Sanford Stadium

Sanford Stadium

“Between the Hedges”
Sanford Stadium, September 2019
Full name	Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium
Location	Sanford Dr and Field St, Athens, Georgia 30602 Coordinates 33°56'59.29"N 83°22'24.11"W
Capacity	92,746 (2004–present)[3] Former List 30,000 (1929–1948) 36,000 (1949–1963) 43,621 (1964–1966) 59,200 (1967–1980) 82,122 (1981–1990) 85,434 (1991–1993) 86,117 (1994–1999) 86,520 (2000–2002) 92,058 (2003)
Record attendance	2019 vs. Notre Dame (93,246)
Surface	Tifton 419 Bermuda Grass
Construction
Broke ground	1928
Opened	October 12, 1929
Renovated	1994, 2018
Expanded	1949, 1964, 1967, 1981, 1991, 1994, 2000, 2003, 2018
Construction cost	US$360,000 ($6.39 million in 2023 dollars[2])
Architect	Atwood and Nash Heery International (1967 expansion)[1]
Tenants
Georgia Bulldogs (NCAA) (1929–present)

Sanford Stadium is the on-campus playing venue for football at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States (also known as UGA). The 92,746-seat stadium is the ninth-largest football stadium in the NCAA (and in the United States), and the 17th-largest such stadium in the world. Games played there are said to be played "between the hedges" due to the field being surrounded by privet hedges, which have been a part of the design of the stadium since it opened in 1929. The current hedges were planted in 1996 after the originals were taken out to accommodate the football tournaments for the 1996 Summer Olympics. The stadium is often considered one of college football's "best, loudest, and most intimidating atmospheres".^[4]

Whereas many college football stadiums have artificial playing surfaces, Sanford Stadium from the outset had, and continues to have, a natural grass surface, planted with Tifton 419 Bermuda Grass.^{[citation needed]}