Saturday’s FCS Championship Game will be played at a renovated Toyota Stadium, a familiar venue that has a new look.
Located in suburban Frisco, TX, Toyota Stadium primarily serves as home to MLS’s FC Dallas. Over the last few years, the club has worked to complete a series of upgrades as part of a $58-million project that included the addition of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, an overhauled south end, new premium areas, new locker rooms, and more.
Although those renovations are intended to boost the experience for MLS matches, they were also made with Toyota Stadium’s other uses in mind. That includes college football, as Toyota Stadium has been used for the annual FCS Championship Game since the 2010 season. Construction on the renovations was still unfolding when last year’s contest was played, but Saturday’s game between North Dakota State and Eastern Washington will showcase the completed renovations and highlight how Toyota Stadium has been enhanced for college football. More from the Grand Forks Herald:
“The (south) end was completely open. This locks in the sound and we’ve seen it with our soccer matches that it’s much louder,” [Toyota Stadium chief operating officer Jimmy] Smith said. “This will be an extremely loud place as opposed to the past. It will be a noticeable difference. … It will make for a fun atmosphere.”
The suite level on the west side of the stadium has been expanded from 18 to 22 units, including a “super suite.” Two new 100-player locker rooms are housed under the stands on the south side of the stadium.
“The building is better prepared for football now,” said Tom Burnett, the commissioner of the Southland Conference, which is the league host for the championship game….
“A large of chunk of (the renovation) is meant for the FCS championship,” Smith said. “We want to create a great fan experience. We want fans to keep coming back.”
The stadium originally opened in 2005.
Image courtesy FC Dallas.