10-year $600 million plan to upgrade campus athletic facilities, the University is planning $92.5 million in upgrades to the stadium, including new social spaces, improved circulation, additional premium seating and upgraded spaces for athletes and recruits. The Walk of Champions will be extended into a new game day locker room via a new tunnel clad with video boards. The project will be funded with $48.4 million in bonds and $35 million from the Crimson Tide Foundation, the fundraising arm of UA athletics. Construction is set to begin after the 2019 season.

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