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The Carter

Carter-Finley Stadium

Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, NC, home of NC State. Capacity 58,000. Opened 1966.

Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, NC
Carter-Finley Stadium, Raleigh, NCPhoto: SMaloney, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Capacity
58,000
Opened
1966
Surface
Tifway 419 Bermuda Grass
Roof
Open air
Elevation
384 ft
Home team
NC State
NC State here
117–⁠57 games on file since 2001
College GameDay
once

Since it opened: NC State is 248–⁠125–⁠6 in home games from the 1966 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, 2001 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 Carter-Finley Stadium by season, 2001 to 202640k50k60k70k2001: 49,254 a game over 6 games; biggest 51,5002002: 49,477 a game over 7 games; biggest 51,5002003: 49,294 a game over 8 games; biggest 53,8002004: 56,200 a game over 6 games; biggest 56,8002005: 53,039 a game over 7 games; biggest 57,5002006: 56,540 a game over 7 games; biggest 57,5832007: 56,356 a game over 7 games; biggest 57,5832008: 56,665 a game over 7 games; biggest 57,5832009: 56,422 a game over 8 games; biggest 57,5832010: 56,877 a game over 6 games; biggest 58,0832011: 56,287 a game over 7 games; biggest 57,5832012: 54,106 a game over 6 games; biggest 55,1452013: 53,178 a game over 8 games; biggest 57,5832014: 54,398 a game over 7 games; biggest 57,5832015: 56,988 a game over 6 games; biggest 57,6002016: 57,497 a game over 7 games; biggest 58,2002017: 56,850 a game over 6 games; biggest 57,6002018: 56,855 a game over 7 games; biggest 57,6002019: 56,466 a game over 7 games; biggest 57,8862020: 4,032 a game over 5 games; biggest 4,0322021: 54,523 a game over 7 games; biggest 56,9192022: 56,526 a game over 7 games; biggest 56,9192023: 56,919 a game over 7 games; biggest 56,9192024: 56,919 a game over 7 games; biggest 56,9192025: 56,919 a game over 7 games; biggest 56,9192026: 56,919 a game over 4 games; biggest 56,919200120062011201620212026

Biggest crowds on file

58,200Notre Dame at NC State2016
58,200Wake Forest at NC State2016
58,083Virginia Tech at NC State2010
57,886Clemson at NC State2019
57,810Old Dominion at NC State2016

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 Carter-Finley Stadium once, first in 2004.

Oct 23, 2004Miami 45, NC State 31Outside Carter–Finley Stadium

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 NC State’s home games before 2004 (NOAA GHCN-Daily, public domain).

The stadium’s history

Former names
Carter Stadium (1966–⁠1979)
Architect
Milton Small and Associates & Charles H. Kahn (original 1966 stadium)
Corley Redfoot Architects, Inc. (all additions and renovations since 2001)
Surface over the years
Tifway 419 Bermuda Grass (sidelines are artificial turf)
Expanded
1992, 2003-2005, 2021
Renovated
2006, 2021

From the stadium’s Wikipedia article, Carter-Finley Stadium.

From above

100 mN ↑
The stadium’s footprint, north up: about 250 by 260 meters (820 by 860 feet), the field in green. Outline from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Recent games here

Oct 10, 2026Wake Forest 38, NC State 14
Oct 3, 2026NC State 31, Louisville 28
Sep 26, 2026NC State 41, App State 31
Sep 11, 2026NC State 73, Richmond 0
Nov 29, 2025NC State 42, North Carolina 19
Nov 21, 2025NC State 21, Florida State 11
Nov 1, 2025NC State 48, 8Georgia Tech 36
Oct 4, 2025NC State 56, Campbell 10
Sep 27, 2025Virginia Tech 23, NC State 21
Sep 6, 2025NC State 35, Virginia 31
Aug 28, 2025NC State 24, East Carolina 17
Nov 9, 2024Duke 29, NC State 19

Pouring rights

Coca-Cola has the stadium’s soft-drink pouring rights, on record since 2025. Official source.