LaVell Edwards Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, on the campus of Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. Primarily used for college football, it is the home field of the BYU Cougars, an independent in the

Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

. Opened as "Cougar Stadium" in 1964, its

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

is 63,470. The natural grass playing field is conventionally aligned north–south at an elevation of above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

, with the press box along the west sideline.

History and seating

On the north end of campus, the stadium opened in 1964 as Cougar Stadium, replacing a much smaller 5,000-seat venue of the same name. The first game on Friday night, October 2, was attended by 33,610, a state record. The original stadium, corresponding to the lower half of the current facility's grandstand seats, had a

was just over 28,800. Seating was soon added to make room for 35,000, and temporary bleachers in the end zones raised the capacity to 45,000. The stadium was expanded in 1982 to accommodate more than 65,000; permanent concrete stands in the end zones, separated by entryways from the east and west grandstands, were put in place of the temporary bleachers. The playing field was lowered , and the running track was removed to make room for six additional rows.

LaVell Edwards Reuben LaVell Edwards (October 11, 1930 – December 29, 2016) was an American football head coach for Brigham Young University (BYU). With 257 career victories, he ranks as one of the most successful college football coaches of all time. Among ...

(1930–2016) was the head coach at BYU for 29 seasons, preceded by ten years as an assistant. He announced his retirement effective at the end of the

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

season; the stadium was officially renamed in his honor immediately before his last home game as head coach. During the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

, the stadium's parking lot was used as a park and ride lot for guests attending events at the Peaks Ice Arena and Soldier Hollow. LaVell Edwards Stadium in Spring

Renovations

The stadium was renovated in 2003 to provide additional luxury seating, which reduced the capacity to 64,045. The luxury seating was a noticeable addition because the arrangement of blue and white seats in this section spells out BYU in block letters. In 2008, BYU unveiled a new video board on the north end zone on August 30, allowing fans seated in the south end zone to see the instant replays and graphics which previously were shown only on the south board. In addition, a brand-new addition to the stadium was the Cougar Marching Band Hall, which included a large rehearsal room, uniform storage space, band offices, instrument lockers, and video screens that assist in rehearsals. During the summer of 2010, the stadium's capacity was further reduced due to some renovations that allowed for more wheelchair accessibility. As of

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

, 63,470 is considered a sellout. The stadium underwent some upgrades before the 2012 season: new HD LED videoboards face the north and south end zones, replacing the outdated and smaller video screens, and they are flanked by video ribbons that stretch along the top of the north and south stands. The elevator shafts have been freshly coated to reflect the new BYU "blue" color scheme, each has the oval Y painted on it, and in 2013 the student section was unified into one area to seat the BYU student section instead of being scattered throughout the stadium. In September 2021, upgrades to newer, larger video boards were completed along with larger video ribbons. The dimensions of the old video boards were 34 by 50 feet, while the new dimensions of the new south board is 48 by 131 feet and the north board is 36 by 72 feet. The old north and south ribbon boards were four feet tall and were replaced with 8-foot ribbon boards.

Track and field

Prior to the 1982 expansion, it was the home venue for BYU's outdoor

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

teams and hosted the

NCAA championships The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

and 1975. A new track facility was built just south of the stadium and later named for Clarence F. Robison, the Cougars' legendary track coach.

Jurassic fossils under the stadium

Part of the largest collection of

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...

period

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s in North America, housed at BYU, was stored underneath the east bleachers of the stadium until 2005. The fossils have since been prepared and are on display in the

BYU Museum of Paleontology The Brigham Young University Museum of Paleontology was started in 1976 around the collection of James A. Jensen. For many years, it was known as the ''BYU Earth Science Museum'', and most of the collection was in storage under the LaVell Edwards ...

's collection room.

Security

Due to installation of new features in the stadium, the grounds crew and BYU Police have installed a number of security features to prevent students from entering the stadium after hours, including infrared security cameras and motion detectors.

References

External links

LaVell Edwards Stadium at BYUCougars.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lavell Edwards Stadium College football venues BYU Cougars football Brigham Young University buildings American football venues in Utah Defunct athletics (track and field) venues in the United States Sports venues in Utah County, Utah Sports venues completed in 1964 1964 establishments in Utah