View source for University at Buffalo Stadium

{{short description|College football and track stadium}}
{{Redirect|UB Stadium|the stadium in Botswana|University of Botswana Stadium}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}

{{Infobox venue
| stadium_name      = UB Stadium
| nickname          = "The Bullpen"{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}
| logo_image        = Buffalo_Bulls_logo.svg
| logo_size         = 50
| image             = UB Stadium from above in December 2023 - Quintin Soloviev.png
| caption           = Aerial view of the stadium in 2023
| type              = [[Stadium]]
| currentuse        = [[American football|Football]]<br>[[association football|Soccer]]
| address           = Webster Road 
| city              = [[Amherst, New York|Amherst, NY]] 
| country           = [[United States]]
| location          = 
| coordinates       = {{coord|42|59|57|N|78|46|39|W|type:landmark|display=it}}
| broke_ground      = September 17, 1991
| built             = 
| opened            = {{start date and age|September 4, 1993}}
| expanded          = 1999
| closed            = 
| demolished        = 
| owner             = [[University at Buffalo]]
| operator          = [[Buffalo Bulls|Univ. at Buffalo Athletics]]
| surface           = A-Turf Titan (2014–present)<br>Momentum Turf (2005–2013)<br>Natural grass (1993–2004)
| construction_cost = $23&nbsp;million<br>(${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|23000000|1993}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars){{inflation-fn|US}}
| architect         = [[HOK Sport]]
| former_names      = 
| tenants           = {{plainlist|
* '''[[Buffalo Bulls]] ([[National Collegiate Athletic Association|NCAA]]) teams:'''
* [[Buffalo Bulls football|football]] (1993–present)
* men's soccer (1993–2017)
* women's soccer (1993–present) 
* men's and women's track and field <br>(1993–present)
}}
|seating_capacity  =  25,013 (2017–present)<br>29,013<ref name="eventticketscenter">{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813074910/https://www.eventticketscenter.com/Event.aspx?EventID=2948|archive-date=August 13, 2014|url=http://www.eventticketscenter.com/Event.aspx?EventID=2948|title=UB Stadium - Amherst, NY Tickets|publisher=eventticketscenter.com|access-date=4 July 2014}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=September 2023}} (1999–2017)<br>15,000 (1993–1999)
| website           = {{URL|https://ubbulls.com/facilities/ub-stadium/10|ubbulls.com/ub-stadium}}
}}
'''UB Stadium''' is a stadium in [[Amherst, New York]], United States, on the campus of the [[University at Buffalo]]. It is primarily used for football, soccer, and [[track and field]] events, and is the home field of the [[Buffalo Bulls]]. The Stadium hosted the athletics events and the closing ceremonies of the [[1993 World University Games]] held in July 1993. The first football game was held between [[1993 Buffalo Bulls football team|the Bulls]] and [[1993 Maine Black Bears football team|Maine Black Bears]] on September 4, 1993.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://digital.lib.buffalo.edu/news/2013/09/04/ub-stadium-opens/|title=1993 Buffalo Football – A 'new' UB Stadium|publisher=University at Buffalo Digital Collections|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302092700/https://digital.lib.buffalo.edu/news/2013/09/04/ub-stadium-opens/|archive-date=March 2, 2014|date=September 4, 2013|last=Holland|first=Scott}}</ref>

== History ==
The stadium was built from 1991 to 1993 as the final piece of the school's "Run to Division I" drive, meant to bring UB football back to [[NCAA Division I|Division I]] status and as the feature athletics venue for the [[1993 Summer Universiade]]. The program had been dropped for seven years in the 1970s, but returned at a lower level. The team had played at a much smaller, 4,000-seat UB Stadium (now known as Walter Kunz Stadium) from the time of its move to the town of Amherst north of Buffalo in 1985 until 1992. The current stadium opened in the summer of 1993, hosting the [[FISU World University Games|World University Games]]. The Bulls played their first six years in the stadium as a member of [[Division I-AA]], finally making their return to [[Division I-A]] in 1999.

[[Jim Kelly]] hosted his third-annual [[StarGaze]] charity event at the venue in 1994. The stadium was the primary venue for the [[1995 World Masters Athletics Championships]]. The stadium hosted the opening ceremonies of the 2010 [[Empire State Games]] on July 21, 2010.

==Location and configuration==
The stadium consists of a north-south field surrounded by an eight-lane track. There are the original double-decked [[grandstand]]s on either sideline spanning the entire length of the football field, a large [[bleacher]] grandstand around the south end of the track, and two shorter bleacher sections on the north side with the free-standing scoreboard located between them. The stadium is lit by the four large [[Light tower (equipment)|light towers]] near the corners of the stadium.

The stadium is located at the east side of UB's North Campus. Students living on the North Campus typically walk to the stadium from their on-campus housing or take the UB Stampede shuttle buses directly to [[Alumni Arena (University at Buffalo)|Alumni Arena]], which is nearby.

UB Stadium has a capacity of approximately 25,000. The sideline seating areas consist of two main grandstands which hold 15,000 (7,500 each). A large bleacher grandstand in the southern end of the stadium has a seating capacity of approximately 10,000. There is additional space on the north and south ends of the field level that is utilized as a standing room only space which accommodates approximately 3,000, though this is not factored into the capacity of the stadium.

In 1999, the school added two rounded bleacher sections to UB Stadium, raising the capacity to above 29,000. The southern section holds 10,000. Two half-sections were constructed in the north endzone, both with a capacity of 3,000 each (6,000 total). In October 2017, demolition work commenced on the northern endzones of the stadium in preparation for the program's new {{convert|92000|sqfoot|adj=on}}, $18 million field house.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fuller |first1=Jon |title=UB moves forward on fieldhouse |url=https://www.buffalo.edu/ubnow/stories/2017/09/fieldhouse.html |access-date=18 September 2023 |work=www.buffalo.edu |publisher=[[University at Buffalo]] |date=September 15, 2017 |language=en}}</ref> The demolition of the bleachers brought the stadium's capacity down to about 25,000.

== Attendance records (football) ==
{| class="wikitable sortable"; style= "text-align: " 
! width=px style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Buffalo Bulls|color=white}}" |Rank
! width=80px style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Buffalo Bulls|color=white}}" |Attend.
! width=150px style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Buffalo Bulls|color=white}}" |Date
! width=150px style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Buffalo Bulls|color=white}}" |Rival
! width=px style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Buffalo Bulls|color=white}}" |Score
|- 
| 1 || 29,795 || August 31, [[2006 Buffalo Bulls football team|2006]] || [[Temple Owls football|Temple]] || 9–3 (OT)
|- 
| 2 || 29,013 || September 11, 2004 || [[Syracuse Orange football|Syracuse]] || 17–37
|- 
| 3 || 26,511 || November 18, 2000 || [[Miami RedHawks football|Miami (OH)]] || 16–17 
|- 
| 4|| 24,714 || September 12, 2014 || [[Baylor Bears football|Baylor]] || 21–63
|- 
| 5 || 24,013 || September 14, 2013 || [[Stony Brook Seawolves football|Stony Brook]] || 26–23 (OT)
|- 
| 6 || 23,671 || September 29, 2018 || [[Army Black Knights football|Army]] || 13–42
|- 
| 7 || 23,602 || October 5, 2013 || [[Eastern Michigan Eagles football|Eastern Michigan]] || 42–14
|- 
| 8 || 22,918 || November 5, 2013 || [[Ohio Bobcats football|Ohio]] || 30–3
|- 
| 9 || 22,676 || September 22, 2007 || [[Baylor Bears football|Baylor]] || 21–34
|- 
| 10 || 22,658 || August 30, 2001 || [[Rutgers Scarlet Knights football|Rutgers]] || 15–31
|- 
| 11 || 21,933 || September 10, 2011 || Stony Brook || 35–7
|- 
| 12 || 21,870 || September 12, 2009 || [[Pittsburgh Panthers football|Pittsburgh]] || 27–54
|-
| 13 || 21,719 || October 18, 2008 || Army || 27–24 (OT)
|- 
| 14 || 21,139 || September 20, 2014 || [[Norfolk State Spartans football|Norfolk State]] || 36–7
|- 
| 15 || 21,103 || August 29, 2002 || [[Lehigh Mountain Hawks football|Lehigh]] || 26–37
|- 
| 16 || 20,952 || September 28, 2013 || [[UConn Huskies football|UConn]] || 41–12
|- 
| 17 || 20,872 || September 5, 2015 || [[Albany Great Danes football|Albany]] || 51–14
|- 
| 18 || 20,843 || October 3, 2015 || [[Bowling Green Falcons football|Bowling Green]] || 22–28
|- 
| 19 || 20,841 || September 27, 2014 || Miami (OH) || 35–27
|- 
| 20 || 20,835 || September 11, 1999 || [[Akron Zips football|Akron]] || 10–17
|}

== See also ==
* [[Alumni Arena (University at Buffalo)|Alumni Arena]]
* [[Amherst Audubon Field]]
* [[List of NCAA Division I FBS football stadiums]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{official website}}

{{Buffalo Bulls football navbox}}
{{University at Buffalo, The State University of New York}}
{{Mid-American Conference football venue navbox}}
{{New York college football venues}}
{{Buffalo Sports}}

[[Category:1993 establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Athletics (track and field) venues in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Buffalo Bulls football]]
[[Category:College football venues in New York (state)]]
[[Category:College soccer venues in the United States]]
[[Category:College track and field venues in the United States]]
[[Category:Soccer venues in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Sports venues completed in 1993]]
[[Category:Sports venues in Buffalo, New York]]
[[Category:Buffalo Bulls sports venues]]