Mackay Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium

Stadium

A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...

 in Reno

Reno, Nevada

Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...

, Nevada

Nevada

Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

, on the campus of the University of Nevada

University of Nevada, Reno

The University of Nevada, Reno , is a teaching and research university established in 1874 and located in Reno, Nevada, USA...

. It is the home field of the Nevada Wolf Pack

Nevada Wolf Pack football

The Nevada Wolf Pack Football program represents the University of Nevada, Reno in college football. The Wolf Pack competes in the Western Athletic Conference at the Football Bowl Subdivision level of the NCAA...

 of the Western Athletic Conference

Western Athletic Conference

The Western Athletic Conference is an American collegiate athletic conference, which was formed on July 27, 1962, making it the sixth oldest of the 11 college athletic conferences currently participating in the NCAA's Division I FBS...

, the university's venue for football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 and track & field.

Located on the northern end of campus at 17th Street & East Stadium Way, the stadium opened in 1966

1966 college football season

The 1966 college football season was marked by controversy as the year of "The Tie", a November 19 game between the two top-ranked teams, Michigan State and Notre Dame. Neither team participated in a post-season bowl game. At the same time, 1966 was the first year that the professional football...

 with a seating capacity

Seating capacity

Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...

 of 7,500. After several expansions, it currently seats 29,993.

It replaced the original Mackay Stadium, formerly located in the bowl containing Hilliard Plaza, the Mack Social Sciences building, and the Reynolds School of Journalism. Both stadiums were named for Clarence Mackay, a university benefactor in the early years of the school.

The playing field sits at an elevation

Elevation

The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....

 of 4610 feet (1,405.1 m) above sea level. Originally natural grass, synthetic infilled FieldTurf

FieldTurf

FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by the FieldTurf Tarkett division of Tarkett Inc., based in Calhoun, Georgia, USA. In the late 1990s, the artificial surface changed the industry with a design intended to replicate real grass...

 was installed in 2000

2000 NCAA Division I-A football season

The 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the Oklahoma Sooners claiming their first national championship and their first conference championship since the departure of head coach Barry Switzer....

 and replaced in 2010

2010 Nevada Wolf Pack football team

The 2010 Nevada Wolf Pack football team represented the University of Nevada, Reno in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wolf Pack were led by head coach Chris Ault in his 26th season overall and 7th since taking over the head coaching job for the third time in 2004. They played...

. The field runs in a NW to SE configuration, with the press box

Press box

The press box is a special section of a sports stadium or arena that is set up for the media to report about a given event. It is typically located in the section of the stadium holding the luxury box. In general, newspaper writers sit in this box and write about the on-field event as it unfolds...

 on the southwest sideline. Permanent lighting was installed in 2003

2003 NCAA Division I-A football season

The 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with an abundance of controversy, resulting in a split national championship. This was the first split title since the inception of the BCS, something the BCS intended to eliminate....

, allowing the option of night games.

External links

• World Stadiums.com - photo - Mackay Stadium