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AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — Texas is known for its Friday night lights football and how much it appreciates the game of football. Stadiums around Texas are always filled with fans cheering on their teams and cross-town rivalries are taken seriously.
Here’s a list of the wildest stadiums in Texas, that features the biggest, most expensive stadiums and those that are home to the oldest rivalries in the Lone Star State. The stadiums on this list are not in a specific order, they all made the list by bringing unique things to the table that make them a wild stadium.
R.R. Jones Stadium was the country’s first major concrete stadium, opening in 1916 with a seating capacity of 12,000. The stadium serves as the home field for El Paso, and the entire package cost $500,000. The school is known as “The Lady on the Hill” because it is located on a mountainside near the Franklin Mountains. It has a view of downtown El Paso and the border with Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The school actually wraps around the stadium, with semicircular steps leading directly from the field to the main entrance. They take up four city blocks when combined. Officials estimate that putting together the same package today would cost about $5 million. The National Register of Historic Places designated El Paso High, with its beautiful marble floors, as a historic landmark in 1980. General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing rode his horse into Jones Stadium to commemorate the end of World War I, and the first three Sun Bowl games were also played there. The stadium was rebuilt to its original specifications in 1993 due to crumbling concrete.
Allen Eagles have one of the most beautiful and one of the most expensive high school football stadiums that can hold up to 18,000 Eagles fans. The stadium is stationed in Collin County where there are reports that residents have the highest median income in the state, and Collin County is one of the richest counties in the country. Each year, approximately 7,500 reserved, chair-back seats will be sold on a seasonal basis. Officials have also reserved 5,000 seats for visiting team fans, 4,000 for Allen students, and 1,000 for the school’s band. Each week, only 500 tickets are available for general admission. Despite being only the fifth-largest stadium in Texas, it will be the largest to be used by a single high school. The stadium also has locker rooms for the golf team and space for wrestling matches.
Ratliff Stadium has a capacity of 19,302 and has been dubbed the Epicenter of Texas High School Football by most people in the football community. Ratliff was built-in 1982 for $5.6 million and is the home of Odessa and Permian. Permian is a former national champion, and the program has been featured in a book and the television show “Friday Night Lights.” The ticket booth has five windows, but demand is so high that it sometimes does not open due to sellouts. It is not uncommon for fans to form lines on the night before game night.
Cy-Fair FCU stadium made its debut in 2006 as part of an $80 million Berry Center project which makes it the most expensive stadium in Texas. The Berry Center also features a theater and a basketball arena. The stadium can hold up to 11,000 people on a Friday night and features a 17-room staff center a 456-seat auditorium, a multi-purpose arena that can hold 9,500 people, and a floor banquet seating and catering facility. The name of the stadium was changed from The Berry Center to Cy-Fair FCU Stadium after the naming right was sold to Cy-Fair Federal Credit Union.
Memorial Stadium, opened in 1977, is the largest high school football stadium in Texas, which hosts some high school football games but primarily serves as FC Dallas’ home field. The stands don’t go all the way around the field, and the press box is only one story high, but it does have a video scoreboard and artificial turf. According to a news article in 1977, Mesquite paid $2.5 million for the 20,000-seat stadium, which is a little less than $10 million in today’s dollars. However, the old stadium is being renovated. Mesquite approved $11 million in renovations earlier this year, including a new facade, larger restrooms, and a new press box, which are expected to be completed by the 2015 season. The renovation also includes three new elevators.
Tomball ISD Stadium is one of the newest high school football stadiums in Texas that debuted in 2021. This stadium can seat 10,000 people on a Friday night with a view of arguably one of the biggest jumbotrons in Texas. This stadium also features a two-level facility that can hold up to 600 people. The tour doesn’t end there it also has a conference center, sports locker/dressing rooms, athletic training, a kitchen, and administration areas for sporting events. The facility was a total of $42 million to build in Houston.
Rogan field, named after Dr. J.D. Rogan, was built on top of an old graveyard so it got the name “The Graveyard”. The Rogans owned and sold the property to the school district in 1935 for $10. The people that are said to be buried there are civil war veterans. In June of 1935, the graveyard was transformed into a football field. People around the community said most of the bodies were removed from the site and strange things are claimed to happen like people randomly falling or human remains revealing. Rogan field will remain a grass field due to the fact that turf fields require digging seven feet into the ground where there might be graves.
Munson Stadium is home to the biggest cross-town rivalry that was built in 1940. Denison and Sherman, do not consistently win state championships. The rivalry dates back to 1901 and is considered the state’s oldest rivalry. Every year, they hold the “Battle for the Axe,” with the winner receiving the trophy until the next game. Bearcat Stadium and Munson Stadium are where they play. Because they are only a few miles apart, either one is an excellent place to witness Texas’ oldest high school rivalry. Munson Stadium recently welcomed a new jumbo video board in 2021.
The Legacy Stadium of Katy is known as the most expensive stadium in Texas, however other stadiums that do have higher price tags also have added facilities for other sports. This $70.3 million stadium can hold up to 12,000 people and it features a two-level press box, two concessions stands on both sides, and huge locker rooms that can be divided into four rooms. This stadium tour is not over yet as it is the most expensive it also has a 1,500-square-foot high-definition scoreboard, a ribbon board, and a field house. The top floor of the two-story press box houses a film deck, and a police command station, along with hospitality suites for corporate entities complete with a flat-screen TV and viewing decks. For more picture pictures of this stadium visit, here.
Mckinney ISD stadium is on the list for more than just being one of the biggest and most expensive schools in the country. Mckinney ISD also decided to add Musco’s Total Light Control’s LED TM system which can be seen as the best fit for a football stadium. This stadium features Custom optics and a factory aiming to help deliver cleaner, more uniform light to the field, resulting in improved visibility. Furthermore, its patented visor used around the fixtures reduces glare and spills from affecting the homes of neighbors who had previously expressed concern about the stadium’s lighting.
House Park stadium, in Austin, is not on the list solely because of the stadium itself but for those who may want a mix of football and a beautiful skyline view. The view of the skyline alone is worth the price of a game ticket. The stadium is home to four local high school teams.
The Sanderson Eagles Football stadium is not your average 11-man football stadium as it is also home to a 6-man football team. This unique stadium made the list without the fancy pressbox, videoboard, and ample amount of seating with a capacity of 710 people. The site of the field is very interesting with some people who may love it and some others who may be wondering where the 50-yard line is. The stadium has been named the Pit and was built for flood control as it can be filled with water and swam in after rainfall. This stadium not only made this list but also was a runner-up in Dave Campbell’s tournament of the best high school football stadiums in Texas.
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