Stanford Stadium

Stanford Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium located on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California, United States. It is the home of the Stanford Cardinal and hosts the university's commencement exercises. Opened 104 years ago in 1921 as a football and track and field stadium, it was an earthen horseshoe with wooden bleacher seating and flooring upon a steel frame. Its original seating capacity was 60,000, which grew to 89,000 by 1927 as a nearly enclosed bowl.

Immediately following the 2005 season, the stadium was demolished and rebuilt as a dual-deck concrete structure, without a track. Today, it seats 50,424. The natural grass playing field runs northwest to southeast, at an approximate elevation of sixty feet (18 m) above sea level.

Stanford Stadium was built in five months in 1921 and opened its gates on November 19, replacing Stanford Field. The first game was against rival California, who defeated Stanford 42–7 in the Big Game. Seating capacity was originally 60,000, with a 66-row, U-Shaped structure second only to the Yale Bowl in size at the time.

In 1925, 10,200 seats were added to the stadium, nearly enclosing the horseshoe while still keeping the overall height of the facility intact. In 1927, fourteen additional rows of seating were added, increasing the stadium to its maximum capacity of 85,500, with eighty rows of seating. In 1932, the stadium hosted the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. In 1935, Stanford Stadium set a record (for the time) for single-game attendance, with 94,000 spectators filling it for a 13–0 victory over California.

On December 14, 1982, it was announced that Stanford Stadium would host Super Bowl XIX in 1985 to become the first Super Bowl hosted in the Bay Area; its stadium capacity of over 80,000 exceeded both of the stadiums inhabited by Bay Area teams of the time in Candlestick Park (60,000+) and Oakland Coliseum (53,000+). Renovations at the cost of over $2 million (with a significant portion given by the NFL) were done to improve the facilities (ranging from the water systems to the renovation of Row 80 to a renovated ticket office) prior to the Super Bowl being played. A portable lighting system was also brought in for the game, which would start at 3pm local time.

In January 1985, Super Bowl XIX was held in Stanford Stadium, with the Bay Area's own San Francisco 49ers defeating the Miami Dolphins, 38–16.

As of 2025, Stanford Stadium is one of two venues (the Rose Bowl being the other) to host a Super Bowl without previously serving as the home stadium of a National Football League (NFL) or American Football League (AFL) team, and Super Bowl XIX is one of only three Super Bowls where the host region saw its team win (the others being Super Bowl LV and Super Bowl LVI, where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Los Angeles Rams respectively became the first two teams to play and win a Super Bowl at their home stadiums).

On October 22, 1989, the San Francisco 49ers played a home game at the stadium against the New England Patriots, as Candlestick Park had suffered serious damage following the Loma Prieta earthquake five days earlier.