Kenan Memorial Stadium - Interesting Facts

Interesting Facts

• The largest crowd to see a game at Kenan—and the largest to see a game on-campus in the state of North Carolina—was a standing-room-only throng of 62,000 when the Tar Heels hosted the Florida State Seminoles in 1997.

• The 1983 season saw another first in the stadium - a game played under artificial lights. The North Carolina-Duke game was played in the late afternoon so it could be televised throughout the Atlantic Coast Conference area. Portable lights were brought in since the second half was played after sunset.

• Part of the 1987-88 project were a permanent lighting system, a chancellor's lounge on the north side of the field and a football lettermen's lounge on the south side. The lights are part of a General Electric low-mount system which minimizes the height of the lightpoles. Cost of the entire project was $7 million. It was funded by private gifts and bonds.

• The 1991 season opener versus Cincinnati and the Clemson game, which was televised nationally by ESPN, were UNC's first true night home games in school history.

• The stadium's sight lines have always been very good. The field is approximately four feet below the stands, and the rise to the stands is very steep. The end zone is only 20 feet from the field, and the sideline seats are only 50 feet from the field. However, several seats in the corners of the north and south stands are directly in front of bushes, making it difficult to see the field. Also, the last row of the lower level grandstand seats has a fairly significant overhang problem; people sitting in this area can't see the scoreboards or video boards.

• Most of the west end zone and three sections of the south stands are reserved for students. The student section of the west end zone is popularly known as the "Tar Pit"--a name applied to the entire stadium during the late 1990s.

• From 2007 to 2010, fireworks were shot from atop Kenan Field House whenever the Tar Heels take the field, as well as after every score and win. They were removed in 2011, but reinstated in 2012 after Larry Fedora's arrival, and are now shot off behind the west end zone.

• While tickets are not nearly as hard to find as those for the basketball team, the Tar Heels sold out every game from 1992 to 1999, and also sold out all but one game of Butch Davis' tenure.