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C. M. Newton Grounds

Kroger Field

Kroger Field in Lexington, KY, home of Kentucky. Capacity 61,000. Opened 1973.

Kroger Field in Lexington, KY
Kroger Field, Lexington, KYPhoto: Navin75, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Capacity
61,000
Opened
1973
Surface
S5 Synthetic Turf
Roof
Open air
Elevation
1,009 ft
Home team
Kentucky
Kentucky here
101–⁠78 games on file since 2001
College GameDay
once

Since it opened: Kentucky is 196–⁠153–⁠4 in home games from the 1973 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 Kroger Field by season, 2001 to 202640k60k80k2001: 63,480 a game over 6 games; biggest 70,8382002: 64,155 a game over 7 games; biggest 71,0172003: 64,922 a game over 7 games; biggest 70,5792004: 62,334 a game over 6 games; biggest 65,5322005: 62,450 a game over 6 games; biggest 70,7522006: 57,330 a game over 7 games; biggest 62,1202007: 68,824 a game over 8 games; biggest 71,0242008: 69,434 a game over 7 games; biggest 70,8222009: 65,594 a game over 7 games; biggest 70,9812010: 66,070 a game over 7 games; biggest 70,8842011: 59,605 a game over 7 games; biggest 68,1702012: 49,691 a game over 7 games; biggest 54,5532013: 59,472 a game over 7 games; biggest 69,8732014: 57,572 a game over 7 games; biggest 64,7912015: 61,295 a game over 8 games; biggest 63,4072016: 53,643 a game over 7 games; biggest 62,5072017: 56,468 a game over 7 games; biggest 62,9452018: 55,117 a game over 7 games; biggest 63,5432019: 53,128 a game over 8 games; biggest 63,0762020: 12,000 a game over 5 games; biggest 12,0002021: 56,301 a game over 7 games; biggest 61,6902022: 60,289 a game over 8 games; biggest 61,6122023: 60,939 a game over 7 games; biggest 61,9362024: 59,516 a game over 8 games; biggest 62,1202025: 57,779 a game over 7 games; biggest 60,9372026: 61,253 a game over 4 games; biggest 61,897200120062011201620212026

Biggest crowds on file

71,024Florida at Kentucky2007
71,017Georgia at Kentucky2002
70,981Tennessee at Kentucky2009
70,967Alabama at Kentucky2009
70,902LSU at Kentucky2007

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 Kroger Field once, first in 2007.

Oct 20, 2007Florida 45, Kentucky 37Outside William T. Young Library

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

Snow on game day

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

The stadium’s history

Former names
Commonwealth Stadium (1973–⁠2017)
Architect
HNTB
RossTarrant Architects
Surface over the years
S5 Synthetic Turf (2015–present)
Kentucky bluegrass (1973–⁠2014)
Expanded
1999
Renovated
2015

From the stadium’s Wikipedia article, Kroger Field.

From above

100 mN ↑
The stadium’s footprint, north up: about 280 by 270 meters (910 by 900 feet), the field in green. Outline from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Recent games here

Oct 10, 2026Kentucky 35, 10LSU 34
Sep 26, 2026Kentucky 45, South Alabama 21
Sep 12, 202612Alabama 45, Kentucky 17
Sep 5, 2026Kentucky 45, Youngstown State 13
Nov 15, 2025Kentucky 42, Tennessee Tech 10
Nov 8, 2025Kentucky 38, Florida 7
Oct 25, 202517Tennessee 56, Kentucky 34
Oct 18, 202521Texas 16, Kentucky 13
Sep 13, 2025Kentucky 48, Eastern Michigan 23
Sep 6, 202520Ole Miss 30, Kentucky 23
Aug 30, 2025Kentucky 24, Toledo 16
Nov 30, 2024Louisville 41, Kentucky 14

Around the stadium

Beer sales
Sold to all fans · 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

Coca-Cola has the stadium’s soft-drink pouring rights. Official source.