Notre Dame Stadium

   Completed in 1930 as the Stadium that Knute Rockne built, Notre Dame Stadium has been the home of the Fighting Irish since its inception. Its original cost was just above $750,000 and held around 59,000 spectators. The building material of the stadium is brick with over two million bricks used to build the bowl. Between 1994 and 1997, Notre Dame spent $53,000,000 to install permanent lights, and two large scoreboards, expand the bowl to over 80,000 capacity, and expand the press box and locker rooms. In 2014, the school decided to complete another renovation, this one costing around $400,000,000 and took around three years to complete. This large amount of money built a student center, new locker rooms, a Jumbotron, new seats, and other academic buildings attached to the stadium itself. This renovation lowered the capacity to 77,622 which is where it stands to this day. 

    Notre Dame Stadium is highly regarded as one of the great palaces in college sports. In 1993, the movie Rudy highlighted the greatness of tradition at Notre Dame. From the “Play like a champion today” sign to the leprechaun firing up the crowd, Notre Dame has a few traditions that make it an amazing atmosphere. Most popular of all and just overlooking the top of the bowl is a mosaic of Jesus Resurrected. With his arms up, it has been referred to as Touchdown Jesus. The image has been there since 1964 and has become a fan favorite. 

   Notre Dame Stadium’s field also has some hidden meaning behind it. It is very basic with no logos or writing in the end zones. Instead, each end zone has nine diagonal white lines that point at the university's most iconic building, the Golden Dome. 

    Notre Dame Stadium may not be the flashiest college football stadium. However, its traditions and atmosphere make it one of the greatest in college football. 

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