Yale Field

Yale Field opened on October 1, 1884, as the university’s first large-scale outdoor football venue, debuting with a game against Wesleyan. Built during a period of rapidly growing interest in college athletics, the wooden grandstand complex eventually expanded to hold nearly 33,000 spectators—making it one of the largest athletic facilities in the country at the time. It served as the first home of Yale football during the Walter Camp era, hosting national powers and cementing Yale’s early dominance in the sport. By the 1910s, however, the aging structure could no longer meet the demands of modern crowds, prompting Yale to build the much larger Yale Bowl. After the team moved to play in Yale Bowl in 1914, the original Yale Field was demolished, but a subsequent Yale Athletics facility—also dubbed Yale Field—now exists in its place.