Tiger Stadium, also called Death Valley, is an outdoor stadium located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on the campus of Louisiana State University. It is the home stadium of the LSU Tigers football team. Prior to 1924, LSU played its home games at State Field, which was located on the old LSU campus in Downtown Baton Rouge.
Tiger Stadium opened with a capacity of 12,000 in 1924. Renovations and expansions have brought the stadium's current capacity to 102,321, making it the second largest stadium in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) behind Kyle Field of Texas A&M, the fifth largest stadium in the NCAA and the seventh largest stadium in the world.
Testimonials Despite being 14–2 at Tiger Stadium, famed Alabama head coach Bear Bryant once remarked that "Baton Rouge happens to be the worst place in the world for a visiting team. It's like being inside a drum." In 2001, ESPN sideline reporter Adrian Karsten said, "Death Valley in Baton Rouge is the loudest stadium I've ever been in." In 2003, ESPN's Chris Fowler called LSU his favorite game day experience. In 2009, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee stated on Sean Hannity's Fox News show that "Unfair is playing LSU on a Saturday night in Baton Rouge."
Survey after survey has concluded that Tiger Stadium is the most difficult place for a visiting team to play, including surveys by the College Football Association in 1987, The Sporting News in 1989, Gannett News Service in 1995, and Sport Magazine in 1998. More recently, in 2007, ESPN named Tiger Stadium "the scariest place to play", saying that "Tiger Stadium is, by far, the loudest stadium in the country."
In 2009, ESPN writer Chris Low listed Tiger Stadium's Saturday night atmosphere as unsurpassed in the country, ranking it No. 1 out of the SEC conference's 12 stadiums. In 2016, Tiger Stadium was again ranked No. 1 out of the conference's 14 stadiums by USA Today writers Laken Litman & Steven Ruiz.
LSU prefers night games in Tiger Stadium with its opponents, but television coverage requires that many contests be played in the afternoons. The university is conflicted between maximizing its potential to win and needed advertising revenues from television coverage. As explained by Chet Hilburn in The Mystique of Tiger Stadium: 25 Greatest Games: The Ascension of LSU Football, "The Tigers are apt to win more games at night in Tiger Stadium but the university takes in much more revenue for a day game televised by CBS because of the Southeastern Conference contract with the network is so lucrative."Chet Hilburn, The Mystique of Tiger Stadium: 25 Greatest Games: The Ascension of LSU Football (Bloomington, Indiana: WestBow Press, 2012), p. 89
In 2008, as Alabama narrowly defeated LSU, Wright Thompson of ESPN.com described Tiger Stadium as "the best place in the world to watch a sporting event."Hilburn, p. 7
In 2013, the NCAA ranked Tiger Stadium as the loudest stadium in all of college football.
In 2014, the No. 3-ranked Ole Miss Rebels played the No. 24-ranked LSU Tigers on October 25. After the Tigers held the Rebels to only 7 points in a 10–7 victory, Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace stated, "It's a crazy atmosphere. This is the craziest place I've played."
In 2024, ESPN.com published the results of a poll of 14 of their college football writers for the "best stadiums in the sport." The writers picked their top 20 stadiums, and points were awarded based on placement. Tiger Stadium was awarded first place in the poll with a score of 247 points out of a possible total of 280. Writer Chris Low included a note that "Soaking up the atmosphere on a Saturday night in Tiger Stadium is pure nirvana for football fans."
Construction and stadium capacity
With an official seating capacity of 102,321, Tiger Stadium is the seventh-largest stadium in the world by capacity. It is the fifth-largest stadium in the NCAA and the second-largest in the Southeastern Conference, behind Kyle Field at Texas A&M University (102,733) and slightly larger than Bryant-Denny Stadium at Alabama (100,077) and Neyland Stadium at Tennessee (101,915).
The stadium opened in 1924 and originally seated 12,000—the lower half of the current facility's grandstands on the east and west sidelines. In 1931, 10,000 seats were added to the existing grandstands.
In 1936 capacity was more than doubled by enclosing the north end zone with 24,000 seats, turning the stadium into a horseshoe. Money was not allocated in the state budget for the seating expansion, but money was allocated for dormitories. According to local legend, Governor Huey P. Long, who had always taken a personal interest in LSU, ordered that dormitories be built in the stadium, with seating above the student living quarters.Forces Shaping the Presidential and Congressional Election Campaigns in 2004 However, in a 2015 ESPN story, Bud Johnson, at the time director of LSU's athletics museum and also a former LSU sports information director, said that the idea actually came from LSU's athletic director T. P. "Skipper" Heard, while "the governor helped in other ways." Until the late 1980s, the West, North and South Stadium dormitories were featured as part of student housing at LSU, and the football team even lived in them during the 1986 season while the athletic dormitory was being renovated. The dormitories were later converted to office space for Athletic Department staff and faculty and studios for the College of Art & Design's Fine Arts graduate students, but by 2015 were no longer used.
More than 21,000 seats were added in the south end zone in 1953, turning the stadium into a 67,720-seat bowl, making Tiger Stadium the largest on-campus stadium in the SEC, a distinction it would hold until Neyland Stadium expanded to 80,250 in 1976. Unlike the existing stadium structure, they were double-decked in order to fit within the space provided. The first of the two upper decks was added to the west side of the stadium in 1978 to bring capacity to approximately 78,000.Tiger Stadium
The stadium was upgraded multiple times in the 1980s beginning with replacement of bench seats with chair back seats and waterproofing of the east and west stands in 1985. The playing surface was moved to the south to center the field in 1986. The north and south ends of the stadium were waterproofed and chair back seats added in 1987 to bring those sections up to date with the 1985 improvements. Also in 1987 the press box was redecorated, a few more seats were installed at the upper portion of the west lower stands, and all seating within the stadium was renumbered using a uniform seat-width. By the end of the 1980s the stadium held 80,150 spectators.
The official capacity of the stadium was lowered to 80,000 in 1994 when a section of seating was removed for renovations to the visiting team locker room. The east upper deck seating 11,600 was completed in 2000 and brought total capacity to 91,600. The west upper deck was torn down at the end of the 2004 season, and construction began on "The Stadium Club". The new suites contain over 3,200 special amenity seats as well as a state-of-the-art press box. The "Paul Manasseh Press Box" has been named for and dedicated to the memory of the long-time and popular sports information director. Construction on this addition was scheduled to be completed by the beginning of September 2005, but delayed due to Hurricane Katrina. Construction was completed for the 2006 season, bringing the stadium's capacity to 92,400. A small number of club seats were added before the 2011 season, increasing the capacity to 92,542.
During construction on the west side, a then-record-breaking crowd of 92,664 fans packed Tiger Stadium in a game against Auburn on October 22, 2005, as LSU defeated Auburn in overtime, 20–17. On October 6, 2007, a new record was recorded when 92,910 fans watched as the number 1-ranked Tigers defeated the number 9 Florida Gators, 28–24. A record-breaking attendance of 93,039 was again set on November 8, 2008, when number 1 Alabama defeated (16) LSU in overtime 27–21. The record was breached yet again on October 10, 2009, when the #1 ranked Florida Gators came into Tiger Stadium and defeated (4) LSU 13–3. The attendance was 93,129. The old capacity record of 93,374 was set on November 3, 2012, when (5) LSU lost to (1) Alabama 21–17, and the current record of 101,194 was set on September 13, 2014, when (10) LSU defeated Louisiana–Monroe 31–0.
On April 27, 2012, the LSU Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in favor of an $80 million south end-zone upper deck expansion that added 70 "Tiger Den" suites, over 3,000 club seats and 1,500+ general public seats to bring the total capacity of Tiger Stadium to 102,321, making it the fifth-largest college football stadium in the country. Construction began on October 17, 2012, and was completed by the summer of 2014. The project was privately funded by Tiger Athletic Foundation.
Beginning with the 2017 football season, Tiger Stadium added the "Skyline Club". This open air seating located atop the south end zone upper deck is home to a 1,500 seat "beer garden". Purchase of a ticket in the Skyline Club includes admission to the seating area, admission to a self-serve food buffet, and the ability to purchase beer and wine. The 2018 football season saw the appearance of an additional "beer garden" called "The Chute". This new beer drinking area is located below the south endzone bleachers. It is limited to 1,500 patrons at a time. Fans entering The Chute must be at least 21 years of age, and pay a $20 admission fee that includes two complimentary beers. Additional beers must be purchased separately. The Chute has a large screen television set for watching the game, as well as a seating area consisting of tables and chairs. In 2019, alcohol sales were opened stadium wide. + Top 10 largest crowds Rank Attendance Visiting team Date Result1. 102,321 Alabama Nov. 5, 2022 LSU, 32–311. 102,321 Tennessee Oct. 8, 2022 Ten, 40–131. 102,321 Southern Sep. 10, 2022 LSU, 65–171. 102,321 Florida Oct. 12, 2019 LSU, 42–281. 102,321 Alabama Nov. 3, 2018 Ala, 29–01. 102,321 Georgia Oct. 13, 2018 LSU, 36–161. 102,321 Louisiana Tech Sep. 22, 2018 LSU, 38–211. 102,321 Alabama Nov. 5, 2016 Ala, 10–01. 102,321 Auburn Sep. 19, 2015 LSU, 45–211. 102,321 Eastern Michigan Oct. 3, 2015 LSU, 44–22
Notable events LSU football games
Tiger Stadium first opened its gates to fans in the fall of 1924 as LSU hosted Tulane in the season finale. Since the first game in Tiger Stadium, LSU has gone on to post a 439-154-18 (.733) mark in Death Valley. Moreover, Tiger Stadium is also known for night games, an idea that was first introduced in 1931 against Spring Hill (a 35-0 LSU victory). In 2006, LSU celebrated its 75th year of playing night football in Tiger Stadium. LSU has played the majority of its games at night and the Tigers have fared much better under the lights than during the day. Since 1960, LSU is 201–59–3 (.773) at night in Tiger Stadium compared to a 21–22–3 (.488) record during the day over that span. LSU lost its first Saturday night game since 2009 against Alabama on Saturday November 3, 2012.
Billy Cannon's Halloween Run on a punt-return for a touchdown in 1959 when top-ranked LSU scored late and stopped #3 Ole Miss at the goal line to win by a score of 7–3. The last-second Bert Jones touchdown pass in 1972 against Ole Miss. LSU was down 16–10 with four seconds left in the game when Jones made an incomplete pass. At the end of the play, fans looked at the clock which surprisingly showed one second remaining. LSU used the last second of the game for a touchdown pass from Bert Jones to Brad Davis. According to Ole Miss lore, a sign was put up at the Louisiana–Mississippi border reading "You are now entering Louisiana. Set your clocks back four seconds.";It's title time once again