Michigan Stadium. The Big House. Home of Michigan Football. One
of the country's most classic, widely recognized sporting
facilities, Michigan Stadium has come to symbolize the pride,
tradition and excellence of the University of Michigan. There is
truly no place like it on a fall Saturday afternoon.
In the early 1920s, Fielding Yost formed a vision that would
become Michigan Stadium. With winning teams and large fan turnouts,
Yost realized the need for a larger football stadium. He asked for
the Regents' approval, but considering the 1921 expansion of Ferry
Field, they were hesitant to move forward with a new stadium. With
Yost's dogged perseverance, they finally approved it on April 22,
1926.
The
new structure was built on land that had been home to an underground
spring. The water posed a problem to the construction, creating a
surface that resembled quicksand. It was this moist ground that
during construction, engulfed a crane which remains under the
stadium today. The high water table also led to nearly
three-quarters of the stadium being built below ground level.
Yost envisioned a stadium that would seat between 100,000 and
150,000 people. After much debate, the Regents, the University of
Michigan and Fielding Yost reached an agreement by which the stadium
would seat 72,000, with the ability to expand to more than 100,000.
The construction would be financed not by the taxpayers of the State
of Michigan, but by the sale of 3,000 $500 bonds.
Fashioned after the Yale Bowl, 440 tons of reinforcing steel and
31,000 square feet of wire mesh went into the building of the
44-section, 72-row, 72,000-seat stadium at a cost of $950,000. As
the stadium neared completion, Yost requested an additional 10,000
temporary seats for the concourse. This request was passed, and
Michigan Stadium opened at the corner of Main Street and Stadium
Boulevard with a capacity of 84,401 -- the largest college owned
stadium of any team in the nation.
On Oct. 1, 1927, Michigan played Ohio Wesleyan in the first game
at Michigan Stadium, winning 33-0. Dedication of the new stadium
came three weeks later, Oct. 22, 1927, against Ohio State, in
another Michigan victory. The Buckeyes had hoped for revenge from
the dedication of their own stadium five years earlier when the
Wolverines came away with a 19-0 victory, but it was not to be.
Since that inaugural season, Michigan Stadium has seen over 35
million fans pass through its gates and over 170 consecutive crowds
of 100,000 plus. Many changes and renovations have continuously
improved the quality of the facility, while increasing its capacity
to its present 107,501. While there are many things known about
Michigan Stadium, one aspect that remains a mystery is the location
of Fritz Crisler's seat -- the one "extra" seat that is indicated in
the capacity number given to Michigan Stadium every year since 1956.
Despite this anonymity, the legacies of Crisler and Yost live on as
Michigan continues to pack the stadium full of 100,000-plus fans
game after game.