Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium (UT) (Austin, Texas)

 american football stadium, 1924_construction

405 East 23rd Street
Austin, TX 78712
(512) 471-3434
www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/std.html

Darrell K Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium (formerly Texas Memorial Stadium), located on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, is the home of the UT Longhorns football team.

The stadium opened in November 1924 with a capacity of 27,000, originally consisting of east and west stands and having a track surrounding the football field. In 1926, a stand was added to the north, giving the stands a horseshoe shape and expanding the capacity to 40,500. In 1948, the west and east stands were extended, increasing capacity to 60,136. Lighting was installed in 1955. From 1969 to 1971, an upper deck was added to the west side, increasing capacity to 77,809. The Moncrief-Neuhaus Athletics Center was added to the south end of the stadium in 1986. 14 luxury boxes were added to the west side in 1997. An upper deck and 52 luxury boxes were added to the east side in 1998, increasing the capacity to 79,471. The track was removed in 1999 and field level seating was added, bringing capacity to 80,082. The "Godzillatron" scoreboard was added in 2006. In 2007-08, the North Stand was torn down and a new two-tiered grandstand will 44 luxury boxes was built in its place, bringing the stadium's capacity to 94,113. In 2009, permanent bleachers in the south end were added. The stadium's current official capacity is 100,119 (with 110 luxury boxes), making it the largest in the Big 12 Conference, and the fifth largest on-campus stadium in college football. The stadium's surface was originally natural grass until 1969, when it was replaced by artificial turf. Natural grass return in 1996, and the grass was replaced by Field in 2008.

The stadium was originally named "Texas Memorial Stadium", to honor the 198,520 Texans who fought in World War I. In 1996, it was renamed to honor the legendary Longhorn football coach Darrell K Royal, who led UT to three national championships and eleven Southwest Conference titles during his tenure.