Canvas Stadium

Sonny Lubick Field
at Canvas Stadium

Fort Collins Location in the United States Show map of the United States Fort Collins Location in Colorado Show map of Colorado
Full name	Sonny Lubick Field at Canvas Stadium
Former names	Sonny Lubick Field at Colorado State Stadium (2017)
Address	751 West Pitkin Street
Location	Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado, U.S.
Coordinates	40°34′12″N105°05′19″W / 40.5700°N 105.0885°W / 40.5700; -105.0885
Elevation	5,003 feet (1,525 m) AMSL
Owner	Colorado State University
Operator	Colorado State University
Capacity	41,000
Surface	Shaw Sports Artificial turf
Construction
Broke ground	September 14, 2015 [1]
Opened	August 5, 2017; 7 years ago (2017-08-05) [2]
Construction cost	$220.1 million [3] ($274 million in 2023 [4] )
Architect	Populous ICON Venue Group
General contractor	M. A. Mortenson Co.
Tenants
Colorado State Rams (NCAA) (2017–present)
Website
csurams.com/canvas-stadium

Canvas Stadium, officially Sonny Lubick Field at Canvas Stadium, is an outdoor college football stadium in the western United States, located on the campus of Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins, Colorado.

The home field of the CSU Rams of the Mountain West Conference, it opened on August 5, 2017, and hosted its first game three weeks later. It replaced Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium, which had been the Rams' home since 1968. Canvas Stadium has a seating capacity of 36,500, but can hold as many as 41,000. ^[5]

The field has a conventional north–south alignment at an elevation of 5,003 feet (1,525 m) above sea level.

Development

After a nearly two-year process including cost and financing changes, protests, community outreach, and an inter-governmental agreement with the city of Fort Collins, the $220 million, 41,000-capacity on-campus multi-purpose stadium began construction in May 2015.

In 2013, the university began raising funds for a ~40,000-seat on-campus facility to replace Hughes Stadium. The project was partially driven by major decreases in state funding for CSU in recent decades. As a result, CSU has been seeking to draw more out-of-state students, whose current tuition is three times that of Colorado residents. CSU president Anthony A. Frank included the new stadium as part of this goal saying "the new facility will help build a winning football team while advancing one of the school's highest priorities: attracting more out-of-state students". ^[6]

According to The Wall Street Journal ,

"Skeptics, including some alumni and faculty, see the project as a boondoggle—especially for a team that plays in a relatively low-profile athletic conference and doesn't sell out its current 32,500-seat stadium off campus. The debate has sparked dueling websites, animated letters to the editor and arguments about the role of sports at a university." ^[6]

Many community members expressed frustration that they did not feel they were being heard at the CSU Board of Governors meeting when final approval was given. After the vote Board chair, Dorothy Horrell, thanked those making comments for their input and reiterated her feeling that

"the decision to build an on-campus stadium was made after "thoughtful and thorough examination of this issue" that is reflected in the board's records. "As my parents used to tell me, just because I ask a question and didn't get the answer I wanted, it isn't that the question wasn't answered," Horrell said. "And I would just remind us all of that." ^[7]

The stadium under construction

The new stadium, initially estimated to cost $246 million, was originally only to be built if $125 million in private funds had been raised by October 2014. ^[6] Plans were put on hold after fundraising support for the project failed to materialize as expected, according to a September 26, 2014, story in the Denver Business Journal. On November 29, 2014, Frank sent a memo to the school's board of governors recommending that the new stadium be approved without raising the 50% cost in public funds as previously planned. The memo estimated that a 35,900-seat facility would cost $195 million; building with a capacity of 41,200 would cost $220 million. ^[8] Frank also estimated that renovating Hughes Stadium to last 30 to 40 years would cost a minimum of $149 million. ^[8]

The board of governors approved a new on campus multi-purpose stadium on December 5, 2014. At that time, NBCSports.com writer Brent Sobleski speculated that the hiring of Rams head coach Jim McElwain for the head coaching vacancy at Florida days earlier may have swayed the board, noting, "An improving program and a new stadium could help lure another top-level candidate like the school previously did when McElwain was initially hired." ^[9] CSU went on to hire Mike Bobo from the SEC like McElwain before him. University of Georgia's Coach Bobo was named the nation's Offensive Coordinator of the Year in 2013 by 247Sports.com. ^[10] Georgia also had the top scoring offense in the SEC in 2014, Bobo's last season before heading to CSU. ^[11]

Construction of the new stadium, tentatively known as Colorado State Stadium, began in May 2015; the official groundbreaking ceremony was held the weekend of CSU's September 12, 2015 home football game against Minnesota. The first game in the new stadium was August 26, 2017, when the Rams defeated Oregon State 58–27. ^[12]

Stadium donations

In March 2016, the university announced that it had received an anonymous gift of $20 million over a 30-year period with the express purpose of naming the playing field at the new stadium after former Rams head coach Sonny Lubick, whose name was also attached to the playing field at Hughes Stadium. ^[13] This gift was roughly the amount that the university had hoped to make by selling the naming rights to both the stadium and the field. ^[14]

In August of that year, New Belgium Brewing Company, an iconic, local Fort Collins brewery, donated $4.3 million to put its name and its product on the party deck of the north end zone of the $220 million stadium. ^[15] This new bar area is called the New Belgium Porch.

On April 19, 2018, CSU announced it had sold the naming rights of the stadium itself to Public Service Credit Union for $37.7 million over 15 years. The actual name was not revealed at that time because PSCU was in the process of adopting a new name, ^[14] which was ultimately revealed on June 5 of that year as Canvas Credit Union. Accordingly, the stadium became Canvas Stadium. ^[16]

Attendance records

Canvas Stadium has a seating capacity of 36,500, but can hold as many as 41,000. ^[5]

Rank	Attendance	Date	Game Result
1	40,099	September 14, 2024	Colorado 28, Colorado State 9
2	37,583	August 26, 2017	Colorado State 58, Oregon State 27
3	36,765	October 14, 2017	Colorado State 44, Nevada 42
4	36,720	November 15, 2024	Colorado State 24, Wyoming 10
5	36,573	September 7, 2024	Colorado State 38, Northern Colorado 17
6	36,514	October 13, 2018	Colorado State 20, New Mexico 18
7	35,009	October 15, 2022	Utah State 17, Colorado State 13
8	34,901	October 14, 2023	Colorado State 31, Boise State 30
9	34,780	October 9, 2021	San Jose State 14, Colorado State 32
10	33,895	October 29, 2022	Colorado State 10, Boise State 49
11	33,074	October 28, 2017	Colorado State 28, Air Force 45
12	32,327	September 3, 2021	Colorado State 23, South Dakota State 42
13	32,166	November 11, 2017	Colorado State 52, Boise State 59OT
14	32,125	October 26, 2018	Wyoming 34, Colorado State 21
15	31,894	September 8, 2018	Arkansas 27, Colorado State 34
16	31,497	September 2, 2023	Colorado State 24, Washington State 50
17	31,007	August 25, 2018	Hawaii 43, Colorado State 34
18	30,300	November 12, 2022	Wyoming 14, Colorado State 13
19	27,932	September 30, 2023	Colorado State 41, Utah Tech 20
20	27,767	October 5, 2019	San Diego State 24, Colorado State 10

See also

• List of NCAA Division I FBS football stadiums

References

1. White, Rob (September 12, 2015). "CSU breaks ground on new football stadium". Coloradoan . (Fort Collins). Retrieved September 14, 2015.
2. "Colorado State Stadium: Frequently Asked Questions". Colorado State University. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
3. "CSU's Multi-Purpose Stadium Report – May 2016" (PDF). Colorado State University. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
4. 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 February 29, 2024.
5. Lyell, Kelly (April 26, 2021). "Colorado State selling football tickets with plans for full capacity at Canvas Stadium". Fort Collins Coloradan.
6. Bachman, Rachel (September 27, 2013). "Colorado State University Bets on a Stadium to Fill Its Coffers". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
7. "CSU AD pledges to heal wounds opened in stadium debate". Coloradoan.com. 2015-05-07. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
8. "Colorado State president recommends new on-campus stadium to replace existing football arena". The Republic . Columbus, Indiana. Associated Press. November 29, 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-12-19. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
9. Sobleski, Brent (December 5, 2014). "Board of Governors approve new on-campus stadium for Colorado State Rams". College Football Talk. NBCSports.com. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
10. "Georgia's Mike Bobo named Offensive Coordinator of Year (UPDATED) | UGA Sports Blog | www.ajc.com". Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
11. "2015 SEC College Football Team Statistics Leaders for Total - ESPN". Espn.go.com. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
12. "Colorado St. opens new stadium by beating Oregon St 58-27". ESPN.com. Associated Press. August 26, 2017. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
13. "$20 million gift ensures winning tradition of "Sonny Lubick Field" continues at CSU's new on-campus stadium" (Press release). Colorado State Rams. March 25, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
14. Lyell, Kelly (April 19, 2018). "CSU's on-campus stadium naming rights sell for $37.7 million". Coloradoan . Fort Collins, CO. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
15. http://source.colostate.edu/csu-new-belgium-brewing-craft-agreement-creating-new-belgium-porch-at-on-campus-stadium New Belgium Brewing craft agreement creating New Belgium Porch at on-campus stadium
16. "Canvas Stadium is new name for Colorado State University's multipurpose stadium" (Press release). Colorado State Rams. June 5, 2018. Retrieved June 8, 2018.

External links

• Official website