Bryant-Denny Stadium holds 100,077, which makes it one of five on campus stadiums in the country above 100,000. It opened in 1929 with seats for 12,000 and has been expanded eight times. The playing surface has been named for Nick Saban since 2024.
| Official capacity | 100,077, since 2020 |
| Record attendance | 101,821 vs LSU, November 9, 2019 |
| Opened | September 28, 1929, capacity 12,000 |
| First game | Alabama 55, Mississippi College 0 |
| Original cost | $196,000 |
| Named for | George Denny, university president, and Bear Bryant, added 1975 |
| Surface | Natural grass, named Saban Field since September 2024 |
The Record Crowd
The largest crowd in stadium history was 101,821 for LSU in November 2019, a game between the top two teams in the country that LSU won 46 to 41 on the way to the national championship. That figure was also the official capacity at the time, and it has not been possible to match it since.
How the Capacity Changed
| Year | Capacity | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| 1929 | 12,000 | Opened as Denny Stadium |
| 1937 | 24,000 | East side expansion |
| 1946 | 31,000 | End zone bleachers |
| 1961 | 43,000 | New press box and 12,000 seats |
| 1966 | 60,000 | West upper deck |
| 1988 | 70,123 | East upper deck, first skyboxes |
| 1998 | 83,818 | North end zone enclosed |
| 2006 | 92,138 | North end zone upper deck |
| 2010 | 101,821 | South end zone upper deck, stadium fully enclosed |
| 2020 | 100,077 | Premium seating added, general seating reduced |
Why It Got Smaller
The 2020 renovation cost more than $100 million and replaced ordinary seats with three new club areas, loge boxes and nearly 4,000 premium seats. The net effect was a reduction of about 1,700 in capacity and a considerable increase in revenue. Ohio Stadium went through the same trade in 2019 and Beaver Stadium is doing so now.
The Birmingham Years
For most of the 20th century Alabama’s biggest home games were not played in Tuscaloosa. Legion Field in Birmingham was larger, and from 1900 until 2003 the Crimson Tide played at least one home game there every season. The Iron Bowl was in Birmingham until 2000, and Tennessee, LSU and other marquee opponents were routinely hosted there rather than on campus.
The 2009 season was only the ninth in the stadium’s history in which Alabama played every home game at Bryant-Denny. That is the context for its expansion: the stadium had to grow to justify bringing the biggest games home.
Saban Field
On September 7, 2024, before the second home game of Kalen DeBoer’s first season, the university named the playing surface for Nick Saban, who had retired eight months earlier with six national championships won in Tuscaloosa. The stadium name was unchanged.
The Walk of Champions
A plaza connecting the stadium to University Boulevard honours the five coaches who won national titles at Alabama with statues of Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, Bear Bryant, Gene Stallings and Nick Saban. It has become the game day focal point and the standard photograph of the building.
The Bottom Line
Bryant-Denny Stadium holds 100,077, reduced from 101,821 after a 2020 renovation added premium seating. The record crowd of 101,821 came against LSU in 2019. It opened in 1929 with 12,000 seats and has been expanded eight times, and for most of its history Alabama played its biggest home games in Birmingham instead. Our Alabama all time record page covers what has happened on the field.