Washington–Grizzly Stadium

Washington–Grizzly Stadium
	Washington–Grizzly Stadium in 2019
Location	Campus Drive; Missoula, Montana, U.S.
Coordinates	46°51′50″N 113°58′52″W / 46.864°N 113.981°WCoordinates: 46°51′50″N 113°58′52″W / 46.864°N 113.981°W
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	26,856; (November 20, 2021)
Surface	FieldTurf – (2016–present); SprinTurf – (2001–2016); Natural grass – (1986–2000)
Construction
Broke ground	September 1985
Opened	October 18, 1986; 35 years ago
Construction cost	$3.2 million; ($7.56 million in 2020)
Architect	Fox, Ballas & Barrow; Rossman, Schneider & Gadvery
Tenants
	Montana Grizzlies – NCAA (1986–present); Missoula County Public Schools

Missoula

Location in the United States

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 35 years ago in 1986, it is home to the Montana Grizzlies, a member of the Big Sky Conference and a team in Division I FCS (formerly Division I-AA).

Its infilled SprinTurf 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] It is the largest all-purpose stadium in the state of Montana.

History[]

The stadium is named after construction magnate Dennis Washington, a Montanan 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 199–30 (.869) at the venue, through the 2017 season. Montana has gone undefeated at home in eleven of those seasons; the Griz won all ten home games in 2004 and posted a 9–0 mark six times (1994, 1995, 1996, 2001, 2008, 2009).

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.

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 15 seasons of "SprinTurf", The playing surface in WGS was replaced with multi-color "FieldTurf" in the summer of 2016. After Grizzly Field (Softball) installed "FieldTurf" in their new stadium, "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.

WA-Griz largest crowds[]

Looking southwest in 2010, against NAU on October 23

**Washington–Grizzly stadium attendance records**
Official stadium capacity: 25,203
	Attendance	Result	Date
1	26,856	Montana 29, Montana State 10	Nov. 29, 2021
2	26,508	Montana 25, Montana State 29	Nov. 17, 2018
3	26,472	Montana 38, North Dakota State 35	Aug. 29, 2015
4	26,352	Montana 34, Montana State 7	Nov. 22, 2014
5	26,303	Montana 28, South Dakota 20	Sept. 13, 2014
6	26,293	Montana 30, Appalachian State 6	Aug. 31, 2013
7	26,136	Montana 23, Northern Arizona 14	Sept. 26, 2015
8	26,082	Montana 37, Eastern Washington 42	Oct. 26, 2013
9	26,066	Montana 17, Eastern Washington 14	Sept. 17, 2011
10	26,065	Montana 19, Cal Poly 20	Sept. 5, 2015
11	26,019	Montana 16, Montana State 21	Nov. 20, 2010

At home win-loss record[]

The stadium in 2012, after expansion and lights were added

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
Total	218–34 (.865)
^Includes FCS Playoff Game(s)

Concerts[]

Date	Artist	Opening act(s)	Tour / Concert name	Attendance	Revenue	Notes
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.^[5]
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	—	—

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 January 1, 2020.
^ "Microsoft Research – Emerging Technology, Computer, and Software Research". Microsoft Research. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
^ http://www.montanakaimin.com/mobile/sports/lighting-up-washington-grizzly-stadium-1.2690020
^ iorr.org/tour05/missoula.htm – Retrieved October 27, 2011

External links[]

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

[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 January 1, 2020.

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

[4] ttp://www.montanakaimin.com/mobile/sports/lighting-up-washington-grizzly-stadium-1.2690020

[5] rr.org/tour05/missoula.htm – Retrieved October 27, 2011

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v t Montana Grizzlies football
Venues	Dornblaser Field (I) (1912–1967) (alternate (Butte), 1938–1950) Dornblaser Field (II) (1968–1986) Washington–Grizzly Stadium (1986–present)
Bowls & rivalries	EWU–UM Governors Cup (Eastern Washington) Little Brown Stein (Idaho) 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
National championship seasons in bold

v t University of Montana
Schools and Colleges	College of Education and Human Sciences College of Forestry and Conservation College of Technology School of Business Administration School of Journalism School of Law
Campuses	University of Montana ‒ Missoula University of Montana – Helena College of Technology Montana Tech of the University of Montana University of Montana Western
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
Noted people	Mike Mansfield Jeannette Rankin Harold Urey Carroll O'Connor
Media	Camas CutBank Montana Kaimin Montanan KBGA 89.9 FM Montana Public Radio Montana PBS
Category