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The first college football game on record took place on Nov. 6, 1869. Students from Princeton and Rutgers played on a plot of grass in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Rutgers won 6-4 in front of about 100 spectators. Today, college football is one of the biggest sports in the country and features some of the most iconic venues of all time. There are several college football stadiums that are more than 100 years old. Here's a look at the sport's oldest active stadiums: Franklin Field (Philadelphia) -- 1895 Home of the Penn Quakers, Franklin Field opened in 1895 and was revamped in 1922. It is the oldest still-operating college football stadium in the nation. The two-tiered venue was the first college stadium in the country with a scoreboard and was the site of one of the first games to be broadcast on radio in 1922. Harvard Stadium (Boston) -- 1903 The Harvard Crimson football stadium is the nation's oldest permanent concrete structure dedicated to college athletics. Initially a gift from Harvard's 1879 class, the stadium hosted its first football game on Nov. 14, 1903, against Dartmouth. Kyle Field (College Station, Texas) -- 1904 The Texas A&M Aggies football team has called Kyle Field home since 1904. Former Texas A&M dean of agriculture and athletic council president Edwin Jackson Kyle donated a plot of land on the southern edge of campus that was set aside for his horticultural experiments. Kyle then bought and built bleachers with his own money, creating the origins of what is known today as Kyle Field. Fitton Field (Worcester, Massachusetts) -- 1908 Although the first football game was played at Holy Cross in 1903, the private Jesuit liberal arts college didn't unveil its football stadium until Sept. 26, 1908. The Holy Cross Crusaders went unbeaten at Fitton Field from 1935 through 1938. Bobby Dodd Stadium (Atlanta) -- 1913 Originally known as Grant Field until 1988, Bobby Dodd Stadium is the home venue of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Formally named Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field, the venue opened on Sept. 27, 1913, with a fan capacity of 5,600. Now, the oldest FBS stadium in the country (Kyle Field was not a concrete stadium until 1927) seats 55,000. Davis Wade Stadium (Starkville, Mississippi) -- 1914 Davis Wade Stadium is the home of the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Originally named Scott Field in honor of former Mississippi State football and basketball star and Olympian Don Scott, Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field (as it is officially named) is the second-oldest FBS stadium in the country. The team's first mascot, Bully I, was buried under the bench at the 50-yard-line in 1939. Yale Bowl (New Haven, Connecticut) -- 1914 Heralded as the first bowl-shaped stadium in the country, the Yale Bowl is the home of the Yale Bulldogs. An estimated 70,000-plus fans, including Presidents William Howard Taft and Theodore Roosevelt, filled the stadium as it hosted its first game on Nov. 21, 1914 -- a 36-0 loss against Ivy League rival Harvard. The New York Giants played their home games at the Yale Bowl in 1973 and 1974 while Yankee Stadium was being renovated and Giants Stadium was under construction. Vaught-Hemingway Stadium (Oxford, Mississippi) -- 1915 The Ole Miss Rebels call Vaught-Hemingway Stadium home. University of Mississippi alumni voted in 1939 to name the venue after Judge William Hemingway, a longtime chairman of the school's athletic committee, who is credited with restoring the school to a "place in the football sun." The stadium later added the name of former Rebels coach John Howard Vaught, who won 190 games and three national championships (1959, 1960, 1962) over his career (the NCAA only officially recognizes the 1960 title). Nippert Stadium (Cincinnati) -- 1915 Nippert Stadium is the football home of the Cincinnati Bearcats. Cincinnati began playing at the site in 1901, but there wasn't a permanent concrete stadium in the space until 1915. Construction on the stadium was completed in 1924. James Gamble Nippert Memorial Stadium is named after Jimmy Nippert, who died after an injury suffered in a 1923 game against in-state rival Miami (Ohio). Nippert's grandfather donated the funds needed to complete the stadium's construction. The Bearcats went 41-10 at Nippert from 2015-22. Camp Randall Stadium (Madison, Wisconsin) -- 1917 While the Wisconsin Badgers have played football at Camp Randall since 1895, the site didn't include a fully functioning stadium until 1917. The Badgers hosted their first game at Camp Randall Stadium on Nov. 3 of that year, defeating rival Minnesota 10-7. Camp Randall Stadium is constructed on land that was originally used to train Wisconsin troops during the Civil War. Check out the ESPN college football hub page for the latest news, analysis, schedules, rankings and more.
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