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The Joe

Joe Aillet Stadium

Joe Aillet Stadium in Ruston, LA, home of Louisiana Tech. Capacity 28,019. Opened September 28, 1968.

Joe Aillet Stadium in Ruston, LA
Joe Aillet Stadium, Ruston, LAPhoto: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Capacity
28,019
Opened
1968
Surface
Pivot Turf
Roof
Open air
Elevation
239 ft
Louisiana Tech here
88–⁠45 games on file since 2001

Since it opened: Louisiana Tech is 163–⁠74–⁠1 in home games from the 1968 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 Joe Aillet Stadium by season, 2001 to 20260k20k40k60k80k2001: 19,742 a game over 3 games; biggest 23,3682002: 20,543 a game over 4 games; biggest 30,4462003: 23,577 a game over 7 games; biggest 43,2792004: 17,548 a game over 5 games; biggest 22,4672005: 15,503 a game over 7 games; biggest 19,4812006: 14,586 a game over 5 games; biggest 19,2312007: 18,562 a game over 5 games; biggest 22,1352008: 18,020 a game over 6 games; biggest 25,2242009: 20,000 a game over 5 games; biggest 23,2402010: 19,485 a game over 6 games; biggest 23,1222011: 21,518 a game over 5 games; biggest 25,2122012: 22,918 a game over 5 games; biggest 25,6142013: 18,666 a game over 5 games; biggest 22,0352014: 20,054 a game over 5 games; biggest 26,0042015: 20,977 a game over 6 games; biggest 27,9052016: 20,412 a game over 5 games; biggest 23,0122017: 20,371 a game over 7 games; biggest 28,1002018: 17,525 a game over 5 games; biggest 22,9262019: 20,439 a game over 6 games; biggest 23,4192020: 7,140 a game over 4 games; biggest 7,1402021: 14,822 a game over 6 games; biggest 18,3142022: 15,082 a game over 5 games; biggest 18,3002023: 15,796 a game over 6 games; biggest 19,1522024: 15,999 a game over 6 games; biggest 18,1522025: 21,514 a game over 6 games; biggest 60,2292026: 17,156 a game over 3 games; biggest 20,035200120062011201620212026

Biggest crowds on file

60,229New Mexico State at Louisiana Tech2025
43,279Miami at Louisiana Tech2003
38,028TCU at Boise State2003
30,446Iowa State at Boise State2002
28,100Mississippi State at Louisiana Tech2017

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.

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

The stadium’s history

Former names
Louisiana Tech Stadium (1968–⁠1972)
Opened
September 28, 1968
Surface over the years
Grass (1968–⁠2005)
FieldTurf (2006–⁠2025)
Pivot Turf (2025-present)
Record crowd
28,714 (September 13, 1997 vs. Northeast Louisiana)

From the stadium’s Wikipedia article, Joe Aillet Stadium.

From above

50 mN ↑
The stadium’s footprint, north up: about 230 by 240 meters (750 by 790 feet), the field in green. Outline from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Recent games here

Oct 10, 2026Louisiana Tech 32, Louisiana 31
Oct 3, 2026Louisiana Tech 31, Army 29
Sep 5, 2026Louisiana Tech 80, Northwestern State 6
Nov 22, 2025Louisiana Tech 34, Liberty 28
Oct 31, 2025Louisiana Tech 55, Sam Houston 14
Oct 21, 2025Western Kentucky 28, Louisiana Tech 27
Sep 20, 2025Louisiana Tech 30, Southern Miss 20
Sep 13, 2025Louisiana Tech 49, New Mexico State 14
Aug 30, 2025Louisiana Tech 24, SE Louisiana 0
Nov 30, 2024Louisiana Tech 33, Kennesaw State 0
Nov 9, 2024Jacksonville State 44, Louisiana Tech 37
Oct 22, 2024Louisiana Tech 14, UTEP 10

Around the stadium

Playing surface
Hellas Matrix · 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. Official source.