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The Dog House

Bridgeforth Stadium

Bridgeforth Stadium in Harrisonburg, VA, home of James Madison. Capacity 24,877. Opened September 20, 1975.

Bridgeforth Stadium in Harrisonburg, VA
Bridgeforth Stadium, Harrisonburg, VAPhoto: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Capacity
24,877
Opened
1975
Surface
FieldTurf
Roof
Open air
Elevation
1,310 ft
Home team
James Madison
James Madison here
131–⁠21 games on file since 2003
College GameDay
three times

Since it opened: James Madison is 133–⁠24 in home games from the 1980 season on. Our source names a game’s stadium only from 2001, so that count takes every earlier home game not marked neutral and may include a few played elsewhere.

Biggest games here

From the games on file here, 2003 on: title and postseason games, meetings of two ranked teams, upsets by our pregame Elo ratings and the biggest swings in CollegeFootballData.com’s excitement index.

Crowds season by season

Average and biggest crowd at Bridgeforth Stadium by season, 2003 to 20260k10k20k30k2003: 10,478 a game over 5 games; biggest 13,8852004: 12,618 a game over 6 games; biggest 15,3212005: 13,525 a game over 6 games; biggest 15,1242006: 15,133 a game over 5 games; biggest 16,1442007: 14,512 a game over 6 games; biggest 15,2602008: 15,500 a game over 7 games; biggest 17,1632009: 15,305 a game over 5 games; biggest 16,0982010: 16,597 a game over 6 games; biggest 16,9852011: 25,002 a game over 5 games; biggest 25,7422012: 22,783 a game over 6 games; biggest 25,0772013: 21,011 a game over 7 games; biggest 25,2012014: 19,816 a game over 6 games; biggest 24,1132015: 19,498 a game over 7 games; biggest 26,0692016: 19,844 a game over 8 games; biggest 25,2362017: 21,725 a game over 9 games; biggest 25,9932018: 21,471 a game over 5 games; biggest 25,4842019: 19,279 a game over 8 games; biggest 25,0762021: 17,657 a game over 2 games; biggest 23,5712022: 22,966 a game over 6 games; biggest 26,1592023: 25,372 a game over 6 games; biggest 26,2392024: 25,071 a game over 6 games; biggest 25,7862025: 24,378 a game over 7 games; biggest 25,2982026: 25,032 a game over 3 games; biggest 25,03520032008201320182023

Biggest crowds on file

26,239Old Dominion at James Madison2023
26,159Marshall at James Madison2022
26,069Richmond at James Madison2015
26,064South Alabama at James Madison2023
25,993Villanova at James Madison2017

Bars are each season’s average crowd, dots its biggest (the record in orange), the dashed rule today’s capacity. Attendance is on file for most games from 2001 on.

College GameDay here

ESPN’s College GameDay has broadcast from Bridgeforth Stadium three times, first in 2015.

Nov 18, 2023App State 26, James Madison 23JMU Quad
Oct 14, 2017James Madison 30, Villanova 8JMU Quad
Oct 24, 2015Richmond 59, James Madison 49JMU Quad

College GameDay’s sites from Wikipedia’s list of College GameDay locations (CC BY-SA).

Weather on game day

Coldest kickoffs

Hottest kickoffs

Coldest game days before 2004

Hottest game days before 2004

Kickoffs: the NOAA report nearest kickoff from the closest weather station (NOAA NCEI Integrated Surface Database). Game days: the day’s high and snowfall at the NOAA station nearest the stadium, for James Madison’s home games before 2004 (NOAA GHCN-Daily, public domain).

The stadium’s history

Former names
JMU Stadium (1981–⁠1989)
Madison Stadium (1975–⁠1981)
Opened
September 20, 1975
Architect
HKS, Inc. (Sports Design – expansion), Moseley Architects (Architect of Record – expansion)
Surface over the years
FieldTurf (2006–present)
Astroturf (1975–⁠2005)
Expanded
1981, 2011
Record crowd
26,239 (October 28, 2023
vs. Old Dominion

From the stadium’s Wikipedia article, Bridgeforth Stadium.

From above

50 mN ↑
The stadium’s footprint, north up: about 170 by 200 meters (570 by 660 feet), the field in green. Outline from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Recent games here

Oct 17, 2026James Madison 49, Georgia State 22
Oct 3, 2026James Madison 45, Marshall 17
Sep 12, 2026James Madison 87, Wagner 3
Sep 5, 2026James Madison 20, Liberty 13
Dec 5, 202519James Madison 31, Troy 14
Nov 22, 202521James Madison 24, Washington State 20
Nov 15, 202524James Madison 58, App State 10
Oct 18, 2025James Madison 63, Old Dominion 27
Oct 11, 2025James Madison 24, Louisiana 14
Sep 27, 2025James Madison 35, Georgia Southern 10
Aug 30, 2025James Madison 45, Weber State 10
Nov 30, 2024Marshall 35, James Madison 33

Around the stadium

Playing surface
FieldTurf · Official source

Found by several AI researchers searching the web, then kept only where the page loads and says so in words naming the program; every quote is checked again each time the data is rebuilt. Official source: the school’s own page. All of them.

Pouring rights

PepsiCo has the stadium’s soft-drink pouring rights. Independently corroborated.