Bryant-Denny Stadium

Aerial view of Bryant-Denny Stadium

Bryant-Denny Stadium (formerly George Hutchenson Denny Stadium, Building #7046) is the home stadium for the University of Alabama football team, located on campus in Tuscaloosa at 100 Bryant Drive. The stadium, which opened in 1929, has a current seating capacity of 92,138.

It is named after Bear Bryant and former UA President George H. Denny. The stadium is the fourth-largest stadium among schools in the 14-member Southeastern Conference, and seventh-largest on-campus stadium nationwide.

History

George Hutchenson Denny Stadium opened on September 28, 1929 with a 55-0 victory over Mississippi College. It has undergone six expansions since then. The first came in 1937 when 6,000 seats were added on the east side and brought capacity to 18,000. After two more expansions in 1950 and 1961, the grandstands reached a total of 61 rows and the capacity was 43,000. In 1966, the grandstands were extended into the end zones, and the capacity grew to 60,000. The west upper deck and press box added 10,000 more seats in 1988. The east upper deck was added for the 1998 season, providing 10,000 additional bleacher seats and 81 skyboxes on two levels and raising the total capacity to 83,818. Also added during this expansion were a scoreboard with video display capabilities in the south endzone as well as a new east side entrance tower, a brick facade, and reception areas for the Scholarship and A-Club level patrons.

The most recent expanison was completed in fall of 2006. This brought seating capacity to 92,138, making Bryant-Denny Stadium the seventh largest on-campus facility in the nation, the largest stadium in the state of Alabama, and the fourth largest in the Southeastern Conference.

With the addition of two new Jumbotrons, one placed in each corner of the north endzone, Bryant-Denny Stadium is the only college stadium in the country with three jumbotrons. Four-feet high and 450 feet long LCD ribbon screens have been placed along the East and West upper deck facades making it the largest of its kind in NCAA football and rivaling most professional stadiums.

Prior to Denny Stadium being built, the Tide played on the Quad (1893-1914) and Denny Field (1915-1917 and 1919-1928). Those years represent a total of 53 games for which Bama posted a 44-9 record. There were two different sites used on the Quad, the first located on the southeast corner, with the field running parallel to 6th Avenue. Around the turn of the century, the field was moved 90-degrees to the west to run parallel to University Boulevard.

In 1915, games were played on University Field, renamed Denny Field in 1920, where the Tide played for the next 14 years. Alabama posted a 43-2 record on that field and held opponents scoreless in 35 of those games. Denny Field was two blocks east of the current stadium, behind Little Hall. Mallet Hall and Parker-Adams Hall now stand on the north endzone of Denny Field. A parking lot covers the rest of what remains of Denny Field.

The Crimson Tide owns an impressive 187-32-3 all-time record at the stadium, although this record is misleading, because prior to the construction of the east upper deck in 1998, the Crimson Tide's major home games were played at Legion Field in Birmingham. Bryant-Denny has boasted sellouts at 56 consecutive Tuscaloosa games since 1988. Bryant-Denny is the fourth-largest stadium in the Southeastern Conference after Neyland Stadium at the University of Tennessee, Sanford Stadium at the University of Georgia, and Tiger Stadium at LSU.

Fail Room

In 2008 then Director of Athletics Mal Moore announced that the visiting team's locker room at Bryant-Denny Stadium would be named the "Fail Room", in honor of alumnus and Crimson Tide Foundation donor James Fail (1926–2010).

In 2023 former assistant Attorney General of Alabama Phillip Stano wrote a letter to the University of Alabama Board of Trustees criticizing the honor due to Fail's involvement in a burial insurance fraud scheme in the 1970s.

Facts

• The stadium, by capacity, is the second largest sporting events venue in the state, with the largest being the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega (capacity: 143,231).
• All-time attendance record: 92,138 (vs. Hawaii, September 2, 2006), which is also the largest crowd to have ever witnessed a football game in the state of Alabama.
• All-time win-loss record in stadium: 187-32-3
• Number of skyboxes: 123 (85 added the east side in 1998, 38 added on the north side in 2006)
• Consecutive sellouts: 56 (since 1988, as of 08/01/01)
• From 1947 until 2000, the annual Iron Bowl game between Alabama and Auburn was played in Birmingham. Prior to 1988, Legion Field was divided 50-50; however, after this game, Alabama would have their home game here every other year. (Auburn had begun hosting the game in Auburn in 1989, and every other year since 1993.)
• Special features:
  • Video scoreboard in south endzone.
  • Reception areas for A-Club and Scholarship club level patrons in central entrance tower on east side.
  • Two ribbon boards mounted on the east and west sides of the stadium which measure approximately 4 feet high by 420 feet wide, making these displays the largest ever installed at an outdoor collegiate facility, as well as rivaling many professional stadiums.
  • Two jumbotrons that are located in both corners of the north end zone.

References

• "Bryant-Denny Stadium" (February 11, 2007) Wikipedia - accessed February 20, 2007
• "Bryant-Denny Stadium Visitors Locker Room Named for James M. Fail." (December 15, 2008) University of Alabama
• Stephenson, Jemma (December 13, 2023) "Former Alabama assistant attorney general wants donor’s name off UA locker room." Alabama Reflector

External links

• Bryant-Denny Stadium on RollTide.com
• Bryant-Denny Stadium at tour.ua.edu
• 3-D model of Bryant-Denny Stadium by Jordan Herring