Washington–Grizzly Stadium


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 in 1986, it is home to the Montana Grizzlies, a member of the Big Sky Conference and a team in Division I FCS.
Its infilled SprinTurf playing field is below ground level at an elevation of above sea level and runs in the traditional north–south orientation. The press box is above the west sideline and lights were added for 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. game came in mid-season in 1986, and the Griz have a record of at the venue, through the Montana has gone undefeated at home in eleven of those seasons; the Griz won all ten home games in 2004 and posted a mark six times (1994, 1995, 1996, 2001,

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 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, 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, 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. 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

AttendanceResultDate
126,508Montana 25, Montana State 29Nov. 17, 2018
226,472Montana 38, North Dakota State 35Aug. 29, 2015
326,352Montana 34, Montana State 7Nov. 22, 2014
426,303Montana 28, South Dakota 20Sept. 13, 2014
526,293Montana 30, Appalachian State 6Aug. 31, 2013
626,136Montana 23, Northern Arizona 14Sept. 26, 2015
726,082Montana 37, Eastern Washington 42Oct. 26, 2013
826,066Montana 17, Eastern Washington 14Sept. 17, 2011
926,065Montana 19, Cal Poly 20Sept. 5, 2015
1026,019Montana 16, Montana State 21Nov. 20, 2010

At home win-loss record

Concerts