Bryant-Denny Stadium
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| Former names | Denny Stadium (1929–1975) |
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| Location | 920 Paul W Bryant Drive Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35401 USA |
| Coordinates | 33°12′28″N 87°33′2″W / 33.20778°N 87.55056°WCoordinates: 33°12′28″N 87°33′2″W / 33.20778°N 87.55056°W |
| Owner | University of Alabama |
| Operator | University of Alabama |
| Capacity | 18,000 (1929–1935) 24,000 (1936–1945) 31,000 (1946–1960) 43,000 (1961–1965) 60,210 (1966–1987) 70,123 (1988–1997) 83,818 (1998–2004) 81,018 (2005) 92,138 (2006–2008) 92,012 (2009) 101,821 (2010–present) |
| Record attendance | 101,821 |
| Surface | Grass (1929–1967, 1992–present) AstroTurf (1968–1991) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | December 1928 |
| Opened | September 28, 1929 |
| Expanded | 1937: East side bleachers 1950: 7,000+ seats 1961: 18,000+ seats 1966: 17,000+ seats 1988: West side upper deck 1998: East side upper deck 2006: North end zone and upper deck 2010: South end zone and upper deck |
| Construction cost | $196,000 ($2.73 million in 2017 dollars) |
| Tenants | |
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Alabama Crimson Tide (NCAA) (1929–present) Alabama High School Athletic Association (2009–present) |
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Bryant–Denny Stadium, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States, is the home stadium for the University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team. The stadium opened in 1929 and was originally named Denny Stadium in honor of George H. Denny, the school's president from 1912 to 1932. In 1975, the Alabama legislature added longtime football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant's name to the stadium. Bryant would coach the remaining seven seasons of his career in the stadium, making him one of the few collegiate coaches to have coached in an arena or stadium that is (partially) named for him.
It has a seating capacity of 101,821, and is the fourth largest stadium in the Southeastern Conference, the seventh largest stadium in the United States and the eighth largest stadium in the world.
Serving as a replacement for Denny Field, Denny Stadium opened on September 28, 1929, with 6,000 in attendance for a 55–0 victory over Mississippi College. It was officially dedicated the following week at Homecoming ceremonies against Ole Miss, a game the Crimson Tide would win 22–7. Originally, the stadium had a capacity of 12,000—the lower half of the current stadium's east grandstand. However, President Denny initially envisioned a full bowl stadium capable of seating 66,000 people. In 1937, the first expansion of the stadium added 6,000 seats along the east sideline to increase the capacity to 18,000. Further expansions in 1950, 1961, and 1966 raised capacity to 25,000, 43,000, and 60,000, respectively. A 10,000-seat upper deck was added in 1987–88 for a capacity of 70,123. During the construction, the Crimson Tide was forced to play its entire 1987 home schedule at Birmingham's Legion Field, 56 miles (90 km) from the Tuscaloosa campus.
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