On Saturday nights in the fall, Tiger Stadium transforms into the fifth-largest city in the state of Louisiana.
In the LSU football team’s home opener against Sam Houston State, that city was larger than ever before.
The LSU Athletic Department announced 100,338 fans attended the Tigers’ 56-0 rout of the Bearkats, smashing the previous record of 93,374 set on Nov. 3, 2012, against Alabama. This new attendance achievement is thanks to the opening of the new south endzone expansion, an $80 million project completed in August.
The expansion, which started Sept. 10, 2012, added room for 9,779 attendees in suites, club seats and general seats to jump the previous capacity from 92,542 to 102,321. With the added space, Tiger Stadium became the third-largest stadium in the Southeastern Conference and the ninth-largest stadium in the world.
“As I was running out I was looking right at [the south endzone expansion],” said junior deep snapper Reid Ferguson. “With another 10,000 fans in there, I think it made a difference. I could tell.”
A two-year letterman entering his third season, Ferguson is one of the more experienced players on the Tigers’ squad. Including the 2014 season, Ferguson has played in 28 games, 16 of which have taken place in Tiger Stadium.
Even with this experience, running into an expanded Tiger Stadium for the first time is a unique event.
“I still got anxious. I still got the jitters,” Ferguson said. “I could tell there were an extra 10,000 people there. It sounded real loud to me.”
Before the expansion, Tiger Stadium had been named one of the hardest places for opposing teams to play in by outlets such as ESPN.com and Sport magazine. With the addition of 10,000 fans to the south end zone, the stadium known as Death Valley will be louder than ever before.
Along with the seats and suites, another addition to the south end zone is the two large video monitors in each corner that stand 67 feet high and 39 feet wide, along with an illuminated sign that reads “Welcome to Death Valley” in the middle of it all.
“The thing that stood out at me first were the new jumbotrons,” said senior offensive tackle Evan Washington. “They’re nice, and the new section — how it’s almost closed in — just looks different. It looks better. I can’t wait to see what it looks like throughout the season as we play bigger games. It’s going to be amazing.”
The project was funded through a $100 million bond by the Tiger Athletic Foundation, which, along with the south endzone expansion, will pay for improvement to the facilities of non-revenue sports. These include the construction of a new tennis facility, a new gymnastics practice facility and expansion of locker rooms for the track and field teams.
But Tiger Stadium stands as the crown jewel of the expansion project, once again thrusting LSU to the forefront of the college football world.
“It’s just beautiful,” Washington said. “It’s a beautiful stadium. I think it’s the best stadium in the world. You run out there and the fans, the atmosphere, and it was a night game … I just can’t really even explain it.”
Michael Haarala can be reached on Twitter @haarala_TDR.