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The Palace on the Prairie

Memorial Stadium (Norman, OK)

Memorial Stadium (Norman, OK) in Norman, OK, home of Oklahoma. Capacity 86,112. Opened 1925.

Memorial Stadium (Norman, OK) in Norman, OK
Memorial Stadium (Norman, OK), Norman, OKPhoto: Toniklemm, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Capacity
86,112
Opened
1925
Surface
Bermudagrass: 1994–present
Roof
Open air
Elevation
1,165 ft
Home team
Oklahoma
Oklahoma here
143–⁠18 games on file since 2001
College GameDay
11 times

Since it opened: Oklahoma is 432–⁠91–⁠14 in home games from the 1925 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 Memorial Stadium (Norman, OK) by season, 2001 to 202660k80k100k2001: 75,365 a game over 6 games; biggest 75,8622002: 75,104 a game over 6 games; biggest 75,5642003: 83,202 a game over 7 games; biggest 84,0272004: 83,825 a game over 7 games; biggest 84,9162005: 84,331 a game over 6 games; biggest 84,9432006: 84,561 a game over 6 games; biggest 85,3132007: 84,858 a game over 7 games; biggest 85,3572008: 83,065 a game over 7 games; biggest 85,6462009: 84,778 a game over 6 games; biggest 85,6062010: 84,738 a game over 6 games; biggest 85,6302011: 85,161 a game over 6 games; biggest 85,7092012: 85,243 a game over 6 games; biggest 86,0312013: 84,722 a game over 6 games; biggest 84,9922014: 85,177 a game over 6 games; biggest 85,6222015: 85,357 a game over 6 games; biggest 85,8212016: 86,857 a game over 6 games; biggest 87,9792017: 86,520 a game over 6 games; biggest 88,3082018: 86,724 a game over 7 games; biggest 87,6352019: 83,256 a game over 6 games; biggest 84,5342020: 22,700 a game over 5 games; biggest 22,7002021: 77,795 a game over 7 games; biggest 84,6592022: 83,835 a game over 6 games; biggest 84,3762023: 83,741 a game over 6 games; biggest 84,3712024: 83,603 a game over 7 games; biggest 84,7012025: 83,534 a game over 8 games; biggest 84,1072026: 83,423 a game over 1 games; biggest 83,423200120062011201620212026

Biggest crowds on file

88,308TCU at Oklahoma2017
87,979Ohio State at Oklahoma2016
87,635Oklahoma State at Oklahoma2018
87,527Oklahoma State at Oklahoma2016
87,177Army at Oklahoma2018

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.

The pregame shows here

ESPN’s College GameDay has broadcast from Memorial Stadium (Norman, OK) 11 times, first in 1995; Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff twice.

Dec 19, 2025College GameDayAlabama 34, Oklahoma 24South Oval
Sep 6, 2025College GameDayOklahoma 24, Michigan 13South Oval
Sep 21, 2024College GameDayTennessee 25, Oklahoma 15South Oval
Nov 20, 2021Big Noon KickoffOklahoma 28, Iowa State 21
Sep 18, 2021Big Noon KickoffOklahoma 23, Nebraska 16
Nov 21, 2020College GameDayOklahoma 41, Oklahoma State 13Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
Oct 27, 2012College GameDayNotre Dame 30, Oklahoma 13South Oval
Nov 22, 2008College GameDayOklahoma 65, Texas Tech 21John Jacobs Track & Field Complex
Oct 13, 2007College GameDayOklahoma 41, Missouri 31John Jacobs Track & Field Complex
Nov 1, 2003College GameDayOklahoma 52, Oklahoma State 9Outside McCasland Field House
Sep 29, 2001College GameDayOklahoma 38, Kansas State 37Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
Oct 28, 2000College GameDayOklahoma 31, Nebraska 14Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
Sep 30, 1995College GameDayColorado 38, Oklahoma 17

College GameDay’s sites from Wikipedia’s list of College GameDay locations (CC BY-SA). Big Noon Kickoff’s from Wikipedia’s list of its sites (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 Oklahoma’s home games before 2004 (NOAA GHCN-Daily, public domain).

The stadium’s history

Also known as
Owen Field
The Palace On The Prairie
Former names
Oklahoma Memorial Stadium (1923–⁠2002)
Architect
Layton & Hicks
HOK Sport/360 Architecture (renovations)
Surface over the years
Grass: 1923–⁠1969
AstroTurf: 1970–⁠1980
Superturf: 1981–⁠1993
Bermudagrass: 1994–present
Expanded
1925, 1929, 1949, 1957, 1974, 1980, 2003, 2016
Renovated
1980, 1997, 2003, 2016
Record crowd
88,308 (November 11, 2017 vs. TCU)

From the stadium’s Wikipedia article, Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

From above

50 mN ↑
The stadium’s footprint, north up: about 220 by 260 meters (720 by 860 feet), the field in green. Outline from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Recent games here

Oct 17, 202615Kentucky 21, Oklahoma 13
Sep 19, 202624Oklahoma 14, New Mexico 6
Sep 4, 202610Oklahoma 51, UTEP 0
Dec 19, 202511Alabama 34, 8Oklahoma 24
Nov 29, 20258Oklahoma 17, LSU 13
Nov 22, 20258Oklahoma 17, 23Missouri 6
Oct 25, 20258Ole Miss 34, 13Oklahoma 26
Oct 4, 20255Oklahoma 44, Kent State 0
Sep 20, 202511Oklahoma 24, 22Auburn 17
Sep 6, 202518Oklahoma 24, 15Michigan 13
Aug 30, 202518Oklahoma 35, Illinois State 3
Nov 23, 2024Oklahoma 24, 7Alabama 3

Around the stadium

Beer sales
Sold to all fans · Single 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.