Latest studyStadium Research15 min read

Which College Football Stadium Puts the Crowd Closest to the Field?

A complete 138-program LiDAR study measuring the closest broadly supported seating around every FBS football field.

By Rankrly Research · Published August 26, 2026

138numeric results

127ranked stadiums

11provisional

This study asks one tightly defined question: where does substantial, structurally supported seating begin closest to the football field?

The complete ranking below is the result. Lower values indicate that the detector found broadly supported structure closer to the official football-field boundary. The score does not reward one isolated point or temporary sideline area.

What the reported distance spans

Simplified top-down view. The same outward measurement is used at the end lines.

The detector starts at the modeled field boundary, not at the hash marks or the outer edge of the sideline apron. The model does not distinguish the inner and outer edges of the painted stripe. Its endpoint is a LiDAR-derived structural onset, not a tape measurement to a fan, seat cushion, railing, or wall.

Complete ranking

All 127 comparable stadiums

Lower means the detected structural onset is closer to the field boundary. Ties use competition ranking based on the unrounded measurement.

Rank	School	Stadium	Structural onset	Coverage	Evidence
#1	Colorado State	Canvas Stadium	6.54 ft	11/16	Structural surface*
#2	UAB	Protective Stadium	9.62 ft	8/16	Direct risers
#3	Missouri	Memorial Stadium	13.16 ft	15/16	Structural surface*
#4	Hawai'i	Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex	17.03 ft	14/16	Persistent profile
#5	Nebraska	Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, NE)	17.28 ft	15/16	Persistent profile
#6	Colorado	Folsom Field	17.43 ft	13/16	Persistent profile
#7	Oklahoma State	Boone Pickens Stadium	17.94 ft	7/16	Persistent profile
#8	Oklahoma	Memorial Stadium (Norman, OK)	18.07 ft	15/16	Persistent profile
#9	South Carolina	Williams-Brice Stadium	18.44 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#10	Arkansas State	Centennial Bank Stadium	19.47 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#11	Iowa	Kinnick Stadium	19.71 ft	14/16	Persistent profile
#12	Tulsa	Chapman Stadium	20.34 ft	14/16	Persistent profile
#13	Akron	InfoCision Stadium	20.85 ft	14/16	Persistent profile
#14	TCU	Amon G. Carter Stadium	20.94 ft	11/16	Persistent profile
#15	Miami	Hard Rock Stadium	21.97 ft	8/16	Persistent profile
#16	Southern Miss	M. M. Roberts Stadium	22.02 ft	14/16	Persistent profile
#17	Utah State	Maverik Stadium	22.03 ft	12/16	Persistent profile
#18	Michigan State	Spartan Stadium	22.76 ft	12/16	Profile consensus
#19	Washington State	Gesa Field	22.93 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#20	Kentucky	Kroger Field	23.36 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#21	Western Michigan	Waldo Stadium	24.23 ft	12/16	Direct risers
#22	Minnesota	Huntington Bank Stadium	24.30 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#23	North Texas	DATCU Stadium	24.59 ft	14/16	Persistent profile
#24	Ole Miss	Vaught-Hemingway Stadium	24.75 ft	16/16	Profile consensus
#25	UL Monroe	Malone Stadium	25.52 ft	12/16	Persistent profile
#26	Utah	Rice-Eccles Stadium	25.57 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#27	Jacksonville State	AmFirst Stadium	26.21 ft	16/16	Direct risers
#28	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium	26.64 ft	16/16	Profile consensus
#29	Louisiana	Cajun Field	26.87 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#30	Army	Michie Stadium	26.92 ft	12/16	Persistent profile
#31	San José State	CEFCU Stadium	26.96 ft	14/16	Persistent profile
#32	BYU	LaVell Edwards Stadium	27.19 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#33	Georgia Tech	Bobby Dodd Stadium	27.43 ft	14/16	Direct risers
#34	Old Dominion	S.B. Ballard Stadium	27.58 ft	14/16	Persistent profile
#35	Florida	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium	28.35 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#36	Texas Tech	Jones AT&T Stadium	28.85 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#37	Florida Atlantic	FAU Stadium	29.18 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#38	Memphis	Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium	29.33 ft	12/16	Persistent profile
#39	Arizona	Arizona Stadium	29.48 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#40	LSU	Tiger Stadium (LA)	29.52 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#41	Northern Illinois	Huskie Stadium	29.70 ft	12/16	Persistent profile
#42	Louisiana Tech	Joe Aillet Stadium	29.89 ft	12/16	Persistent profile
#43	Arkansas	Razorback Stadium	29.95 ft	15/16	Persistent profile
#44	Liberty	Williams Stadium (VA)	30.15 ft	14/16	Persistent profile
#45	Rice	Rice Stadium	30.16 ft	15/16	Persistent profile
#46	New Mexico State	Aggie Memorial Stadium	30.50 ft	13/16	Persistent profile
#47	Michigan	Michigan Stadium	31.15 ft	9/16	Persistent profile
#48	Virginia Tech	Lane Stadium	31.50 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#49	Wake Forest	Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium	31.57 ft	12/16	Persistent profile
#50	Ohio State	Ohio Stadium	31.79 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#51	Indiana	Memorial Stadium (Bloomington, IN)	32.19 ft	16/16	Profile consensus
#52	West Virginia	Milan Puskar Stadium	32.48 ft	12/16	Persistent profile
#53	Fresno State	Valley Children's Stadium	32.50 ft	15/16	Persistent profile
#54	Washington	Husky Stadium	32.53 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#55	Vanderbilt	FirstBank Stadium	33.07 ft	12/16	Persistent profile
#56	Kent State	Dix Stadium	33.12 ft	12/16	Persistent profile
#57	Tulane	Yulman Stadium	33.31 ft	9/16	Persistent profile
#58	Oregon	Autzen Stadium	33.73 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#59	Delaware	Delaware Stadium	33.82 ft	9/16	Persistent profile
#60	Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium (AL)	34.49 ft	12/16	Direct risers
#61	Kansas State	Bill Snyder Family Stadium	34.52 ft	16/16	Profile consensus
#62	Central Michigan	Kelly/Shorts Stadium	34.69 ft	14/16	Profile consensus
#63	Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium	34.74 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#64	Texas A&M	Kyle Field	34.79 ft	11/16	Persistent profile
#65	Virginia	Scott Stadium	34.80 ft	14/16	Persistent profile
#66	Purdue	Ross-Ade Stadium	34.83 ft	14/16	Profile consensus
#67	Navy	Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium	35.09 ft	15/16	Persistent profile
#68	Arizona State	Mountain America Stadium	35.17 ft	13/16	Persistent profile
#69	Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium	36.13 ft	13/16	Direct risers
#70	Texas	DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium	36.42 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#71	Air Force	Falcon Stadium	36.48 ft	16/16	Profile consensus
#72	Tennessee	Neyland Stadium	37.34 ft	4/16	Persistent profile
#73	Stanford	Stanford Stadium	37.68 ft	10/16	Persistent profile
#74	Maryland	SECU Stadium	38.01 ft	14/16	Persistent profile
#75	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field	38.02 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#76	Marshall	Joan C. Edwards Stadium	38.22 ft	10/16	Persistent profile
#77	Toledo	Glass Bowl	38.61 ft	14/16	Direct risers
#78	Houston	TDECU Stadium	38.68 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#79	Boise State	Albertsons Stadium	38.86 ft	14/16	Persistent profile
#80	Alabama	Bryant-Denny Stadium	38.96 ft	10/16	Direct risers
#81	Nevada	Mackay Stadium	39.29 ft	11/16	Persistent profile
#82	Georgia	Sanford Stadium	39.58 ft	15/16	Profile consensus
#83	Coastal Carolina	Brooks Stadium (SC)	39.75 ft	5/16	Persistent profile
#84	Illinois	Memorial Stadium (Champaign, IL)	39.76 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#85	Pittsburgh	Acrisure Stadium	40.07 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#86	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium	40.31 ft	14/16	Persistent profile
#87	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium	40.67 ft	14/16	Persistent profile
#88	Oregon State	Reser Stadium	40.78 ft	15/16	Persistent profile
#89	Florida State	Doak Campbell Stadium	41.31 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#90	Texas State	Bobcat Stadium (TX)	41.94 ft	12/16	Persistent profile
#91	California	California Memorial Stadium	42.97 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#92	Florida International	Pitbull Stadium	43.38 ft	9/16	Structural surface*
#93	Georgia State	Center Parc Stadium	43.67 ft	13/16	Profile consensus
#94	Miami (OH)	Yager Stadium	44.01 ft	12/16	Persistent profile
#95	Notre Dame	Notre Dame Stadium	44.03 ft	8/16	Profile consensus
#96	James Madison	Bridgeforth Stadium	44.05 ft	14/16	Profile consensus
#97	Missouri State	Plaster Sports Complex	44.60 ft	13/16	Direct risers
#98	UCF	FBC Mortgage Stadium	44.85 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#99	Ball State	Scheumann Stadium	44.85 ft	16/16	Profile consensus
#100	Penn State	Beaver Stadium	44.88 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#101	Clemson	Memorial Stadium (Clemson, SC)	45.95 ft	6/16	Direct risers
#102	Mississippi State	Davis Wade Stadium	46.12 ft	14/16	Profile consensus
#103	UTEP	Sun Bowl	47.51 ft	9/16	Direct risers
#104	Wyoming	War Memorial Stadium	48.30 ft	9/16	Direct risers
#105	East Carolina	Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium	49.27 ft	14/16	Persistent profile
#106	New Mexico	University Stadium (NM)	49.74 ft	14/16	Profile consensus
#107	Iowa State	Jack Trice Stadium	50.24 ft	14/16	Profile consensus
#108	Georgia Southern	Allen E. Paulson Stadium	50.95 ft	6/16	Direct risers
#109	Sam Houston	Elliott T. Bowers Stadium	52.53 ft	12/16	Persistent profile
#110	North Carolina	Kenan Stadium	53.23 ft	15/16	Profile consensus
#111	USC	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	54.37 ft	13/16	Persistent profile
#112	Louisville	L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium	55.16 ft	14/16	Profile consensus
#113	Ohio	Peden Stadium	56.65 ft	11/16	Persistent profile
#114	Bowling Green	Doyt L. Perry Stadium	59.07 ft	4/16	Persistent profile
#115	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium	60.65 ft	6/16	Persistent profile
#116	Kennesaw State	Fifth Third Stadium	61.28 ft	6/16	Direct risers
#117	Auburn	Jordan-Hare Stadium	62.66 ft	5/16	Direct risers
#118	Duke	Wallace Wade Stadium	63.36 ft	8/16	Profile consensus
#119	Kansas	Memorial Stadium	63.58 ft	10/16	Profile consensus
#120	UCLA	Rose Bowl	64.27 ft	16/16	Persistent profile
#121	UConn	Pratt & Whitney Stadium	65.81 ft	5/16	Persistent profile
#122	Eastern Michigan	Rynearson Stadium	71.72 ft	14/16	Profile consensus
#123	Massachusetts	Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium	74.07 ft	11/16	Persistent profile
#124	Sacramento State	Hornet Stadium	77.42 ft	12/16	Profile consensus
#125	Charlotte	Jerry Richardson Stadium	83.95 ft	13/16	Direct risers
#126	Buffalo	UB Stadium	85.66 ft	14/16	Persistent profile
#127	South Alabama	Hancock Whitney Stadium	95.89 ft	5/16	Persistent profile

* Structural surface means semantic QC found repeated sloped, non-ground structure. That path does not independently prove the detected surface is spectator seating, so those values deserve more caution than direct-riser results.

Conference leaders

Closest ranked stadium in each conference

Pac-12

Colorado State

Canvas Stadium

6.54 ft

American Athletic

UAB

Protective Stadium

9.62 ft

SEC

Missouri

Memorial Stadium

13.16 ft

Mountain West

Hawai'i

Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex

17.03 ft

Big Ten

Nebraska

Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, NE)

17.28 ft

Big 12

Colorado

Folsom Field

17.43 ft

Sun Belt

Arkansas State

Centennial Bank Stadium

19.47 ft

Mid-American

Akron

InfoCision Stadium

20.85 ft

ACC

Miami

Hard Rock Stadium

21.97 ft

Conference USA

Jacksonville State

AmFirst Stadium

26.21 ft

FBS Independents

Notre Dame

Notre Dame Stadium

44.03 ft

Measured, not ranked

Why 11 stadiums remain provisional

Every program has a numeric result, but a rank requires independently broad structural support. Seven open-air cases remain too sparse for a comparable rank. Four covered venues remain permanently provisional because airborne LiDAR cannot verify the seating inside the roof.

App State

10.56 ft

Kidd Brewer Stadium

Open-air measurement with insufficient broad structural support.

Baylor

10.01 ft

McLane Stadium

Open-air measurement with insufficient broad structural support.

Boston College

6.31 ft

Alumni Stadium (Chestnut Hill, MA)

Open-air measurement with insufficient broad structural support.

NC State

151.35 ft

Carter-Finley Stadium

Open-air measurement with insufficient broad structural support.

North Dakota State

49.18 ft

Fargodome

Covered venue. Permanently provisional.

Northwestern

39.31 ft

Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium

Open-air measurement with insufficient broad structural support.

Rutgers

11.28 ft

SHI Stadium

Open-air measurement with insufficient broad structural support.

San Diego State

19.00 ft

Snapdragon Stadium

Open-air measurement with insufficient broad structural support.

Syracuse

4.18 ft

JMA Wireless Dome

Covered venue. Permanently provisional.

UNLV

58.22 ft

Allegiant Stadium

Covered venue. Permanently provisional.

UTSA

4.46 ft

Alamodome

Covered venue. Permanently provisional.

Methodology

From field boundary to comparable score

Median of the four closest supported sector medians from 80 outward-normal LiDAR profiles. Every profile starts at the official 360 by 160 ft football-field boundary and searches away from the field for substantial structural onset.

1
Align a canonical 360 by 160 ft football rectangle to the mapped playing field.
2
Divide the perimeter into 16 sectors and place five outward-facing measurement stations in every sector, producing 80 profiles per stadium.
3
Use classified USGS 3DEP LiDAR to find the first persistent, substantial structural surface associated with seating along each profile.
4
Require at least three supported stations for a sector, then calculate the stadium score as the median of its four closest supported sector medians.
5
Require broad independent structural support before assigning a research rank. A plausible numeric result can remain provisional when the LiDAR evidence is sparse.
6
Keep covered venues provisional because airborne LiDAR cannot directly verify the interior relationship between the field and first seating row.

LiDAR profiles per stadium

closest sector medians

127

results passing every rankability gate

Sources and related research

USGS 3D Elevation Program USGS Lidar Base Specification OpenStreetMap football-field geometry

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