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6 Things to Know for Football Game Day

Construction and stadium highlights for 2015 Duke Football season

An aerial shot of Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium shows enhancements made to the facility since the end of last season. Along with new seating options, a state-of-the-art scoreboard has also been installed. Photo courtesy of Duke Facilities Manageme
An aerial shot of Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium shows enhancements made to the facility since the end of last season. Along with new seating options, a state-of-the-art scoreboard has also been installed. Photo courtesy of Duke Facilities Management.
By Bryan Roth

This month doesn’t just mark the beginning of a new season for Duke’s football team, but a new era of game day excitement for fans, too. 

The Blue Devils open their 2015 home schedule on Sept. 12 during the Employee Kickoff Celebration against North Carolina Central University, which will also unveil enhancements for the first phase of renovations at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium. Duke is in the midst of $100 million worth of upgrades to the football stadium, which originally opened in 1929.

“It’s going to be a totally different place than what people have experienced before,” said Bob Weiseman, assistant director of athletics for athletic facilities, game operations and championships. “You’ll start to realize immediately upon entrance to the seating bowl how transformational this project will be to the game day experience for not only the fans but the student-athletes as well.” 

Construction will continue at the stadium outside of game days in 2016 to complete other aspects like the Blue Devil Tower, which will include new press box spaces and luxury seating. Renovations are set to be wrapped up for the 2016 football season. 

Even still, here are seven changes to look forward to this season.

A New Name

This summer, Duke officially renamed its football field to “Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium” in recognition of a $13 million commitment to the Athletics Department by alumnus Steve Brooks and his wife, Eileen.

The Brooks family has a long history of giving to Duke, including support for the Brooks Practice Facility and Brooks Building for Duke Football. With their latest gift, they have committed more than $20 million to Duke.

Learn more about the change in this story.

New Grass

Facilities Management's Scott Thompson explains the imrpovements to Duke's new football field.

Because of construction to remove the track around the football field, turf was taken away to level the earth where games are played. That led to the reinstallation of brand new turf in July with Latitude 36 Bermuda grass, a specialty-grown strain ideal for sports because its resilience to activity and cold weather. 

The new sod was grown for a year at Georgia’s Precision Turf, which has also grown turf for University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Florida State University and more. The new turf grew on plastic in conditions like a potted plant, so when it was cut and driven to Durham, roots were never impacted and made the transition easier to Duke’s soil.

Cheer in New Seats

Immediately after last season ended, workers began removing the running track around the field and lowering the playing field by 5 feet. That allowed for 3,000 additional seats to be added closer to the action. Other new seating includes ADA-accessible areas to be built in the east and west sides of the field for 2015 and additional seating along the top of the bowl for 2016. A new elevator on the west seating section will assist with ADA-accessible seating access to the lower level ADA seats. 

Additionally, fold-down, Duke-blue chairs with armrests have replaced 50-year-old aluminum bleachers on the east side of the stadium. The new chairs are in sections 3 through 10.

See Replays on a Bigger Screen

Fans can catch game action on a new HD LED scoreboard that is 42-feet tall and 75-feet wide. The board will feature an improved sound system and graphics for live action video and replays that mirror the quality experienced at NFL stadiums. The scoreboard will also have pyrotechnics attached at the top, shooting off fireworks after Duke touchdowns.

Pieces of football’s old scoreboard have been repurposed to use at Morris Williams Track Stadium and Koskinen Stadium, where soccer and lacrosse teams host games. 

Changes to Restrooms, Concessions

Due to construction along concourses at the football stadium, the restrooms located near the north gate, behind sections 22 and 23, were taken down and have been replaced by 42 temporary units with wash stations which are also ADA accessible. 

On the west side of the field, full-service tents for concessions and merchandise sales will be available to serve fans. Find a map of the stadium’s new layout here. 

Throughout the stadium, many new food items and vendors will be available in 2015, including gyros and shish kabobs at Greek Eats, beef ribs at Bobanas and Tex-Mex at Snack Shack. See this listing for all the new items to find on Duke game days.

Know Where to Park

Several changes to game day travel are taking place in 2015 due to ongoing construction projects at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium and across campus.

Fans using general public parking can begin parking at 7 a.m. on game day in these lots:

At three hours prior to kick-off on game days, the Duke University Road Lots will close and the remaining public parking lots will open:

For the Employee Kickoff Celebration game on Sept. 12, the transition will occur four hours prior to kick-off.

Find a full listing of parking information on Duke Athletics’ “A-Z Game Day Guide.”

Want to know more about what’s new on football game day? See this story from Duke Athletics.

Contact: Duke Athletics
Phone: (919) 681-8738