Washington–Grizzly Stadium

Washington–Grizzly Stadium
The Mecca of the FCS
	Aerial view from northwest in 2019
	Missoula Location in the United States Missoula Location in Montana
Address	Campus Drive
Location	University of Montana; Missoula, Montana, U.S.
Coordinates	46°51′50″N 113°58′52″W / 46.864°N 113.981°W
Elevation	3,190 feet (970 m) AMSL
Owner	University of Montana
Operator	University of Montana
Capacity	25,217 (2008–present); 23,183 (2003–2007); 19,005 (2002); 18,845 (1995–2001); 12,500 (1986–1994)
Record attendance	27,178; (November 18, 2023)
Surface	FieldTurf – (2016–present); SprinTurf – (2001–2016); Natural grass – (1986–2000)
Construction
Broke ground	September 1985
Opened	October 18, 1986;; 38 years ago
Construction cost	$3.2 million; ($8.89 million in 2023)
Architect	Fox, Ballas & Barrow; Rossman, Schneider & Gadvery
Tenants
	Montana Grizzlies – NCAA (1986–present); Missoula County Public Schools

Washington–Grizzly Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium in the western United States, located on the campus of the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana. Opened 38 years ago in 1986, it is home to the Montana Grizzlies, a member of the Big Sky Conference in Division I FCS (formerly Division I-AA).

Its infilled FieldTurf playing field is twenty feet (6 m) below ground level at an elevation of 3,190 feet (970 m) above sea level and runs in the traditional north–south orientation.^[3] The press box is above the west sideline and lights were added for the 2012 season.^[4]

With 26,217 seats, it is the largest all-purpose stadium in the state of Montana, and is the largest on-campus stadium in the Football Championship Subdivision that participates in the playoffs. The Yale Bulldogs' 61,446–seat Yale Bowl is the largest on-campus stadium in the FCS, but until 2025, Ivy League members have abstained from postseason play.^[a]

History

The stadium is named after construction magnate Dennis Washington, born in Washington, who donated $1 million to finance the stadium's construction in 1985. The inaugural game came in mid-season in 1986 (October 18), and the Griz have a record of 233–35 (.869) at the venue, through the 2023 season. Montana has gone undefeated at home in twelve of those seasons; the Griz won all ten home games in 2004 and posted a 9–0 mark seven times (1994, 1995, 1996, 2001, 2008, 2009, 2023).

Capacity and expansions

The current seating capacity is 25,217 and it has been expanded three times, most recently in 2008 with an upper deck expansion of 2,000 seats on the east side.

The original capacity in 1986 was 12,500 permanent seats on the sidelines with open grass seating behind the end zones, an approximate capacity of 15,000, weather-permitting. Permanent seating for the end zones was installed in 1995, which brought the seating to 18,845. Corner seating in the north end zone opened in 2003 and the most recent expansion in 2008 to the east grandstand brought the capacity to 25,217.

A new attendance record was set in 2015 when ESPN and four-time defending national champion North Dakota State opened the FCS season on August 29 and drew 26,472. The previous record was 26,352, set in 2014 against rival Montana State on November 22; both games were Grizzly victories. The current attendance record of 27,178 was set at the 2023 Brawl of the Wild when the Grizzlies beat Montana State to win the Big Sky Conference.^[5]

Field surface

Infilled SprinTurf was installed in 2001, and replaced in 2008. For its first fifteen seasons, the playing surface was natural grass; with the addition of the artificial turf in 2001, the playing surface was renamed "John Hoyt Field."

After fifteen seasons of SprinTurf, the playing surface was replaced with multi-color FieldTurf in the summer of 2016. Following the installation of FieldTurf in the new softball stadium (Grizzly Field), FieldTurf pitched the university with a new football field and within a month, it was approved by the board of regents and installed.

GrizVision

The video screen GrizVision, was installed in 2002 in the south end zone; at 26 by 36 feet (8 m × 11 m), it was one of the largest screens in an FCS football stadium and was upgraded in 2016 to a much larger screen: it features HD-quality video and measures 32 by 55 feet (10 m × 17 m), approximately twice the area of the old display.

Previous venues

Before Washington–Grizzly Stadium, the Grizzlies played off-campus at "new" Dornblaser Field from 1968–86. Prior to 1968, Montana played on-campus at "old" Dornblaser Field from 1920–67 (both named for Paul Dornblaser, football captain in 1912, killed in World War I). The old field was at the site of the Mansfield Library.

Prior to 1920, Montana played its home games at a field in downtown Missoula, near the former Missoulian newspaper building.

Largest attendance

**Washington–Grizzly stadium attendance records**
Official stadium capacity: 25,203
	Attendance	Result	Date
1	27,178	Montana 37, Montana State 7	Nov. 18, 2023
2	26,978	Montana 17, Ferris State 10	Sept. 16, 2023
3	26,856	Montana 29, Montana State 10	Nov. 29, 2021
4	26, 678	Montana 28, Idaho State 20	Sep. 30, 2023
5	26,544	Montana 31, North Dakota State 29	Dec. 16, 2023
6	26,508	Montana 25, Montana State 29	Nov. 17, 2018
7	26,482	Montana 29, Missouri State 24	Aug. 31, 2024
8	26,472	Montana 38, North Dakota State 35	Aug. 29, 2015
9	26,352	Montana 34, Montana State 7	Nov. 22, 2014
10	26,303	Montana 28, South Dakota 20	Sept. 13, 2014

Home records

Looking southwest in 2010,
against NAU on October 23

Year	Win	Loss
Year	W	L
1986	2	1
1987	3	2
1988	6	0
1989^	8	0
1990	4	2
1991	4	1
1992	5	1
1993^	6	1
1994^	9	0
1995^	9	0
1996^	9	0
1997	5	1
1998	5	1
1999^	5	2
2000^	8	1
2001^	9	0
2002^	7	1
2003^	6	2
2004^	10	0
2005^	5	2
2006^	8	1
2007^	7	1
2008^	9	0
2009^	9	0
2010	5	1
2011	6	0
2012	3	3
2013^	5	2
2014^	7	0
2015^	5	2
2016	5	1
2017	5	1
2018	3	3
2019	7	0
2020	2	0
2021	6	1
2022^	6	1
2023^	9	0
Total	233–35 (.869)
^Includes FCS Playoff Game(s)

Concerts

Date	Artist	Opening act(s)	Tour / Concert name	Attendance	Revenue	Notes
May 21, 1988	Smokey Robinson	Rob Quist & Great Northern	Library Benefit	1,700
June 20, 1998	Pearl Jam	Goodness	Yield Tour	—	—
October 4, 2006	The Rolling Stones	Black Rebel Motorcycle Club	A Bigger Bang Tour	22,000+	—	This is the band's first-ever concert in the state of Montana.^[6]
August 5, 2014	Paul McCartney	—	Out There	25,192 / 25,192	$3,775,111
August 13, 2018	Pearl Jam	—	Pearl Jam 2018 Tour	23,262 / 23,690	$2,114,194
August 13, 2021	Guns N' Roses	Mammoth WVH	Guns N' Roses 2020 Tour	15,500 / 18,000	$1,602,149
August 22, 2024	Pearl Jam	Glen Hansard	Dark Matter World Tour	25,326 / 25,326	$3,932,418
August 28, 2024	Pink	Sheryl Crow KidCutUp The Script	P!NK: Summer Carnival	26,440 / 26,440	$5,569,516

Notes

^ The FCS playoff participant Tennessee State Tigers football program plays its home games in the 69,143-seat Nissan Stadium, but it is not "on-campus" - the criteria applied here. The stadium was built by local government, primarily as the home field of the NFL's Tennessee Titans, some 4 miles (6.4 km) from the Tennessee State University campus.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "New UM Stadium Project on Schedule". Great Falls Tribune. August 6, 1986. p. 3C.
^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^ "Microsoft Research – Emerging Technology, Computer, and Software Research". Microsoft Research. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
^ Court Weston. "Lighting up Washington-Grizzly Stadium". Archived from the original on 2012-05-08.
^ "Griz dominate Cats for 19th Big Sky title". University of Montana Athletics. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
^ "The Rolling Stones Missoula 2006 show by IORR". iorr.org. Retrieved 2024-02-09.

External links

GoGriz.com – about Washington–Grizzly Stadium
World Stadiums.com – Washington–Grizzly Stadium

[fn1-5] The FCS playoff participant Tennessee State Tigers football program plays its home games in the 69,143-seat Nissan Stadium, but it is not "on-campus" - the criteria applied here. The stadium was built by local government, primarily as the home field of the NFL's Tennessee Titans, some 4 miles (6.4 km) from the Tennessee State University campus.

[arch-1] "New UM Stadium Project on Schedule". Great Falls Tribune. August 6, 1986. p. 3C.

[inflation-US-2] 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.

[3] "Microsoft Research – Emerging Technology, Computer, and Software Research". Microsoft Research. Retrieved 11 April 2018.

[4] Court Weston. "Lighting up Washington-Grizzly Stadium". Archived from the original on 2012-05-08.

[6] "Griz dominate Cats for 19th Big Sky title". University of Montana Athletics. Retrieved 2023-12-17.

[7] "The Rolling Stones Missoula 2006 show by IORR". iorr.org. Retrieved 2024-02-09.

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v t e Montana Grizzlies football
Venues	Dornblaser Field (I) (1912–1967) Naranche Stadium (alternate (Butte), 1938–1950) Dornblaser Field (II) (1968–1986) Washington–Grizzly Stadium (1986–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Eastern Washington: EWU–UM Governors Cup Idaho: Little Brown Stein Montana State
Culture and lore	Monte "Up With Montana" University of Montana Grizzly Marching Band
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

v t e University of Montana
Schools and colleges	College of Arts and Sciences College of Education and Human Sciences College of Forestry and Conservation College of Health Professions and Biomedical Sciences Missoula College School of Business Administration School of Journalism School of Law College of Visual and Performing Arts
Campuses	University of Montana ‒ Missoula Helena College University of Montana Montana Tech of the University of Montana University of Montana Western Flathead Lake Biological Station
Athletics	Montana Grizzlies and Lady Griz Football Brawl of the Wild Little Brown Stein Washington–Grizzly Stadium Men's basketball Women's basketball Dahlberg Arena Soccer Dornblaser Field Marching Band Monte "Up With Montana"
Historic buildings and landmarks	University Hall Forestry Bld. Schreiber Gym Rankin Hall Social Science Bld. Fine Arts Bld. The Oval The "M" Trail Memorial Row The Payne Family Native American Center
Student life	Student Organizations
Media	Camas CutBank Montana Kaimin Montanan KBGA 89.9 FM Montana Public Radio Montana PBS
Category