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O’Brien Stadium

O’Brien Stadium in Charleston, IL, home of Eastern Illinois. Capacity 10,000. Opened 1970.

Capacity
10,000
Opened
1970
Surface
Hellas Fieldturf
Roof
Open air
Elevation
699 ft
Eastern Illinois here
55–⁠58 games on file since 2003

Since it opened: Eastern Illinois is 62–⁠64 in home games from the 1975 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 O’Brien Stadium by season, 2003 to 20260k5k10k15k2003: 3,671 a game over 2 games; biggest 6,3182004: 3,721 a game over 2 games; biggest 5,4222005: 6,182 a game over 6 games; biggest 9,7572006: 6,448 a game over 6 games; biggest 10,2152007: 7,531 a game over 4 games; biggest 9,8612008: 5,089 a game over 5 games; biggest 7,9962009: 8,877 a game over 3 games; biggest 11,2712010: 5,689 a game over 5 games; biggest 8,0072011: 7,587 a game over 5 games; biggest 9,1112012: 7,136 a game over 5 games; biggest 9,1542013: 10,741 a game over 1 games; biggest 10,7412014: 6,495 a game over 5 games; biggest 9,1692015: 5,677 a game over 5 games; biggest 8,1042016: 5,813 a game over 5 games; biggest 7,9072017: 4,950 a game over 5 games; biggest 8,1762018: 5,343 a game over 5 games; biggest 7,6702021: 4,441 a game over 4 games; biggest 6,4242022: 4,848 a game over 5 games; biggest 6,8752023: 5,672 a game over 5 games; biggest 8,0782024: 5,231 a game over 5 games; biggest 7,7772025: 4,863 a game over 6 games; biggest 6,7752026: 6,971 a game over 1 games; biggest 6,97120032008201320182023

Biggest crowds on file

11,271Eastern Kentucky at Eastern Illinois2009
10,741Illinois State at Eastern Illinois2013
10,215Southeast Missouri State at Eastern Illinois2006
10,013Illinois State at Eastern Illinois2009
9,861Eastern Kentucky at Eastern Illinois2007

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

Snow at kickoff

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

The stadium’s history

Former names
Lincoln Field
Opened
1970
Architect
Atkins, Barrow & Graham, Inc.
Surface over the years
Hellas Fieldturf
Renovated
1999
Record crowd
12,600
November 9, 1980 (vs. Northern Iowa)

From the stadium’s Wikipedia article, O’Brien Stadium.

Recent games here

Oct 17, 2026Lindenwood 20, Eastern Illinois 13
Sep 12, 2026Indiana State 42, Eastern Illinois 35
Nov 8, 2025Tennessee Tech 21, Eastern Illinois 9
Nov 1, 2025UT Martin 27, Eastern Illinois 20
Oct 11, 2025Gardner-Webb 21, Eastern Illinois 10
Oct 4, 2025Eastern Illinois 31, Tennessee State 7
Sep 13, 2025Illinois State 42, Eastern Illinois 30
Aug 28, 2025Eastern Illinois 24, Dayton 14
Nov 16, 2024Eastern Illinois 16, Charleston Southern 13
Nov 2, 2024Eastern Illinois 45, Western Illinois 38
Oct 5, 2024Southeast Missouri State 38, Eastern Illinois 27
Sep 28, 2024Lindenwood 28, Eastern Illinois 25