The Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium is the states largest sports arena and is the 15th largest on-campus facility in the United States.
The Gaylord Family
Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
~ Owen Field ~
The Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium was first built to honor students who died in World War I. The stadium’s west side was built in 1925 and the east side in 1928. Further expansion occurred in 1949, 1975 and 1980.
In 1999, Athletics Director Joe Castiglione and President David Boren launched the Great Expectations Campaign for Sooner Sports. It raised over $110 million to improve athletic facilities at the university. In 2003, as a result of the campaign, a major renovation and expansion of the stadium was accomplished bringing the seating capacity to 83,000.
The 2003 stadium expansion project would not have been possible without the generosity of Edward L. Gaylord, who in 2002 on behalf of his family gave the largest private gift in the history of OU athletics to complete the funding of the project.
In accordance with his wishes, a portion of the gift created a memorial on the stadium grounds honoring OU students, faculty and staff who gave their lives serving our country in the armed forces.
The playing field itself is named for one of the university’s most beloved coaches, Benjamin G. “Bennie” Owens. He became head football coach for the University of Oklahoma in 1905. He inherited a very young program that had been ably managed by men such as Vernon Louis Parrington, the Harvard graduate who came to the university to teach English in 1897 and became the first official football coach. Parrington later won the Pulitzer Prize in intellectual history. It was Bennie Owen, however, who first brought Sooner football to national prominence.
Although he lost his right arm in a hunting accident in 1907, he never gave up his love of athletics guiding the football program through such innovations as the forward pass and leading his teams to undefeated seasons in 1911, 1915, and 1918. He was known for his insistence on high ethical standards. He stayed on as director of athletics for several years after his retirement as head coach.
The program which he nourished produced Sooner teams that went on to win three National Championships under Coach Charles “Bud” Wilkinson in 1950, 1955 and 1956 and established a national record by winning forty-seven straight games. Under Coach Barry Switzer three more National Championships were added in 1974, 1975 and 1985. In his second year as head coach, Bob Stoops led the Sooners to a seventh National Championship in 2000. Owens died on February 24, 1970 leaving this field and the tradition of Sooner football in his legacy.
Information above quoted from marker outside stadium. Photograph attached.
When I visited the stadium, the stadium was open, but not allowing tours.
Parking information is available on the website listed below. Check ahead of time. Per the website, all parking lots around the stadium require parking passes. Public parking is available, about one mile away.