Fouts Field

Fouts Field became the home of the University of North Texas football and track teams in 1951. Originally built to seat 20,000 fans, the structure was expanded by adding 10,000 seats in the end zones prior to the 1994 season. Physical improvements continue to make Fouts Field a place of pride for the players and fans.

In 1992, UNT students passed a referendum approving an increase in student service fees over the following two years to fund the expansion of the stadium. Construction on the project began in December 1993 and was completed in June 1994. The stadium features a new message center scoreboard and public address system.

Physical improvements, including the placement of Sportexe Omnigrass artificial turf before the 2005 football season, continue to make Fouts Field a place of pride for the players and fans. Fouts Field was named in honor of Theron J. Fouts, who came to Denton in 1920 as coach of all sports at the university. Fouts initiated track and field as a varsity sport at UNT, and it was that program that gained the first national recognition for the university in athletics. Under his guidance, teams won national honors in football, basketball, golf and track and field. Fouts compiled a 23-14-2 record as football coach and later served as the athletic director.

NORTH TEXAS STUDENTS APPROVE STADIUM PLAN
October 23, 2008
Copyright 2008 MediaVentures

Denton, Texas - University of North Texas students approved a new $10 per-semester hour athletic fee to help fund a proposed $60 million stadium that would not be completed before 2011, the university announced.

The fee referendum appeared on UNT fall election ballot and was among the most debated political issues on campus in a decade. The fee will not take effect until after the stadium is built.

Fouts Field, the UNT football team's home for 56 years, will eventually be torn down and converted to parking and other campus buildings, according to the school's master plan. The new stadium will go up south of Interstate-35 East on the site of the old UNT golf course. UNT's Board of Regents and the Texas Legislature must approve the fee before being enacted. Both are expected to do so. (Fort Worth Star Telegram)

Denton, Texas - University of North Texas officials have released drawings of the planned 30,000-seat stadium in hopes of boosting fund-raising efforts. The stadium is to open in 2011. UNT's athletic department has been focusing on building a new stadium while trying to squeeze a final few years out of a deteriorating Fouts Field.

Fouts, opened in 1952, is surrounded by a track that distances fans from the action and hasn't been well maintained through the years. UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal often tells the story of the lights going out on one side of the stadium during a game when a breaker was tripped after an employee plugged in a coffee pot.

UNT officials have made the case that now is the time to move forward with the project and have made a few strides that have brought them to the point where they feel comfortable with a more public fund-raising campaign.

UNT is waiting for the Texas Legislature to approve a student athletic fee and has begun courting donors who could be interested in naming rights for the stadium.

School officials are hoping they have done enough to prompt boosters and fans to come forward and help complete the project they estimate will cost $78 million.

UNT's plan is to combine a student fee, corporate sponsorships and naming rights deals with private donations to arrive at a funding package for the facility.

Once the stadium is built, UNT's athletic fee would go into effect, which would allow the university to issue bonds and pay them off over a 30-year period. UNT's students approved an athletic fee of $10 per semester credit hour last year that would go into place once the stadium opens.

UNT has hired HKS for architectural services for the stadium.

North Texas Eagles
Fouts Field 1951-Present