Kyle Field

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Kyle Field
Home of the 12th Man
Location	Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843
Broke ground	1904
Opened	1904
Owner	Texas A&M University
Operator	Texas A&M University
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	$345,000 USD (Original)
Tenants
Texas A&M Aggies football (NCAA) (1904-Present)
Capacity
82,600[1]

Kyle Field is the football stadium located on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. It is the home to the Texas A&M Aggie football team and is known as The Home of the 12th Man. Although at one time the largest American Football venue in Texas, it is now second largest.^[2][3]

Contents 1 History 1.1 The beginning 1.2 Memorial Stadium 1.3 Facility improvements 1.4 Notable events 2 Intimidating venue 3 The future of Kyle Field 4 Stadium features 4.1 Bernard C. Richardson Zone 4.2 Press box 4.3 12th Man TV 4.4 Reveille 5 Other events held at Kyle Field 6 References 7 External links

[edit] History

[edit] The beginning

In the fall of 1904, Edwin Jackson Kyle '99, then professor of horticulture, was named President of the General Athletics Association. Kyle wanted to secure and develop an athletic field to promote the College's athletics, so he fenced off a section of the southeast corner of campus, which was assigned to him for agricultural use.^[4] In March of 1904, a fence was built, and in October of 1904, the covered grandstand from the Bryan fairgrounds was purchased, and wooden bleachers were built, raising the seating capacity to 500 people. Since the College did not provide Kyle any funds, he covered all of the costs (over $650) himself.^[5][6] On November 10, 1904, the College Board of Directors set this area as a permanent athletic field.^[7] At this time, the field was the home for the football and baseball teams. After the stands were built, student support at a yell practice and a meeting in the chapel led to the field being named after it's founder and builder.^[8] There has been some confusion over the name; some believe that it was named after Dr. J. Allen Kyle, a member of the Board of Directors from 1911-1915, but the Board of Directors has decreed that Kyle Field was in fact named for E.J. Kyle '99.^[9] In 1919, the first annual Thanksgiving game between the A&M College and the University of Texas was played, which was also the first game to be play-by-play broadcast over the radio.^{[citation needed]} After the first World War, the stadium was dedicated as a living memorial to the Aggies who died in the war. On game days 55 American flags, one for each Aggie killed, fly around the highest points of the stadium.^[10]

[edit] Memorial Stadium

After the undefeated 1919 season, which had games with a combined scores of 275-0, support began to grow for the building of a stadium. By 1920, however, only $2,400 had been raised. Finally, in 1927, the College decided to build a new stadium, at a cost of $345,001.67.^[11] Concrete stands were built on the west end in 1927, and the north and east ends were expanded in 1929, raising the stadium's capacity to 35,000. Part of the second deck and a pressbox was added in 1954 at a cost of $346,000, raising the capacity to 35,000. More of second deck and other improvements were added in 1969 to raise the capacity to 49,000 at a cost of $1,840,000.^[12] In 1974, two large flagpoles were added at the south end of the stadium in memoriam of Lt. William B. Blocker, Texas A&M class of 1945.

[edit] Facility improvements

The Third Deck of Kyle Field was added in 1979, during the football season. Students were allowed to stand in the stands right as they were constructed. Capacity at the end of construction was 72,000. In 1981, 16-foot-high letters, spelling out "KYLE FIELD" were installed. In 1999, the Bernard C. Richardson Zone was added at a cost of $32.9 million^[13] raising the capacity to 82,600. Bleachers have been installed in the south end zone and folding chairs are set up on the track for high-demand games. The record for the largest crowd at Kyle Field was 87,555, set November 23, 2001 against the University of Texas.^[14] In the fall of 2003, the Bright Football Complex was completed on the south end of the stadium. The facility includes a players' lounge overlooking Kyle Field, dressing rooms, one of the largest training and rehabilitation facilities in the country, and a state-of-the-art academic center.^[1]

Grass was maintained on the field until 1969 when $500,000 of the 1969 improvements were used to cover the field with astroturf.^[15] The Aggies would play on astroturf at Kyle Field until it returned to a grass surface in 1996.^[1] Since that time, the turf has consistently received praise from players and coaches. For their efforts, the groundskeepers were honored in 2004 as the winners of the STMA College Football Field of the Year.^[16]

[edit] Notable events

Two of the most famous games in stadium history have come since 1998. On November 26, 1999, just one week after the collapse of the Aggie Bonfire, the Aggies took on fifth-ranked Texas, beating the Longhorns 20-16 in an emotional comeback game before a then-record crowd of 86,128.^[17] (It is currently the seventh highest attendance figure for Kyle Field; the 2001 Texas game drew 87,555 for the current record.) On September 22, 2001, the first game for the Aggies after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the students organized a "Red, White and Blue-Out", where the entire stadium was divided by decks into red, white and blue sections for the game against Oklahoma State. It was one of the most well-known images of unity in the sports community following the tragedy. More than $150,000 was raised in shirt sales, which was donated to FDNY charities.^[18]

[edit] Intimidating venue

Kyle Field is often regarded as one of the most intimidating college football stadiums in the nation. CBS Sportsline listed Kyle Field as the nation's best with a perfect score under three categories (atmosphere, tradition, and fans).^[19] It is ranked as the #4 stadium in the nation by The Sporting News^[20] and the most intimidating stadium in the Big 12 Conference.^[21] The college recruiting ranking service Rivals ranked Texas A&M as having the seventh-best home field advantage in the nation with Kyle Field.^[22] In the 1990s, Texas A&M boasted one of the nation's best home records at 55-4-1, including 31 straight wins at Kyle Field from 1990 to 1995 and 22 straight from 1996 to 2000. In addition Texas A&M has been rated #15 in the nation by The Princeton Review in the category "Students Pack the Stadiums."^[23]

[edit] The future of Kyle Field

In late 2004, various expansion plans for Kyle Field were communicated to the public, with the final capacity possibly expanding to 115,000. The expansion plans are indefinite with university officials saying, “Anything could happen, but there’s no definitive time line to make this go. It’s a vision, and much of it depends on the success of the football program.” The addition of a south endzone and wraparound seating would cost $100 to $200 million.^[24]

[edit] Stadium features

[edit] Bernard C. Richardson Zone

The Bernard C. Richardson Zone, named for a 1941 petroleum engineering graduate named a Texas A&M Distinguished Almnus, is located at the North end of Kyle Field, replacing the former single-deck horseshoe which connected the east and west wings of the stadium. This $32.9 million expansion added over 20,000 seats, and sits 65 feet closer to the field than the previous seating. The Zone opened at full capacity during the 1999 grudge match against Texas, setting a then-state-record of 86,128 fans attending. For the next several years the Aggies saw consecutive record-breaking attendance figures for the season.^[1][13]

The ground level of The Zone contains the Texas A&M Sports Museum, the nation's only all-sports museum funded primarily by former athletes (The Texas A&M Letterman's Association). The museum contains rotating exhibits focusing on various varsity sports at Texas A&M, while permanent exhibits trace the history of the school sports and some of the more treasured traditions.^[25]

The Zone contains four levels of seating areas, with the first and fourth deck containing bench seating. One deck is comprised completely of luxury boxes, while the last deck is armchair seating. Known as The Zone Club, the 1900 open-air armchair seats are considered the premier seating area of Kyle field. The Zone Club sits underneath the fourth deck, meaning the inhabitants are protected from rain, wind, and the blazing Texas sun. The area boasts a full-service bar and concession areas, with a pre-game buffet offered for those with seats in the area. The Zone Club also has sixteen televisions stationed in various areas so that attendees can also keep an eye on other games being played around the country.^[26]

[edit] Press box

The Kyle Field press box has won numerous honors as one of the finest in the nation. It is located at the top of the west deck of the stadium, sitting over 120 feet above the field. The pressbox has two tiers, accommodating over 250 members of the press, with print journalists stationed in the upper tier and radio and television journalists sitting in the lower tier.^[1] Although the Pressbox is supported by three concrete pillars, during the singing of the Aggie War Hymn, in which Aggie fans sway in unison throughout the stadium, the pressbox physically sways, often startling journalists who are new to the field.^[27] In 2003, the Press Box was declared a high-rise building, and Texas A&M was forced to renovate it to meet federal, state, and local regulations regarding fire safety and the Americans with Disabilities Act.^[28]

[edit] 12th Man TV

During the 2006 offseason, the older Jumbotron was removed and replaced by a 3,954 square foot Mitsubishi Diamond Vision enhanced resolution LED videoboard, the second largest in college athletics and one of the ten largest in the world. The Texas A&M Athletic Department has dubbed the new screen "12th Man TV," although some fans refer to it as the "Gigatron."^[29] The 110 foot tall structure contains 590,000 pixels on 154 video panels with a screen size of 74 ft by 54 ft. The athletic department also updated the media equipment to allow production and broadcast of enhanced definition video to the screen. This addition to Kyle Field was accompanied by LED ribbon boards were installed along the facade of the second deck encircling the stadium. At 1,130 feet, it is the longest ribbon board in collegiate sports and second worldwide only to Dolphin Stadium in Miami.^[30] In conjunction with this project, additional upgrades included video board upgrades to Reed Arena and Olsen Field.

[edit] Reveille

When the first Aggie mascot, Reveille, died, she was buried in the north end of Kyle Field so that she would always be able to see the score of the Aggie football games. Subsequent Reveilles were buried alongside her. Construction of the Bernard C. Richardson Zone construction and demolition over the mascot graves, so the graves were moved temporarily across the street from the stadium. Following the completion of the addition, an improved graveyard was dedicated directly outside the Zone and a small electronic scoreboard was mounted on the Zone so that the mascots would still be able to see the score.^[31] When a current or former Reveille passes away, the funeral is held at Kyle Field. Over 3000 people attended the service for Reveille VI in 2003.^[27][32]

[edit] Other events held at Kyle Field

During the summers, young athletes are invited to Kyle Field for football training camps. In the fall, the stadium plays host to various Texas high school football playoff games. The stadium is also home to the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets annual Parent's Weekend Review and Final Review.^[16] It is also the venue for the "Cross-Town Showdown" high school football game between the Bryan Vikings and the A&M Consolidated Tigers, arguably the most popular game of the Vikings/Tigers football season. Traditionally the last game of each team's football schedule, beginning in the 2006 season, Texas A&M University requested that the game be held earlier in the year so not to interfere with Aggie games.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Kyle Field
• Aggie Athletics Press Release regarding 12th Man TV

Coordinates: 30°36′35.7″N, 96°20′25.4″W

Football Stadiums of the Big 12 Conference

Bill Snyder Family Stadium (Kansas State) • Boone Pickens Stadium (Oklahoma State) • Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium (Texas) • Faurot Field (Missouri) • Floyd Casey Stadium (Baylor) • Folsom Field (Colorado) • Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium (Oklahoma) • Jack Trice Stadium (Iowa State) • Jones AT&T Stadium (Texas Tech) • Kyle Field (Texas A&M) • Memorial Stadium (Kansas) • Memorial Stadium (Nebraska)