University Stadium is a stadium in Albuquerque, New Mexico used primarily for American football as the home field of the University of New
Mexico Lobos. It opened in 1960 and holds 38,634 people.
The stadium replaced Zimmerman Field, a 16,000-seat stadium which was located just south of the current library. Needing more room for
campus facilities, the school purchased land south of campus near the corner of Avenida Cesar Chavez and University Boulevard. This land
became the "south campus”, which, includes The Pit and Isotopes Park, the Lobo Tennis Club, Lobo Field, Lobo Softball field, the Rudy Davalos
Basketball Center and buildings housing the athletics department as well as the football stadium.
When it opened in 1960, University Stadium consisted of the east and west stands and press box. The stadium was built an existing arroyo with
the grandstands built up from moved earth for an earthen fill that was then cemented over. The “berm” style construction, which placed the field
below ground level with seats above and below the natural ground level. Initial costs for the stadium were just over $4 million. University Stadium
opened on Sept. 17, 1960 when UNM defeated the National University of Mexico 77-6.
A new press box with private suites was built in 1976 at a cost of $1.8 million. Because the stadium had been built on earthen fill, the press box
had to be supported on large concrete cylinders that went down to the pre-existing ground level. In 1995 the next major addition to University
Stadium came when UNM built the L.F. "Tow" Diehm Athletic Facility, a field house and athletic training facility located in the southern end zone.
University Stadium’s current expansion began in 2001 with stands, new bathroom and concessions facilities in the north end zone. UNM also
added a large, then state-of-the-art scoreboard that included the "LoboVision" video screen. In 2004, portable bleachers were donated to UNM
by the City of Albuquerque in 2004 to take the stadium’s capacity beyond 38,000.
Expansion is currently continuing. The next phase of expansion includes renovations of the stadium's southwest and southeast corners as well
as adding and additional 5,000 seats to the south end of the stadium as well as a tunnel leadning into the Tow Diehm facility . By the time
renovations are completed, the stadium will seat over 42,000.
University Stadium has hosted everything from UNM football games to concerts to international soccer matches. In December of 2006, it hosted
the inaugural New Mexico Bowl. The game was funded by a $2 million line of credit from ESPN and featured the San Jose State Spartans of the
Western Athletic Conference and the University of New Mexico of the Mountain West Conference. SJSU defeated UNM 20-12. The game was the
first Division I bowl game played in the state of New Mexico. University Stadium hosted a Division I-AA bowl game, the Zia Bowl, in early
December of 1979 and 1980. In Zia Bowl I, The University of Delaware defeated Youngstown State University (Ohio) 38-21. In Zia Bowl II, Cal
Poly-San Luis Obispo (now simply Cal Poly) beat Eastern Illinois University 21-13.
University Stadium hosted a U.S. women's national soccer team FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Mexico in May 2004 and a friendly
match between the U.S. men's national soccer team and Honduras in March 2005. The stadium has also hosted concerts by Metallica and the
Rolling Stones.
