Mac Rating: 5.00 | Votes: 1 | Date: 10/07/2026 04:38:00

Home to the University of Utah Utes football team, Rice-Eccles Stadium on the Salt Lake City campus seats 51,444 following the completion of the $80 million Ken Garff Red Zone south end zone expansion in 2021. The stadium sits at an elevation of 4,637 feet and has hosted football on its site since 1927, when the original Ute Stadium opened with a capacity of 20,000. A 1972 expansion created 32,500-seat Rice Stadium, and the current structure was built from the ground up in 1997-1998 as a 45,017-seat modern facility. The stadium served as the Olympic Stadium for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, temporarily expanded to approximately 56,000 for the games. A $10 million lead gift from the George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation funded the 1998 reconstruction. The Ken Garff family's $17.5 million donation -- the largest in Utah Athletics history -- funded the 2021 expansion. No state or taxpayer dollars were used for either project. The record attendance stands at 53,644, set in 2023 against Florida. Utah's average attendance has exceeded the stadium's listed capacity for 12 consecutive years dating back to the 2008 Sugar Bowl campaign. The Utes, now competing in the Big 12 Conference, play on FieldTurf. The stadium features 39 suites, 2,391 premium seats, and 17,691 total chair seats.