Spartan Stadium is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2023 as the home of Michigan State football. Since its opening in 1923, Michigan State has won nearly 70 percent of its games played in Spartan Stadium (all-time record: 383-166-13, .693). The Spartans hosted their 500th game at Spartan Stadium on Oct. 12, 2013, against Indiana on Homecoming.
One of just four collegiate football fields in the country to win Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA) Field of the Year honors twice (2005 and 2016), Spartan Stadium featured a new playing surface for the 2019 season. The project, which took place in the spring of 2019, replaced the modular field system with a conventional grass field. The modules were first installed in 2002 when Spartan Stadium returned to natural grass for the first time in 33 years and were renovated following the 2011 U2 concert in which the entire surface had to be replaced.
The sod for the new field was grown at Tuckahoe Turfgrass Farms in New Jersey, the number one provider of high quality athletic field turfgrass for the Midwest and northeastern part of the country. The soil types at Tuckahoe Farms provided a natural match to the engineered root zone that is utilized in Spartan Stadium. Sod from Tuckahoe Farms can be seen in professional stadiums across the country, including Lambeau Field, Lincoln Financial Field and Heinz Field in the NFL. Along with the Michigan State turf management staff, Fields Inc. helped oversee the installation of the new grass in Spartan Stadium.
Spartan Stadium represents a tribute to Michigan State’s football past and a vote of confidence in its future. More than $55 million has been committed to upgrading the 100-year-old facility in recent years to continually enhance the gameday atmosphere. Most recently, the stadium underwent structural improvements over the summer of 2022 in addition to an updated audio system. Prior to the 2021 season, Michigan State added new chairback seating areas for an expanded sideline club, putting Spartan Stadium’s current capacity at 74,866 (previous: 75,005).
In December 2016, the Michigan State Board of Trustees approved a $13 million addition to the south end of Spartan Stadium that opened prior to the 2017 season. The 20,000-square-foot single-story project added 236 bathrooms, four concession stand areas (completed as a separate project for the 2018 season), and movement of the ticket entrances out from the stadium structure to create donor plazas and renovated gates similar to the North End Zone. In addition, permanent light structures, featuring LED field lighting, were installed over the summer in 2017 as part of the requirement of the new Big Ten broadcast agreement. The $2 million project meets NCAA national championship broadcast lighting levels of 125 vertical foot candles, and the field lighting is fully controllable.
In June 2013, the MSU Board of Trustees approved a $24.5 million project to the north end of Spartan Stadium that opened in August 2014. The structure features a two-story, 50,000-square-foot addition as well as an entrance plaza, renovated gates, and additional restrooms and concessions. The building includes locker rooms for teams, coaches and officials, including a 4,500-square-foot home locker room and a 700-square-foot home training room, in addition to a 3,600-square-foot media center and a 4,000-square-foot engagement center for all varsity sports. Former All-America offensive lineman Flozell Adams provided a leadership gift of $1.5 million for MSU’s new locker room, which is named in honor of his later mother, Rachel Adams.
Prior to the 2012 season, new high-def Panasonic video screens and scoreboards as well as a new sound system were installed in Spartan Stadium. The new scoreboard/video screen in the south end zone is 5,300-square feet, compared to its predecessor that measured just 567-square feet (installed in 1998). The top of the south end zone structure reaches 130 feet. In addition, two new video boards as well as an LED ribbon board were added to the north end zone. The LED ribbon board covers 4,500 square feet (450-feet long and 10-feet high). Combined, the south and north video screens/scoreboards total 13,300-square feet. The $10 million project replaced a 14-year-old scoreboard, message board and audio system. In July 2014, ESPN named Spartan Stadium’s south end zone scoreboard among the Top 10 in the nation at No. 9.
A $64 million expansion project completed prior to the start of the 2005 football season featured the addition of nearly 3,000 seats, including 24 suites and a 193-seat press box, bringing the stadium capacity to 75,005. “The Spartan” statue was relocated to the atrium of the new structure. The 200,000-square-foot addition also houses the MSU Alumni Association, University Development and other units. The Michigan State Board of Trustees approved the major addition and expansion project of Spartan Stadium in September 2003. Barton Malow/Clark served as the construction manager for the Spartan Stadium expansion project, with HNTB providing architectural services.
Following the June 26, 2011, U2 “360º” concert, the entire playing surface in Spartan Stadium had to be replaced. The updated playing surface, which was planted in April 2010 at Graff’s Turf Farms in Fort Morgan, Colorado, was comprised of a blend of four varieties of Kentucky bluegrass. The installation of the new sod, transported to Spartan Stadium in 26 refrigerator trucks, took three days (July 12-15).
Spartan Stadium, which officially opened in 1923 at its current location, featured a natural grass playing surface until artificial turf was installed in 1969. The stadium returned to natural grass for the 2002 season. In 2005 and 2016, the natural grass playing surface in Spartan Stadium earned Field of the Year honors from the Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA).
Natural grass returned to Spartan Stadium in 2002 after a 33-year absence, with the installation of a modular field. The playing surface, planted in May of 2001 at MSU’s Hancock Turfgrass Research Center, was comprised of a blend of nine varieties of Kentucky bluegrass. The original switch from natural grass to artificial turf came in time for the 1969 season.
Since 1957, capacity crowds have attended 172 games in Spartan Stadium, including the single-game record 80,401 fans who witnessed MSU’s 20-19 loss to top-ranked Notre Dame on Sept. 22, 1990. The Spartans have ranked among the NCAA’s Top 25 in attendance each of the last 66 seasons (excluding 2020 due to COVID-19 protocols), including 20th in 2022, averaging 69,047 fans per game. The Spartans also ranked 19th in the NCAA in total attendance in 2022 as 483,332 fans went through the turnstiles for seven home games, including a season-high 74,587 vs. Minnesota on Sept. 24.
When the football team moved its home games to the present site of Spartan Stadium from Old College Field, where games had been played since the 1902 season, it marked the end of a short-lived nine-hole campus golf course which was located on the south end of the Red Cedar River. A series of projects paralleling the Spartans’ rise to national football prominence enlarged the steel-and-concrete facility from its original 13,064 seats in 1923 to its present size of nearly 75,000.
A grant from the State Legislature provided a fund of $160,000 for the structure built in 1923 that consisted of two concrete stands running the length of the field, 36 rows high on each side, providing room for 13,064 people. Temporary bleachers along the north and south ends of the field could raise that total to more than 20,000.
The first game at the new stadium was a 21-6 victory over Lake Forest on Oct. 6, 1923. Although Michigan State played four homes in 1923, the new stadium was officially dedicated on Oct. 11, 1924, against Michigan on Homecoming before a crowd of 20,500.
The first renovation came in 1936, as part of a Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) project, when the field was lowered eight feet, the track was removed, and the entire surface was resodded. In addition, 12 rows were added around the end zones to increase the permanent seating capacity to 19,598 seats. Temporary bleachers on both the north and south end zones boosted the capacity to approximately 27,000.
In 1948, a significant $1.75 million enlargement project increased the seating capacity to 50,745 (13,794 in the east stands; 13,066 in the west stands limited to the new press box; 12,007 in the south stands; and 11,878 in the north stands). The newly renovated stadium was dedicated on Sept. 25, 1948, against Michigan before a crowd of 51,526.
After more than 9,000 new seats upped the capacity to 60,036 in 1956 by making the south stands the same level as the east and west sides (66 rows), the upper decks were added to the east and west stands in 1957, bringing the capacity to 76,000.
The facility was also renamed Spartan Stadium in 1957 after being dedicated as Macklin Field on Nov. 9, 1935, in honor of former head coach John Macklin (note: the name Macklin Field Stadium was used from 1940-56).
Renovations during the summer of 1994 improved sightlines and comfort for fans, while reducing the capacity to 72,027. On Oct. 6, 2001, Spartan Stadium added another chapter to its storied history as a then world-record crowd of 74,554 attended the MSU-Michigan outdoor hockey game.
Michigan State has compiled a 383-166-13 record (.693) since taking up residency in Spartan Stadium (formerly Macklin Field) in 1923. The Spartans have gone undefeated at home 21 times since the stadium opened in 1923, including the six-game 2021 home season under Big Ten Coach of the Year Mel Tucker. In addition, Michigan State has suffered only one home loss during a season 30 times. Under former head coach Mark Dantonio, the Spartans went 67-24 (.736) in home games (2007-19), including a 15-game winning streak (7-0 in 2010, 7-0 in 2011, won first game in 2012) and a 12-game winning streak (7-0 in 2013, won first five in 2014), which rank second and tied for third longest, respectively, in Spartan Stadium history. Michigan State’s longest home winning streak at Spartan Stadium is 19 games from Oct. 14, 1950, through Nov. 21, 1953.
From Capital City Airport: Turn right (west) onto Grand River Avenue to Waverly Road and turn left (south). Follow Waverly to I-496 East. Follow I-496 East to Trowbridge Road exit. Turn left (north) at first traffic light, which is Harrison Road. Turn right (east) on Shaw Lane. Spartan Stadium will be on the left.
From the South (Jackson): Take US 127 North to Trowbridge Road exit. Turn left (north) at first traffic light, which is Harrison Road. Turn right (east) on Shaw Lane. Spartan Stadium will be on the left.
From the North (St. Johns): Take US 127 South to Trowbridge Road exit. Turn left (north) at first traffic light, which is Harrison Road. Turn right (east) on Shaw Lane. Spartan Stadium will be on the left.
From the East (Detroit): I-96 West to US 127 (Exit 106) North to Trowbridge Road exit. Turn left (north) at first traffic light, which is Harrison Road. Turn right (east) on Shaw Lane. Spartan Stadium will be on the left.
From the West (Grand Rapids): I-96 East to I-496 East (Exit 95) to Trowbridge Road exit. Turn left (north) at first traffic light, which is Harrison Road. Turn right (east) on Shaw Lane. Spartan Stadium will be on the left.
From the Southwest (Charlotte): I-69 North to I-96 East to US 127 North to Trowbridge Road exit. Turn left (north) at first traffic light, which is Harrison Road. Turn right (east) on Shaw Lane. Spartan Stadium will be on the left.
From the Northeast (Flint): I-69 South to US 127 South to Trowbridge Road exit. Turn left (north) at first traffic light, which is Harrison Road. Turn right (east) on Shaw Lane. Spartan Stadium will be on the left.
