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Nippert Stadium

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Nippert Stadium

James Gamble Nippert Memorial Stadium is an outdoor stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, located on the campus of University of Cincinnati. Primarily used for American football, it has been home to the Cincinnati Bearcats of the Big 12 Conference in rudimentary form since 1901 and as a permanent concrete stadium since 1915, making it the fourth-oldest playing site and fifth-oldest stadium in college football, respectively.

The stadium has also been used as a soccer venue, serving as the home of FC Cincinnati of Major League Soccer from their inaugural 2016 USL season through the 2020 MLS season, following which they moved to TQL Stadium. Nippert Stadium has a current seating capacity of 40,124 following the expansion and renovation performed in 2014, and the 2017 removal of corner seats to accommodate FC Cincinnati during their transition to the MLS.

During the final game of the 1923 season with intrastate rival Miami University, UC player James Gamble "Jimmy" Nippert sustained a spike wound injury. He died a month later of blood poisoning, reportedly due to having been infected by droppings left after a pre-game chicken race. Nippert's grandfather, James N. Gamble of Procter & Gamble, donated the required funds to complete the stadium. A locker room and training (medical) facility was added as part of the renovation for the safety of players. Nippert's brother, Louis, was majority owner of the Cincinnati Reds during the 1970s.

In 1895, the organizer of UC's first football team, Arch Carson, introduced a plan to build a stadium complete with wooden bleachers on the site where Nippert Stadium currently stands. The plans became a reality in 1901 while Carson was serving as UC's physical education director. The first game played on the site originally called Varsity Field in Burnet Woods was on November 2, 1901, vs the Ohio University Bobcats. Cincinnati was defeated 16–0 in that contest. They rebounded a week later and defeated Hannover on Varsity field November 9, 1901, 10–0. Although Cincinnati has played home contests in other Cincinnati parks, this site has been the primary home of Cincinnati football since that time. The playing surface at Nippert Stadium is called Carson Field in honor of Arch Carson. Construction of Carson Field began in 1900 and was completed in 1910.

In 1915, construction was completed on the first sections of a brick and concrete structure to replace the wooden stands and continued for several seasons as funds were raised. In 1924, the completed structure was dedicated as James Gamble Nippert Memorial Stadium with a capacity of 12,000.

The field is slightly offset from a conventional north–south alignment, configured north-northeast to south-southwest at an approximate elevation of 800 feet (245 m) above sea level.

The field was lowered in 1936, allowing capacity to reach 24,000. In 1954, a small upper deck on the East sideline was completed, and named the Reed Shank Pavilion. This increased capacity to 28,000.

In 1992, the stadium was heavily renovated, expanding the upper deck on the East sideline and adding a new Press Box on the West sideline. This increased capacity to 35,097.

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