HOME OF LSU FOOTBALL TIGER STADIUM

The home schedule of the 2019 national championship season was capped by the Senior Tribute prior to the Texas A&M game, when quarterback Joe Burrow entered Tiger Stadium wearing a “Burreaux” nameplate on the back of his jersey. “Burreaux” was an homage by the eventual Heisman Trophy winner to LSU and to the people of Louisiana.

The 2007 national championship season featured some of Tiger Stadium’s most exciting moments, including a 28-24 win over Florida on Oct. 6. Top-ranked LSU overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the ninth-ranked Gators in front of 92,910 fans — then the largest crowd in stadium history — and a primetime CBS national television audience.

Just two weeks later, Matt Flynn connected with Demetrius Byrd on a 22-yard TD pass with one second remaining to give LSU a 30-24 victory over Auburn in a game televised by ESPN. LSU rallied from deficits of 17-7 at halftime and 24-23 with three minutes left in the contest to capture the electrifying win.

Though already considered one of the most raucous stadiums in all of college football, the 2003 season saw Tiger Stadium take it to another level during LSU’s national title run, as the team, along with the fans, captivated the national media almost on a weekly basis. CBS televised Matt Mauck’s last-minute game-winning pass to Skyler Green against Georgia before a crowd of 92,251, while ESPN was on hand for a dominating 31-7 victory over Auburn. The Tigers closed out the 2003 home slate with a 55-24 win over Arkansas before what was then the second-largest crowd in school history (92,213). The contest was televised to a national audience by CBS and the win propelled LSU to the SEC Championship Game.

The home of one of football’s proudest traditions, Tiger Stadium once served as a dormitory for approximately 1,500 students, and while Broussard Hall, then LSU’s athletics dormitory, was being renovated during the fall of 1986, the LSU football players lived in Tiger Stadium.

The original phase of construction was completed in 1924. This first phase included the east and west stands, which seated about 12,000. Seven years later (1931), the sides were extended upward to accommodate an additional 10,000 fans, raising the capacity to 22,000. In 1936, the stadium seating capacity was increased to 46,000, with the addition of 24,000 seats in the north end, making Tiger Stadium into a horseshoe configuration.

The next phase of construction took place in 1953 when the stadium’s south end was closed to turn the horseshoe into a bowl, increasing the seating capacity to 67,720.

The original upper deck atop the west stands was completed in 1978, and it added 8,000 seats to the stadium’s capacity. More seating in two club level sections, which flanked the existing press box, brought the total addition to approximately 10,000 seats and raised the stadium’s capacity to approximately 78,000.

Now the sixth-largest on-campus stadium in college football, Tiger Stadium continues to provide fans with the ultimate college football experience. Prior to the 2000 season, 11,600 seats were added with the installation of the east upper deck, bringing the capacity to nearly 92,000. In addition to the new east upper deck, 70 skyboxes, called “Tiger Dens,” were built, giving Tiger fans luxury accommodations. The addition of the 11,600 seats in 2000 marked the first expansion to Tiger Stadium since 1978, when the original west upper deck was completed.

The distinctive environment of Tiger Stadium became even more pronounced in 2005 as the ambitious West Upper Deck project was virtually completed. Construction on the project — which began immediately after LSU’s home finale against Ole Miss in November of 2004 – carried a $85 million price tag and rebuilt over 3,200 special amenity seats as a well as a state-of-the-art press box to Tiger Stadium. The west side renovation, which included the removal and rebuilding of the upper deck to mirror the east side upper deck, was finished during the 2006 season.

The 2012 season saw a new tradition established at Tiger Stadium. Following an LSU victory, the north end of the stadium lights up in “victory gold.” The new unique look is a part of a state-of-the-art lighting system that was installed prior to the season that turns the upper archways of the north end of the stadium to purple and gold. Also prior to the 2012 campaign, letters spelling out Tiger Stadium were installed on the west side.

In April 2012, a new exciting era of Tiger Stadium was unveiled by Alleva. Construction is well underway for 66 suites, approximately 3,000 club seats above the existing south end zone seats, as well as 1,400 general public seats above the new suite and club seating to be completed by the 2014 season. The project, privately funded by Tiger Athletic Foundation, will bring the capacity of Tiger Stadium to 102,321, making it the fifth-largest stadium in the nation.

First Game: vs. Tulane, 11/27/1924
First Night Game: vs. Spring Hill, 10/3/1931
Tiger Stadium (Nov. 27, 1924 – 2022 season): 444-156-18
State Field (1917 – Nov. 15, 24): 23-8
Field/Bleachers North of Pentagon Barracks (1911-16): 21-3-1
Old Parade Grounds South of Pentagon Barracks (1894-1910): 39-9-1

LSU’s All-Time Record in home games (through 2022): 527-16-20

Tiger Stadium tradition and lore has seen its share of national publicity as one of the most talked about venues in all of sports.

In 1998, Sport Magazine named Tiger Stadium “the most feared road playing site in America,” and in 1996, ESPN named LSU’s pre-game party the best in all of America. Those surveys supported the previous polls by Gannett News Service in 1995, The Sporting News in 1989 and the College Football Association in 1987, that depict Tiger Stadium as the most difficult place for a visiting team to play.

Sports Illustrated’s Rick Reilly, in a column comparing college football to professional football, penned that “College football is LSU’s Tiger Stadium at night.” ESPN’s Chris Fowler called LSU his favorite gameday experience in the Sports Illustrated’s On Campus issue in 2003.

In 2002, after a 33-10 non-conference win over Miami (Ohio), UM coach Terry Hoeppner said of Tiger Stadium, “That’s as exciting an environment as you can have. I thought the crowd was a factor for us because we had communication problems we haven’t had at Michigan and Ohio State.”

After a victory before a national television audience on ESPN in 2001, ESPN sideline reporter Adrian Karsten said, “Death Valley in Baton Rouge is the loudest stadium I’ve ever been in. There are very few stadiums in America worth a touchdown, but the Bayou Bengals certainly have that advantage in Tiger Stadium.”

In 2007, the acclaim continued when The Bleacher Report ranked “Death Valley” as the third toughest venue in the world to play in. LSU’s run to a national title and record crowds led ESPN.com to proclaim Tiger Stadium as “The Scariest Place to Play in America” for an opposing team in a list of stadium rankings.

Wright Thompson of ESPN.com wrote in 2008, “It was electric. When Death Valley is rocking, it seems as if it might actually take flight. On Saturday, I went back to Baton Rouge to see Alabama barely beat LSU, and was, once again, reminded that Tiger Stadium is the best place in the world to watch a sporting event.”

The stadium’s sheer noise and tradition has carried into a new decade. In 2010, The Sporting News proclaimed Tiger tailgating and “Saturday Night in Death Valley” as the top gameday tradition in all of college football. That same year, the Associated Press named Tiger Stadium as the top place to tailgate in college football.

Following the 2012 season, Athlon Sports wrote, “Be it the vast and unique tailgating menu or Richter Scale-inducing fans, few places in the nation can send chills down your spine like a game at Tiger Stadium. As one of the loudest and most rabid atmospheres in the nation, LSU boasts one of the most daunting home-field advantages in college football Ñ especially at night.”

NOTE: Total attendances figures since 1943 (tracked officially since 1957)

* Per NCAA official statistics, LSU’s 2015 NCAA ranking and average attendance do not take into account the include the South Carolina game, which was moved to Baton Rouge due to flooding in Columbia. Excluding the South Carolina game, LSU’s six-game total was 612,026, an average of 102,004.