General Information
As The University of Texas continues at the forefront of the college football landscape, Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium at Cambell-Williams Field remains a state-of-the-art facility.
The stadium, which is in 2023 is in its 100th season of operation, has continually gone through upgrades and renovations to enhance the fan and student-athlete experience.Â
In May 2019, Texas Athletics broke ground on a major expansion project in the south endzone od Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium with team moving into their new facility in August 2021. Fans began enjoying all of the amenities associated with it when the Longhorns kicked off against Louisiana on Sept. 4. The $175 million stadium expansion project includes more than a 106,000-square-foot training facility footprint that provides significant upgrades to the Football coaches and staff offices, team areas, strength and development center and athletic training/medical facilities. It also will enhance the fan experience greatly with an end zone seating area of more than 4,500 seats, including more than 1,300 student seats. It includes the Founders Lounge, Myers-Dodds Legacy Club, Living Room and Loge Boxes, as well as a Field Club area right near the action that accommodates more than 800 people. Atop it all is a 160-foot by 44-foot videoboard to visually celebrate all of the action. The total gross square footage of the entire project is more than 215,000-square feet.
Prior to the 2017 season, the Moncrief-Neuhaus Athletic Center saw upgrades to the Longhorns’ locker room, weight room and meeting rooms. Additionally, to enhance the fan experience, a new LED video board and ribbon boards were installed inside of DKR. Additionally, the west-side façade, including Bellmont Hall, underwent a restoration and reinforcement project, along with an application of a protective coating and painting.
After the 2012 season, UT Athletics started a waterproofing and bleacher replacement project to the lower east and west grandstands. Damaged concrete was repaired, then sealed and painted, and new bleachers and chairbacks were installed. Handrails, portals and field level walls on both sides of the lower level were also given a fresh coat of paint. The improvements not only beautify the stadium and improve the fan experience, but also help to preserve the revered structure.
Installation of a new FieldTurf playing surface was completed in the spring of 2013, providing a state-of-the art surface that not only holds up to challenging weather conditions, but also allows the stadium to be a multi-use facility.
The Red McCombs Red Zone Sports Medicine & Strength Training Project, located in the lower levels of the north end zone was completed in the summer of 2013. The two-floor, 32,448 square-foot project includes a state of the art sports medicine facility on the upper floor, and a strength training complex on the lower floor. Amenities include a hydrotherapy pool, two plunge pools, golf putting and simulator area, a 40-yard acceleration track, a nutrition area and student-athlete/staff locker rooms.
In May of 2012, the University’s athletics offices were moved from Bellmont Hall on the west side of the stadium to the north end zone’s Walter W. Fondren III Athletics Leadership Center. The move not only created new space for academics in Bellmont Hall, but also consolidated the various athletics departments into a modern office-space facility. Athletics department offices now housed in the beautiful, 53,812 square-foot venue include the men’s and women’s athletics directors, men’s and women’s basketball coaches and administration, the T-Association, the Longhorn Foundation, Business/Travel, Human Resources, Events, Trademark & Licensing, Communications and Athletics IT.
The Texas locker room underwent renovations for the 2011 season, featuring 135 new wide-space lockers connected to a state-of-the art exhaust system. Additions also included a nutrition bar, a lounge area with gaming stations, a 72-inch LED screen in the center of room along with five other LED screens throughout the area, and a new sound system and speakers.
In 2009, south end zone seating was upgraded and expanded, increasing the stadium to its current capacity of 100,119, making it the seventh-largest collegiate stadium in the country and the largest in the Southwest. In addition, renovations were completed on the Moncrief-Neuhaus Athletic Center that provided a new football academic center approximately three times the size of the previous area, along with a new indoor practice area, defensive meeting room, hall of fame and a newly-designed facility entrance.
In 2008, renovations to the north end zone, named the Red McCombs Red Zone, were completed with the addition of an upper deck, approximately 2,100 club seats and 47 suites. That end of the stadium also includes a new academic center for UT athletics, a war memorial plaza and a food court.
Including the 2007 renovations to the lower deck of the north end zone, the project added a total of approximately 9,000 additional seats, raising capacity to 94,113 for the 2008 season.
Two major upgrades were made for the 2006 season, including a new video board and temporary bleacher seating in the south end zone, which expanded the stadium’s capacity by over 4,000 seats to a total of 85,123.
At the time, the scoreboard was the nation’s largest high-definition video display board and remains the largest in collegiate athletics thanks to DAKtronics. The $8-million Prostar Video Board is 55-feet high by 134-feet wide and offers complete flexibility, with the capability to show one large single video image, multiple video images and a combination of live or recorded video with real time scores and stats, out-of-town game information, sponsors’ messages, graphics and animation.
In recent years, the stadium has also had renovations to the press box, the Carpenter-Winkel Centennial Room and other renovations to the interior of Moncrief, most notably to the players’ lounge.
The stadium was previously renovated in August 1999 with the removal of the track and the lowering of the field by six feet to allow the addition of several rows of seats.
It was part of a project that included removal of the artificial turf from the stadium, construction of the Frank Denius Fields practice facility, the Red & Charline McCombs Field (softball), the Mike A. Myers Track and Soccer Stadium, and extensive remodeling of DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium/Jamail Field and the Moncrief-Neuhaus Athletic Center.
The first stages of the ambitious project were completed in 1996. They included the installation of a sophisticated grass playing field in the stadium and the completion of the Frank Denius Fields.
Progress continued in 1997 with the addition of 14 stadium suites on the west side. The first major construction to the facility since the upper deck was added in 1972 also included a total remodeling of the underside of the stands, including a new concession plaza and a visitors’ locker room in the northwest corner of the stadium.
The changes that took place at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium for the 1998 football season included the addition of a 5,000-seat upper deck on the east side. The massive construction included 52 suites and a 13,000-square foot private club room.
In the Moncrief-Neuhaus Athletic Center, significant expansion and upgrades included a new locker room, training room, trophy room, players’ lounge, football academic center and an addition almost doubling the space in the strength and conditioning area.
The football coaching and academic staffs were moved to the facility, housing the key elements of the entire football program in a single complex for the first time.
The final phase of the construction began shortly after the 1998 season ended, when the 75-year-old stadium floor was excavated to a depth of six feet to allow a reconfiguration and addition of seats and the removal of the track to provide a more intimate football setting.
The stadium was originally dedicated on Thanksgiving Day in 1924, after the UT student body decided to name the stadium in honor of the 198,520 Texans who fought in World War I and the 5,280 who lost their lives doing so. In 1977, the stadium was rededicated to veterans of all wars.
