Upcoming Event: Soccer versus Utah Tech on September 11, 2025 at 7 p.m.
7 p.m.
Soccer
vs Utah Tech
Rice-Eccles Stadium
Rice-Eccles Stadium
FAST FACTS
First Game: Sept. 12, 1998
Largest Crowd: 53,644 (Florida, 2023)
Seating Capacity: 51,444
Suites: 39
Premium Seats: 2,391
Total Chair Seats: 17,691
Surface: FieldTurf
RICE-ECCLES STADIUM HOME PAGE
With its striking design, stunning mountain backdrop and panoramic views, Rice-Eccles Stadium is recognized as one of the most beautiful college stadiums in the country. While the exterior scenery is captivating, the charged atmosphere inside Rice-Eccles Stadium makes it one of the 25 “toughest stadiums in the country” for opposing teams according to Bleacher Report.
That game day experience was greatly enhanced in the fall of 2021 with the completion of the Ken Garff Red Zone at Rice-Eccles Stadium, which added premium seating and increased capacity to 51,444. The $80 million south end zone project was funded in part by a lead gift of $17.5 million from the Ken Garff family, which is the largest donation in Utah Athletics history.
“The success of our student-athletes and our department relies on the extraordinary generosity of our supporters, and the Garff family has been instrumental in elevating Utah Athletics to unimaginable heights,” said Director of Athletics Mark Harlan. “This transformational commitment from the Garffs will impact thousands of student-athletes, staff, coaches and fans for years to come, and we are forever grateful for their kindness and support of our University.”
No state or taxpayer dollars were used for the project. The former south end zone structure, built in 1982, was the only piece of old Rice Stadium retained when the current structure opened on the same grounds in 1998. The project enclosed the stadium bowl by connecting the east and west concourses on the south end.
The official seating capacity was increased by 5,637 with the addition of several premium seating options and over 1,000 bleacher seats. The fan experience was greatly enhanced by the addition of luxury suites, loge boxes, ledge and rooftop areas. A field-level club and outdoor patio, recruiting lounge, and restaurant were also included in the new structure, as were additional points of sale for concessions and restrooms.
Addressing the need for improved game day operations, the Ken Garff Red Zone at Rice-Eccles Stadium included new team locker rooms and meeting rooms, as well as dedicated areas for coaches, officials, athletic training, equipment, press operations and the band. The 7,800-square foot south end zone videoboard remained in its current place.
Utah’s tremendous fan support in recent years fueled the expansion. Entering the 2024 season, the Utes have played in front of 83-straight home sellouts (72 which exceeded the seating capacity) when fans were allowed to attend extending back to the 2010 opener. In its first 26 years, there have been 102 total standing-room-only crowds.
The top 17 crowds in the stadium’s history were recorded during the last three seasons after ushering in the Ken Garff Red Zone; most recently an average of 52,499 fans jammed into RES throughout 2023. The single-game facility attendance record sits at 53,644 from the season-opening win over Florida in 2023.
Prior to the Ken Garff Red Zone, the venue’s seating capacity was increased in 2014 from 45,017 to 45,807. As a result, the top 10 season attendance averages and the top 20 single-game crowds in Rice-Eccles Stadium history have been recorded over the last eight seasons fans have been allowed to attend (excluding 2020). Dating back to its 13-0 Sugar Bowl campaign of 2008, Utah’s average attendance has exceeded the stadium’s capacity for 15 consecutive home campaigns.
Opened in 1998 on the grounds of the old Ute (1927-71) and Rice (1972-97) stadiums, Rice-Eccles Stadium has continued to receive upgrades in ensuing years. The latest was a state-of-the-art video scoreboard completed in the summer of 2016. Measuring 122 x 64 feet and rising 137 feet above ground, it is one of the largest college football video boards in the country. It features a high-definition display with a 16:9 aspect ratio. The enhanced software to run the board delivers some of the best special effects in the sports industry and synchronizes with the LED boards in the north end zone.
Another improvement in 2016 was a distributed sound system that enhances the sound quality in every section of Rice-Eccles Stadium while also reducing noise to the surrounding community.
Rice-Eccles Stadium has also hosted a number of other major sporting events, the most prominent being the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic Winter Games. Garth Brooks sold out the venue in 2021 and then returned to fill the place twice more in 2022. U2, The Rolling Stones and George Strait are three more of the other prominent acts to play in RES.
The initial groundwork for Rice-Eccles Stadium began in 1996, when a fundraising campaign was initiated to replace an aging 32,500-seat structure. A lead gift of $10 million soon came in from the George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation, steered by former Ute All-America skier Spence Eccles. The total construction costs ran $50 million.
Preliminary construction work began in the summer of 1997. Two days after the final home game that fall, wrecking crews moved in and demolished Rice Stadium. Only the south end zone bleachers and the Rice name (Robert L. Rice contributed $1 million in the 1972 renovation) would carry over to the new venue. Rising from the rubble less than 10 months later was Rice-Eccles Stadium, an imposing concrete, steel and glass edifice that dominates the Salt Lake skyline.
Visible for miles is the stadium box, located 14 stories above ground and encased in a 400-square-foot expanse of tempered glass. The box is supported by twin towers containing four high-speed elevators. Occupants of the stadium box are treated to sweeping views of the Wasatch Mountains to the east and downtown Salt Lake City, the Great Salt Lake and the Oquirrh Mountains to the west.
The Cleone and Spence Eccles Scholarship Box on Level 4 seats 450 and has indoor-outdoor seating, along with eight suites. The Mezzanine on Level 5 provides another 17 suites.
Level 6 contains the John Mooney Working Press Area, named in honor of the late Ute football writer and Salt Lake Tribune sports editor, and booths for television and radio (among them the Bill Marcroft Radio Booth, named for the former longtime “Voice of the Utes”). The press, TV and radio sections open into the Varsity Reception area, which seats 400 for dining.
The stadium floor has also changed with the times. A Vertex CORE FieldTurf surface was installed in July of 2021, marking the fourth version of FieldTurf laid down in Rice-Eccles since 2002. Previous surfaces (dating back to Ute Field) were natural grass from 1927-71 and again in 2000-01, AstroTurf from 1972-95 and SportGrass from 1995-99.
TOP CROWDS (through 2023 season)
- 53,644 2023 Florida
- 53,609 2022 USC
- 53,586 2023 Oregon
- 52,919 2023 UCLA
- 52,724 2021 Oregon
- 52,115 2023 California
- 52,104 2023 Arizona State
- 51,951 2022 Stanford
- 51,922 2021 UCLA
- 51,919 2022 Arizona
Capacity: 45,017 from 1998-2013; 45,807
2014-20
SEASON ATTENDANCE AVERAGE
- 52,499 2023
- 52,057 2022
- 51,817 2021
- 46,533 2015
- 46,506 2016
- 46,462 2019
- 46,436 2014
- 46,332 2018
- 45,913 2017
- 45,585 2008
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