Oklahoma Memorial Stadium

About Oklahoma Memorial Stadium

On the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman, an 80,126-seat bowl carries the formal name Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and a less formal distinction: no school in college football has produced more Heisman Trophy winners than the seven who played here. The Sooners play on Owen Field, the Sooner Schooner charges after every score, and seven 12-foot bronze statues stand watch at Heisman Plaza.

The stadium opened in 1923 on a site where Bennie Owen, the coach for whom the playing field is named, helped raise the money to build it. The original permanent grandstand seated 16,000 when it was completed in 1925, and the venue was dedicated as a memorial to OU personnel who died in World War I. Nearly a century of expansions have transformed it into one of the 20 largest college football stadiums in America, with a sellout streak that reached 148+ consecutive games dating back to 1999.

The Sooner Schooner, a miniature Conestoga wagon pulled by two white ponies named Boomer and Sooner, has charged onto Owen Field after every Oklahoma score since 1964. It became the official mascot in 1980 and is one of the most recognizable traditions in college football. The Schooner famously tipped over on national television during a 1993 game against Colorado, proving that even traditions can go sideways.

A $450 million renovation called “The Palace Project” was announced in November 2025, with Populous designing a complete overhaul of the stadium’s west side. The project will modernize the facility for Oklahoma’s new era in the SEC.

Getting to Oklahoma Memorial Stadium

Public Transit

Norman has no rail service. The university operates shuttle buses on game days.

The Heartland Flyer Amtrak route connects Oklahoma City to Fort Worth with a stop in Norman, but the station is 2 miles from the stadium and service is not practical for game-day travel. Most fans drive.

Driving + Parking

The stadium is at 1185 Asp Avenue, Norman, OK 73019. I-35 is the primary approach.

Public campus lots cost $30 per vehicle. Free parking is available at Lloyd Noble Center, take the $5 shuttle to the stadium. Popular tailgating spots include Boyd Lawn, Duck Pond, Nieman Field, and the Lindsey Street area. Setup begins at 5 PM the day before home games; all equipment must be removed by noon the next day.

Rideshare

Uber and Lyft operate in Norman with designated pickup/drop-off zones near Campus Corner on Boyd Street. From Oklahoma City hotels, expect $25–$40. From Will Rogers Airport, $20–$35. Post-game surge pricing is common, walk to Campus Corner for a drink and a quicker pickup.

From the Airport

Construction & Design

Oklahoma Memorial Stadium is older than almost every building around it. The first permanent grandstand went up in 1925, a 16,000-seat concrete west stand designed by the Layton & Hicks firm and paid for in part by coach Bennie Owen, whose fundraising is why the playing surface carries his name. The stadium was dedicated to the university’s World War I dead, which is the “Memorial” in its name. The “Gaylord Family” came much later, in 2002, after a $12 million gift from Oklahoman publisher Christy Gaylord Everest.

For most of a century the stadium grew piecemeal, deck by deck, until it stood as a horseshoe open at the south end. Then Populous closed it. The 2016 south end zone project, about $160 million, wrapped the bowl into a full ring, added suites and club seats, and gave the stadium its enclosed 360-degree shape. The listed capacity of 80,126 actually reflects a small cut taken in 2019 to widen the aisles, not an expansion. A stadium that got safer, not bigger.

The building’s signature look is its brick, a collegiate-Gothic style locals call “Cherokee Gothic,” a phrase attributed to Frank Lloyd Wright on a campus visit. The field is natural Bermudagrass, kept that way since 1994. The next chapter is the biggest yet: in November 2025 OU approved “The Palace Project,” a roughly $450 million rebuild of the west side designed by Populous with Manhattan Construction, slated to begin after the 2027 season. A nine-figure bet on the Sooners’ new life in the SEC.

History of Oklahoma Memorial Stadium

Oklahoma Memorial Stadium opened in 1923, the first game on October 20, 1923 saw Oklahoma defeat Washington University 62-7. The first permanent 16,000-seat west grandstand was completed in 1925 for approximately $293,000, designed by Solomon Andrew Layton’s firm. The stadium was dedicated as a memorial to University of Oklahoma personnel who died in World War I, and the playing field was named Owen Field for coach Bennie Owen.

47-Game Winning Streak Ends (November 16, 1957): Notre Dame defeated Oklahoma 7-0 in Norman, ending the Sooners’ NCAA-record 47-game winning streak before a then-record crowd of 63,170. The streak remains the longest in college football history.

Game of the Century (November 25, 1971): #1 Nebraska defeated #2 Oklahoma 35-31 in one of the most celebrated games in college football history. Played at Owen Field, the game lived up to its billing and cemented the Oklahoma-Nebraska rivalry as the sport’s best.

Seven Heisman Winners (1952–2018): Billy Vessels, Steve Owens, Billy Sims, Jason White, Sam Bradford, Baker Mayfield, and Kyler Murray all won the Heisman while playing at Owen Field. Mayfield (2017) and Murray (2018) won back-to-back, the first school with consecutive quarterback Heisman winners.

The Palace Project (November 2025): OU announced a $450 million renovation of the stadium’s west side, designed by Populous with Manhattan Construction as general contractor. The project will modernize the facility as the Sooners compete in the SEC for the first time.

The Biggest Crowds: The largest crowd ever to see a game here was 88,308, packed in on November 11, 2017, for a top-10 showdown with TCU, the biggest football crowd in Oklahoma history. Sellouts are the rule rather than the exception; the Sooners have filled the place for decades, and the 2016 south end zone enclosure was built specifically to wrap that noise into a full bowl. The trim to the current 80,126 in 2019 came only from widening aisles and adding handrails for safety, not from any softening of demand. On a good Saturday, Owen Field could sell far more tickets than it has seats.

From Bud Wilkinson’s 47-game streak to seven Heisman Trophy statues to the Sooner Schooner charging after every score, Oklahoma Memorial Stadium is where one of the richest traditions in college football lives, a century-old venue preparing for its next hundred years in the SEC.

Sources & Further Reading

• OU Athletics, stadium facility page: soonersports.com. Capacity, gameday, and facility information.
• Populous, Oklahoma Memorial Stadium: populous.com. The 2016 south end zone and the Palace Project.
• Wikipedia, Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaylord_Family_Oklahoma_Memorial_Stadium. History, expansions, Heisman winners, and the 47-game streak.