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![]() The stadium during a Vanderbilt vs. Tennessee game in 2016 | |
Former names | Dudley Field (1922–1981) Vanderbilt Stadium (1981–2022) |
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Location | Jess Neely Drive, Nashville, Tennessee |
Coordinates | 36°8′39″N86°48′32″W / 36.14417°N 86.80889°W |
Owner | Vanderbilt University |
Operator | Vanderbilt University |
Capacity | 40,350 [1] |
Surface | Grass (1922–1969, 1999–2011) AstroTurf (1970–1998) Shaw Sports Legion 46 (2012–present) |
Construction | |
Broke ground | 1922 |
Opened | October 14, 1922 (rebuilt 1981) |
Construction cost | $1.5 million ($27.3 million in 2023 dollars [2] ) $10.1 million (1981 reconstruction) ($33.8 million in 2023 dollars [2] ) |
Architect | Walk Jones and Francis Man, Inc. [3] Michael Baker, Jr. Corp. [3] |
General contractor | Foster & Creighton [3] |
Tenants | |
Vanderbilt Commodores (NCAA) (1922–present) Tennessee Oilers (NFL) (1998) Music City Bowl (NCAA) (1998) Nashville FC (NPSL) (2014–2016) | |
Website | |
vucommodores.com/firstbank-stadium |
FirstBank Stadium (formerly Dudley Field and Vanderbilt Stadium) is a football stadium located in Nashville, Tennessee. Completed in 1922 as the first stadium in the South to be used exclusively for college football, it is the home of the Vanderbilt University football team. [4] When the venue was known as Vanderbilt Stadium, it hosted the Tennessee Oilers (now Titans) during the 1998 NFL season and the first Music City Bowl in 1998 and also hosted the Tennessee state high school football championships for many years.
FirstBank Stadium is the smallest football stadium in the Southeastern Conference, and was the largest stadium in Nashville until the completion of the Titans' Nissan Stadium in 1999.
Vanderbilt football began in 1892, and for 30 years, Commodore football teams played on the northeast corner of campus where Wilson Hall, Kissam Quadrangle, and a portion of the Vanderbilt University Law School now stand, adjacent to today's 21st Avenue South. [5]
The first facility was named for William Dudley, Dean of the Vanderbilt University Medical School from 1885 until his death in 1914. Dudley was responsible for the formation of the SIAA, the predecessor of the Southern Conference and Southeastern Conference, in 1895, and was also instrumental in the formation of the NCAA in 1906. [4]
In 1922, after a 74.2 winning percentage during the 18-year tenure of Coach McGugin, the Commodores had outgrown old Dudley Field. [4] The old field was re-christened Curry Field, in honor of Irby "Rabbit" Curry, a standout football player from 1914 to 1916, who left Vanderbilt to serve in the American Expeditionary Force to Europe in World War I and was killed while flying a combat mission over France in 1918. The football team played two games on the renamed Curry Field before moving to New Dudley Field in 1922.
There was not enough room to expand old Dudley Field at its site near Kirkland Hall, so Vanderbilt administrators purchased land adjacent to what is today 25th Avenue South, on the west side of campus, for the new facility. [4] The new stadium, the first in the South built solely for football, was christened "Dudley Field", and its capacity was 20,000. As evidence of Vanderbilt's stature in the sport at the time, it dwarfed rival Tennessee's Shields-Watkins Field (now Neyland Stadium), which had opened a year earlier and seated only 3,200.
The first game played at Dudley Field was between the Commodores and the powerful Michigan Wolverines. A goal line stand by the Commodores preserved a 0–0 tie. [4] The following Friday, nearby Hume-Fogg High School played a game at Dudley. Senior Jimmy Armistead returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, the first touchdown ever recorded at the stadium. Armistead went on to a successful career at Vanderbilt. He was the captain and starting quarterback for the 1928 team.
In 1949, Vanderbilt officials built a modern press box at Dudley Field, replacing a platform that had been used prior to that. [6] Additional seating was also added to the west side of stadium, boosting capacity to 27,901. [6]
On September 25, 1954, Vanderbilt hosted the No. 10-ranked Baylor Bears in the first night game ever played on the Dudley Field surface. Lights were installed so that Dudley Field could host a Billy Graham Crusade on campus. [6]
In 1960, nearly 7,000 more seats were added to the stadium, with an expansion on the east side of the stadium near Memorial Gym. Capacity jumped to 34,000. [6]
At a price of $250,000 (equal to $1,961,440 today), officials installed what was then a state-of-the-art AstroTurf synthetic surface in 1970. [6]
Over the winter and spring of 1980–81, most of the Dudley Field grandstand was demolished. The 12,088 seats on each sideline—the only vestige of the old stadium—were raised ten feet through the use of 22 hydraulic jacks on each side of the stadium. The "new" venue was rechristened Vanderbilt Stadium. However, the playing surface itself is still called Dudley Field.
The rebuilt stadium and its Fred Russell Press Box (named for Vanderbilt alumnus, former football player, and sports journalist Fred Russell) were designed to resemble a United States naval vessel slicing through the water—a nod to Vanderbilt's naval themed-mascot, the Commodore. Accordingly, the color scheme picked for the exterior of the stadium was battleship gray.[ citation needed ]
The stadium's maximum capacity after the 1980–81 renovation was 41,000, consisting of a single-decked horseshoe grandstand filled in with wooden bleachers from the 1960 expansion. The project cost $10.1 million, and the Commodores celebrated a sold-out dedication by taking a 23–17 comeback win over Maryland on September 12, 1981.
To enhance the gameday experience, officials increased capacity to 41,448 and added a Jumbotron video screen in the north end zone, adjacent to Kensington Place, in advance of the Tennessee Oilers playing their 1998 home games in the facility.[ citation needed ]
After the Oilers—now the Titans—left in 1999, the playing surface was returned to grass. In 2002 and 2003, the school removed the aging bleachers from the 1960 renovation from the north end zone, lowering capacity to 41,221 in 2002 and to 39,773 in 2003.[ citation needed ] The bleachers from the north end zone were replaced with a visitors' concourse that affords any fan in the stadium a field-level, up-close experience with the playing surface. The metal frames for the bleachers were relocated to Mt. Juliet Christian School's football facility in suburban Nashville.
After nearby Hawkins Field, Vanderbilt's baseball stadium, was constructed in a classic brick-and-iron style in 2002, Vanderbilt administrators began to look at giving Vanderbilt Stadium a similar flavor. They also began to consider the construction of a football facility in place of the present concourse and JumboTron in the north end zone. [7]
On July 24, 2007, Vanderbilt officials announced they were in the preliminary stages of a stadium renovation plan, with financing, design concept, and date of completion yet to be determined. [7]
Nine months later, on May 20, 2008, Vice Chancellor David Williams II announced, in a McGugin Center press conference, that the university was beginning a five-phased, multimillion-dollar program of renovations to Vanderbilt athletics facilities, including extensive renovations and additions to FirstBank Stadium. [7]
Under the plan announced by Williams, FirstBank Stadium was modified (in the first four phases) as follows:
Phase | Date completed | Estimated cost | Renovation and construction | |
---|---|---|---|---|
I | August 2008 | $12 million | Brick-and-iron fences, new ticketing facility, renovation of east concourse, new paint scheme throughout interior, exterior of stadium painted gold, "VANDERBILT" and Star-V logos added to exterior of press box | |
II | August 2009 | $12 million | Renovation of west concourse, brick-and-iron fences added to west concourse, addition of brick to exterior of Natchez Trace (west) façade of stadium, construction of new entry plazas at Gates 2 and 3 on Jess Neely Drive | |
III | August 2010 | $8 million | Renovation of north concourse, brick-and-iron fences added to north concourse, completion of bricking of exterior of entire stadium, construction of new entry plazas at Gates 1 and 4 on Kensington Avenue | |
IV | August 2011 | $18 million | Construction of additional seating, football offices, locker rooms, recruiting facilities, hospitality facilities, and indoor/outdoor luxury suites in north endzone, with relocation of JumboTron, addition of high-quality synthetic playing surface on Dudley Field | |
Source: Vanderbilt Athletics Facility Upgrade Central |
On February 6, 2012, Williams announced Vanderbilt would be adding new FieldTurf and a new JumboTron. A large berm was constructed in the open end of FirstBank Stadium as a place for fans to watch games starting fall 2012. The project, in addition to other renovations, began after the Black & Gold scrimmage on April 14, 2012.
With only 500 seats available, the hillside was a first-come, first-served area in terms of picking a spot to sit. The berm did not reach the permanent seating on the sidelines to leave space in the corners of the end zone for fans to enter.
The fourth major project set for the stadium was improved lighting. Renovations were also completed at McGugin Center, with new meeting rooms and Olympic sport locker rooms built. The work was completed in the summer of 2014.
Since the 2007 season, midshipmen of the Vanderbilt Naval ROTC sound a foghorn, nicknamed "The Admiral", whenever the Commodores take the field, as well as after every score and win. It is also sounded at intervals prior to the scheduled kickoff to encourage fans to go ahead and enter the stadium. After wins the Commodores raise a victory flag sporting the "Star V" emblem.
On August 29, 2022, Vanderbilt announced a ten-year naming rights deal with Nashville-based FirstBank for the football team's stadium. [8]
On September 15, 2018, while Vanderbilt was away playing Notre Dame, the Virginia Cavaliers played the Ohio Bobcats in FirstBank Stadium. The game was relocated from Charlottesville, Virginia due to the threat of Hurricane Florence. [10]
Upon moving to Nashville, the Oilers/Titans franchise initially played at the larger Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis while Nissan Stadium (then called Adelphia Coliseum) was under construction in Nashville. Initially, the Oilers were unwilling to play at Vanderbilt Stadium while Nissan Stadium was being built. Not only was it thought to be too small even for temporary use, but university officials were unwilling to allow the sale of alcohol.
However, dismal attendance during the 1997 season, due in part to both the unwillingness of many Nashville fans to make the trip to Memphis and Memphis fans' indifference to a temporary team after years of failing to secure their own NFL franchise, led the Oilers to play their last season under that name in Nashville at Vanderbilt Stadium, although the university forbade the franchise from selling alcohol at home games. [11]
Vanderbilt Stadium thus became the smallest home venue in the NFL since several similar-size stadiums were used in 1970. (The merger agreement with the American Football League led the NFL to declare stadiums seating fewer than 50,000, such as Fenway Park, to be inadequate for league play and after the 1970 NFL season none were used for NFL games on a long-term basis.) The Los Angeles Chargers used a smaller venue, the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, as their home for the 2017–18, 2018–19 and 2019–20 NFL seasons while SoFi Stadium was being built for the Chargers and the Los Angeles Rams, who were playing in the far larger Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Downtown Los Angeles.
Over its history, Vanderbilt Stadium has occasionally been used for concerts and major speakers. [12]
Date | Artist | Opening act(s) | Tour / Concert name | Attendance | Revenue | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
May 8, 1994 | Pink Floyd | — | The Division Bell Tour | 41,169 / 41,169 | $1,348,505 | |
October 26, 1997 | The Rolling Stones | Sheryl Crow | Bridges to Babylon Tour | 45,193 / 45,193 | $2,551,578 | |
April 25, 2009 | Dave Matthews Band | Robert Earl Keen Jason Mraz | — | — | — | [13] |
July 2, 2011 | U2 | Florence and the Machine | U2 360° Tour | 46,857 / 46,857 | $4,269,125 | |
July 11, 2015 | Luke Bryan | Florida Georgia Line Randy Houser Thomas Rhett Dustin Lynch DJ Rock | Kick the Dust Up Tour | 31,907 / 31,907 | $2,705,682 | |
August 23, 2018 | Beyoncé Jay-Z | Chloe X Halle and DJ Khaled | On the Run II Tour | 35,353 / 35,353 | $4,058,910 [14] |
Nissan Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Owned by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, it is primarily used for football and is the home field of the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL) and the Tigers of Tennessee State University. The stadium is the site of the TransPerfect Music City Bowl, a postseason college football bowl game played each December, and from 2020 until 2021 the home field of Nashville SC of Major League Soccer (MLS). It is used for concerts such as those affiliated with the CMA Music Festival each June. The stadium also has facilities to host public events, meetings, and parties.
Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, originally named Memphis Memorial Stadium, and later Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, is a football stadium located at the former Mid-South Fairgrounds in the Midtown area of Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The stadium is the site of the annual Liberty Bowl, the annual Southern Heritage Classic, and is the home field of the University of Memphis Tigers football team of the American Athletic Conference. It has also been the host of several attempts at professional sports in the city, as well as other local football games and other gatherings.
Kenneth Stanley "Bud" Adams, Jr. was an American businessman who was the founder and owner of the Houston Oilers of the American Football League (AFL), of which he was also a co-founder. The franchise eventually was moved to Nashville, where it was re-named the Tennessee Titans, a National Football League (NFL) franchise. A member of the Cherokee Nation who originally made his fortune in the petroleum business, Adams was chairman and CEO of Adams Resources & Energy Inc., a wholesale supplier of oil and natural gas. He was instrumental in the founding and establishment of the former American Football League (AFL).
The Vanderbilt Commodores are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanderbilt fields 16 varsity teams, 14 of which compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Vanderbilt's women's lacrosse team plays in the American Athletic Conference. The bowling team plays in Conference USA (C-USA), which absorbed Vanderbilt's former bowling home of the Southland Bowling League after the 2022–23 season. The University of Tennessee Volunteers are Vanderbilt's primary athletic rival, and the only other SEC team in Tennessee.
Daniel Earle McGugin was an American college football player and coach, as well as a lawyer. He served as the head football coach at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee from 1904 to 1917 and again from 1919 to 1934, compiling a record of 197–55–19. He is the winningest head coach in the history of the university. McGugin was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1951 as part of its inaugural class. He was the brother-in-law of University of Michigan coach Fielding H. Yost.
Hawkins Field is a baseball stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. It is the home field of the Vanderbilt Commodores college baseball team. The stadium opened in 2002 adjacent to Vanderbilt Stadium and Memorial Gymnasium and holds 3,700 people. In 2010, the Nashville Outlaws, a collegiate summer baseball team of the Prospect League, used Hawkins Field as their home ballpark.
The Vanderbilt Commodores football program represents Vanderbilt University in the sport of American football. The Commodores compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the East Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They are led by head coach Clark Lea. Vanderbilt plays their home games at FirstBank Stadium, located on the university's Nashville, Tennessee campus.
The Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team is an American National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) college baseball team from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. The team participates in the Eastern division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and plays its home games on campus at Hawkins Field. The Commodores are coached by three-time National Coach of the Year and three-time SEC Coach of the Year, Tim Corbin. During Corbin's tenure as head coach, Vanderbilt has become one of the premier college baseball programs in the United States, responsible for 19 first-round picks in the MLB draft.
The 2009–10 Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball team will represent Vanderbilt University in the 2009–10 NCAA Division I basketball season. The Commodores are a member of the Southeastern Conference and will attempt to win the NCAA championship.
The 1926 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 1926 college football season. The team's head coach was Dan McGugin, who served his 22nd season as the Commodores' head coach. Commodores had eight wins and lost only one to Alabama, who was named a national champion. Vanderbilt was a member of the Southern Conference, and went 4–1 in conference play. The Commodores played their eight home games at Dudley Field in Nashville, Tennessee. They also played one game in Dallas, Texas vs. Texas and one in Atlanta vs. Georgia Tech.
The 2011 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Commodores played their seven home games at Vanderbilt Stadium at Dudley Field in Nashville, Tennessee, which has been Vanderbilt football's home stadium since 1922. The team's head coach was James Franklin, who was in his first year at Vanderbilt. Hired at Vanderbilt on December 17, 2010, he was previously the offensive coordinator and "head coach in waiting" at the University of Maryland. Vanderbilt has been a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) since the league's inception in 1932, and has participated in the conference's Eastern Division since its formation for the 1992 season. Vanderbilt completed the 2011 regular season with an overall record of 6–6 and a mark of 2–6 in conference play, finishing in a tie with Kentucky for fourth place in the SEC East. They were invited to the Liberty Bowl where they were defeated by Cincinnati 24–31 to finish the season 6–7. 2011. The seniors of the 2011 Vanderbilt football team became the first class in program history to qualify for two bowl games while at the school. Vanderbilt had only been to bowls in 1955 VS Auburn, 1974 VS Texas Tech, 1982 VS Air Force, and 2008 VS Boston College.
The 2012 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Commodores played their six home games at Vanderbilt Stadium at Dudley Field in Nashville, Tennessee, which has been Vanderbilt football's home stadium since 1922. The team's head coach was James Franklin, who is in his second year at Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt has been a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) since the league's inception in 1932, and has participated in the conference's Eastern Division since its formation for the 1992 season. On November 11, 2012 Vandy became bowl eligible in back to back years for the first time in its 123-year football history. This was the first time since 1935 that Vandy won five SEC games in a year and the first time in 30 years that they won at home against Tennessee. Vanderbilt finished the year with the longest current SEC winning streak. For the first time since 1948, Vanderbilt finished the season with a top 25 ranking.
The Steelers–Titans rivalry is a National Football League (NFL) rivalry between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tennessee Titans that dates back to the 1970s when the Steelers and then-Houston Oilers played in the AFC Central. The two teams were realigned into separate divisions for the 2002 NFL season, however, matchups are still considered heated between the two teams.
The Tennessee–Vanderbilt football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Tennessee Volunteers and Vanderbilt Commodores. They are both founding members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Vanderbilt and Tennessee have played 117 times since 1892. Tennessee leads the all-time series 78–33–5.
The 1921 Vanderbilt Commodores football team was an American football team representing Vanderbilt University during the 1921 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. It was Dan McGugin's 17th season as head coach, and Wallace Wade's first season as assistant coach. Vanderbilt outscored its opponents 161–21 for a record of 7–0–1 and a share of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) championship. The team's leading scorer was halfback Rupert Smith and its captain was "Pink" Wade, father of future Vanderbilt star Bill Wade. The Commodores played their home games at Dudley Field.
The 2014 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Commodores played their eight home games at Vanderbilt Stadium at Dudley Field in Nashville, Tennessee, which has been Vanderbilt football's home stadium since 1922. Derek Mason took over the helm as Vanderbilt's new head coach. They were members of the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They finished the season 3–9, 0–8 in SEC play to finish in last place in the Eastern Division.
Oliver Wall Kuhn, nicknamed "Doc Kuhn", was an American football, baseball and basketball player for the Vanderbilt University Commodores and later a prominent businessman of Tampa, Florida. As a college football quarterback, Kuhn led Vanderbilt to three consecutive Southern titles in 1921, 1922, and 1923 – the most-recent conference titles for Vanderbilt football. In 1922, Vanderbilt tied Michigan at the dedication of Dudley Field, and Kuhn was picked for Walter Camp's list of names worthy of mention and Billy Evans' All-America "National Honor Roll."
The 1918 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University in the 1918 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season, which was interim head coach Ray Morrison's first year as a head coach. Morrison was asked to fill in for Dan McGugin who was in the United States Army at the time.
The 1922 Michigan vs. Vanderbilt football game, played October 14, 1922, was a college football game between the Michigan Wolverines and Vanderbilt Commodores. The game ended as a scoreless tie. It was the inaugural game at Dudley Field, the first dedicated football stadium in the South.
The Vanderbilt Commodores football team represents Vanderbilt University in the sport of American football.