Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium

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<tr><td>Broke ground</td><td>1924</td></tr>

Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium <tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">DKR</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">Image:Aerial stadiumdkrtexas.jpg </td></tr>
Location	Austin, Texas
Opened	November 27, 1924
Owner	University of Texas <tr><td>Operator</td><td>University of Texas</td></tr><tr><td>Surface</td><td>Bermuda grass</td></tr><tr><td>Construction cost</td><td>US$275,000</td></tr><tr><td>Architect</td><td>Herbert M. Greene</td></tr><tr><th style="background: #efefef;" colspan="2">Former names</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2">Memorial Stadium, Texas Memorial Stadium</td></tr>
Tenants
Texas Longhorns (1924-present)
Seats
85,123<ref name="DKR attendance">"Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium", MackBrownTexasFootball. Retrieved on 2006-09-22.</ref>

Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, is home to the University of Texas Longhorn football team. The current official stadium capacity is 85,123<ref name="DKR attendance">"Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium", MackBrownTexasFootball. Retrieved on 2006-09-22.</ref>, but an attendance record of 89,442 people occurred on September 9, 2006 for the Longhorns' 24-7 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes. That set a new record for the greatest number of people ever to gather for a football game in the state of Texas.<ref name="Ohio_State_Box">"Ohio State vs Texas", MackBrownTexasFootball.New attendance record for the state of Texas</ref>

As of 2005-2006, the stadium is undergoing renovations, with stage one consisting mainly of updates in concordance with newer fire safety codes and stage two consisting of seating expansion in the north end zone. DKR Memorial Stadium is known for its electric atmosphere and winning tradition.

1 History
2 Major upgrades
3 2006 improvement
4 2008 expansion
5 Gallery
6 References
7 Sources
8 External links

[edit] History

The stadium was commissioned to replace Clark Field and its old wooden bleachers. Originally named Memorial Stadium and built in 1924, the new stadium had a capacity of 27,000. It was designed as a dual-purpose facility with a 440-yard track surrounding the football field.

Memorial Stadium was dedicated to the memory of all University alumni who had died in World War I. Since, the stadium has been rededicated to all alumni in all American wars. The University of Texas honored legendary football coach Darrell K. Royal in 1996 by officially naming the stadium after him. In 1997, in recognition of UT law school alumnus and benefactor Joe Jamail, the University named the football playing field Joe Jamail Field.

The stadium has been expanded several times since its original opening, most recently in 1999. The stadium is currently undergoing renovations that do not include expansion of the seating capacity, though an expansion plan, to be completed in 2008.

[edit] Major upgrades

1926 - "Horseshoe" built on the north end for US$125,000 raising capacity to 40,500
1948 - Two L-shaped sections added to the east and west stands, raising seating capacity to 60,130
1955 - Lights added
1969 - Upper deck added to the west side raising seating capacity to 75,504 when completed in 1972; artificial turf applied to field
1977 - Track converted from 440 yards to 400 meters
1986 - The Vernon F. "Doc" Neuhaus–Darrell K Royal Athletic Center completed at the south end of the stadium at a cost of $7 million; the Center was later renamed the W. A. "Tex" Moncrief, Jr.–V. F. "Doc" Neuhaus Athletic Center in 1997 after Royal's name was added to the stadium
1996 - Replacement of the stadium's artificial turf with natural grass (Prescription Athletic Turf); installation of a Jumbotron video system; scoreboards retrofitted
1997 - Fourteen stadium suites added to west side; underside of the stands remodeled, adding a concession plaza and visitors' locker room
1998 - 5,000-seat upper deck added on east side including fifty-two new stadium suites and a 13,000-square-foot private club room
1999 - Track removed; new seats added to the west grandstand and the field was lowered seven feet to accommodate new front-row and field-level seats on the east and west grandstands bringing capacity to 80,082
2002 - Prescription Athletic Turf replaced with TifSport Certified Bermuda grass

[edit] 2006 improvement

Image:GTRON 6a 400.jpg

US$15 million have been allocated by the Board of Regents for stadium renovations. Stage one, beginning November 14, 2005, involves updating Bellmont Hall — which sits in the west end of the stadium — to meet newer safety codes set by the Austin Fire Department. Also included are water sealing the stadium and the expansion of both the Centennial Room and eighth-floor press box.

US$8 million are being spent on audiovisual improvements, the centerpiece of which is a 7,370 square foot high-definition Daktronics LED scoreboard, aptly nicknamed "Godzillatron." The screen has a pixel resolution of 848 x 2064. Previously, two scoreboards were in place, one in the south end and one in the north end. The new scoreboard replaces the one in the south end. The north end will not feature a scoreboard as it has been removed in preparation for the addition of extra seats in the 2008 expansion. The new scoreboard also required the removal of the six large flag poles that previously displayed the Six flags over Texas. These have been replaced by smaller flags.

At the time of its creation, Godzillatron was called the largest high-definition video screen in the world,<ref name="McCoy_scoreboard">Kilian, Ryan. "Colt McCoy silences critics as Longhorns roll over North Texas", 5 September 2006. Retrieved on 2006-09-08.</ref><ref name="scoreboard">Maher, John. "That's one big Bevo of a scoreboard" (HTML), Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved on 2006-05-11.</ref> though it was quickly surpassed by a larger screen in Tokyo.<ref name="Tokyo">"World's Largest HDTV", Luxist. Retrieved on 2006-10-07.</ref> <ref name="PinkT">"Giant Video Screen Constructed at Tokyo-area horse track", Pink Tentacle. Retrieved on 2006-10-07.</ref> It is still the largest high-definition video screen in collegiate sports. <ref name="Texas Debuts Daktronics Video Board">Daktronics. Texas Longhorns Choose Daktronics for HD Video Display at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium (HTML). Daktronics. Retrieved on 2006-05-10. </ref> Depending on how the measurement is made, it may be the largest high definition screen in the Western hemisphere. The Miami Dolphins have a high-definition screen with a larger diagonal measurement, but Godzillatron has greater square footage. <ref name="measurements">"Longhorns to snatch "world's biggest HD display" title from Dolphins?", engadget. Retrieved on 2006-09-07. </ref>

One downside for fans is that the screen can be used to allow more obtrusive advertising to be displayed during games.<ref name="wow">O'Keeffe, Kevin. "New scoreboard brings the “Wow!” factor to football stadium", 2006-07-01. Retrieved on 2006-07-13.</ref> It has been controversial among fans because more than 50% of the screen is being used for advertising.<ref name="scoreboard_dissapoints">Salinas, Andy. "New screen's ad coverage disappoints some students", The Daily Texan, 2006-09-05.</ref> <ref name="Godzillatron">Robbins, Kevin. "Godzillatron roars to life - Fans get first look at scoreboard to end all scoreboards, still a work in progress", Austin American-Statesman, 2006-09-03.</ref> This has led to some fans calling the new screen "Adzillatron".<ref name="Ad">Soltan, Margaret. "After its Premiere, Godzillatron Renamed By UT Fans: It's Now Adzillatron", 2006-07-03. Retrieved on 2006-07-13.</ref> Complaints have also been made about the scoreboard being too loud and about it broadcasting advertisements to those in the stadium, even over the top of the band playing in the stadium.<ref name="Godzillatron">Robbins, Kevin. "Godzillatron roars to life - Fans get first look at scoreboard to end all scoreboards, still a work in progress", Austin American-Statesman, 2006-09-03.</ref><ref name="Ad">Soltan, Margaret. "After its Premiere, Godzillatron Renamed By UT Fans: It's Now Adzillatron", 2006-07-03. Retrieved on 2006-07-13.</ref> In its first usage, the portion of the new screen that was typically used for showing replays and film highlights was approximately the same size as the old video screen.<ref name="scoreboard_dissapoints">Salinas, Andy. "New screen's ad coverage disappoints some students", The Daily Texan, 2006-09-05.</ref><ref name="2debut">Blair, Alex. "Colt McCoy, Godzillatron make their career debuts on Saturday", The Daily Texan, September 6 2006. Retrieved on 2006-09-07.</ref> More recent games have featured a 16:9 format image centered in a ring of advertisement. Never-the-less, complaints continue about the advertising, with some fans shouting out "We won't shop/eat/bank there" when advertisements are played loudly in the stadium.<ref name="we won't">Suzanne Haliburton. "Questions on TX-OU, petitioning NCAA for eligibility", Austin American-Statesman, 5 October 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-07.</ref>

A new, temporary, bleacher seating section has been added behind the south endzone for the 2006 season. In mid-July 2006, The University of Texas announced that they had completely sold out Memorial Stadium for the upcoming 2006 season. This announcement meant that for the first time in the history of the university, tickets will not be sold on an individual game basis. The bleachers allowed a new attendance record of 85,123 to be set on September 2 vs North Texas.<ref name="DRK">Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Retrieved on 2006-09-10.</ref> This was quickly surpassed by the September 9th game vs Ohio State University. The attendance for that game was 89,422<ref name="DRK">Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Retrieved on 2006-09-10.</ref>, which stands as the largest number of people to ever watch a football game in the state of Texas.

[edit] 2008 expansion

Image:Texas Memorial Stadium.jpg

Regents approved a US$149.9 million expansion plan (includes the $15 million 2006 renovations) to include a new memorial plaza and new north end zone structure that is scheduled to be completed in August 2008. The new outdoor plaza at the northwest corner will be a memorial to veterans, with a bronze tablet honoring Texas World War I deaths, a monument, landscaping, and new stadium entry gates between two 115 foot towers, like those in the east grandstand. The expansion also consists of replacing the north end zone structure with a multi-level complex that includes additional seats, club space, suites, athletic offices, academic-advising areas and a basement with gym space. Seating capacity overall will rise to more than 90,000 from the current 85,123.<ref name="Statesman">Haurwitz, Ralph K.M. (1998). UT stadium expansion to include renewed emphasis on veterans (HTML). Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved on 2006-05-11.</ref>

This project begins just after the final home game of 2006, as the north end-zone is being expanded to make the lowest seats closest the field while adding luxury boxes and an upper-deck.<ref name="aggie game notebook">"Longhorns notebook - Holiday Bowl loves Aggies", Austin American-Statesman, 24 November 2006. Retrieved on 2006-11-25.</ref> The lower deck is planned to be rebulit for 2007, while the upper deck is planned to be ready for 2008.<ref name="aggie game notebook">"Longhorns notebook - Holiday Bowl loves Aggies", Austin American-Statesman, 24 November 2006. Retrieved on 2006-11-25.</ref>

See also: Board of Regents Presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint and Adobe Acrobat formats.