From sunrise tailgates to the final whistle and school fight song, there is nothing quite like the experience of cheering on your alma mater in a college football game.
There has been a lot of innovation in stadium construction and fan experience in 150+ years of competition but these iconic venues take us back to the origins of the game. Take a closer look at some of the oldest college football stadiums in the U.S. and learn about their lasting legacies.
Franklin Field – Philadelphia, Pa.
Built in 1895, Franklin Field is the country’s oldest college football stadium. It is home to the University of Pennsylvania Quakers of the Ivy League and hosts the annual Penn Relays track and field meet. The Eastern University record with 1,423 games played in its proud history. The Quakers enter the 2023 season with an 867-514-42 all-time record.
Harvard Stadium – Boston, Mass.
While it isn’t the oldest, Harvard Stadium was the first venue specifically built for college football. The Harvard Crimson football team began in 1874, several years before its construction, and played McGill University in its first game. Harvard Stadium was built in 1903 as a 25th-anniversary gift from the class of 1879. It holds 30,323 fans.
The Harvard Crimson, who play in the Ivy League, are the primary residents of Harvard Stadium. From 1890 to 1919, the Crimson won seven national championships including back-to-back titles in 1912 and 1913.
Kyle Field – College Station, Texas
Texas A&M’s Kyle Field is one of the largest college football stadiums in the country seating 102,733. However, when it was built for the Aggies football team in 1905, it started on a 400×400-foot plot of land donated by athletic council president and dean of agriculture Edwin Jackson Kyle.
And even though the capacity nearly doubles most other stadiums of the time, Kyle Field is consistently pushing capacity, averaging more than 100,000 fans every season since 2014 as a powerhouse in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). This passionate fanbase is so well-known, in fact, that it has a nickname, “The 12th Man,” for E. King Gill who came down from the stands and suited up for the team in 1922. The Aggies, who founded their football program in 1894, have played at Kyle Field since 1905.
Fitton Field – Worcester, Mass.
The Holy Cross Crusaders played their first game in 1903 but did not dedicate Fitton Field until 1905 and did not play at the current site until 1908. Fitton Field’s steel structuring was added in 1924 and the stadium went through another major renovation in 1986 to remove the wooden stands and complete the horseshoe design. It now seats 23,500.
Along with the renovation, the Crusaders enjoyed a rebirth of sorts within the program winning 16 consecutive games between 1987 and 1989. The Crusaders compete in the Patriot League.
Bobby Dodd Stadium – Atlanta, Ga.
Beating Kyle Field by a few years, Bobby Dodd Stadium claims the title of the oldest on-campus stadium in NCAA Division I FBS history. The technicality here is Bobby Dodd Stadium opened in 1913 and Kyle Field was not a concrete stadium until 1927.
Home to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), this popular destination was originally named Grant Field before taking its new moniker in 1988. It seats 55,000 and was also home to Atlanta United FC of Major League Soccer until 2017. Since 2020, Bobby Dodd Stadium has had a state-of-the-art Shaw Sports Turf Legion NXT playing surface that allows for year-round activities including concerts when the Yellow Jackets are not in season.
The Next 5 Oldest Stadiums
There are several more venues that have endured for more than a century including a pair of stadiums in Mississippi and one built on former Civil War training grounds in Wisconsin. Together, these are the 10 oldest stadiums in college football.
- Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Miss.
- Yale Bowl in New Haven, Conn.
- Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss.
- Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio
- Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisc.
College Football Tickets
Mark an item off your sports fan bucket list with a game at one of these historic venues. Whether it is an early non-conference matchup or one of the final games before the College Football Playoff, TicketSmarter makes it easy to secure your seat in the stands with college football tickets.
