Folsom Field

Gamble Field was the home of Colorado football for two decades, through the first game of the 1924 season. Opened as Colorado Stadium on October 11, Folsom Field has been the continuous home of Buffaloes football. Through the 2021 season, the Buffs have a home record of 323–181–14 (.637).

The stadium was also unofficially called Norlin Stadium, against the wishes of university president George Norlin himself.^[5] Colorado Stadium was renamed Folsom Field in 1944, following the death of former head coach Fred Folsom. He led the Silver and Gold for fifteen seasons (1895–99, 1901–02, 1908–15), compiling an overall record of 78–24–2 (.760). The stadium was officially rechristened in the 1946 homecoming game.^[5]

In 2008, Folsom Field became the first "zero-waste" stadium in the NCAA by instituting a rigorous recycling and composting program.

When opened in 1924, the horseshoe-shaped stadium had a capacity of 26,000; a major expansion in 1956 raised the height of the stadium, with a new seating capacity of 45,000. The removal of the running track in 1967 added six thousand seats; the track and field team relocated to Potts Field on the East Campus.^[6][7]

A sizable, six-level press box was added in 1968 to the top of the west side grandstand, directly in front of Balch Fieldhouse, the former home of the basketball team. Renovations continued in 1976 when the old, rickety wooden bleachers were replaced with aluminum ones, raising the capacity to 52,005.

In 2003, suites and club seating were added to the east side of the stadium, raising the capacity to 53,750.^[8] Since the 2003 renovation, 137 seats with obstructed views have been removed, lowering the seating capacity to 53,613.^[9]

In 2014, construction for a further expansion started. This expansion included a new indoor practice facility, a high performance sports center, as well as extra seating on the northeast corner of the stadium.^[10][11]

Before the start of the 2016 season, as part of a $156 million initiative, the north endzone was completely rebuilt. Existing bleachers were renovated into large boxes, club level seating & areas.

The most recent renovation replaced the south endzone's video board, in addition to extending the ribbon board. Completed before the start of the 2024 season, the new video board is over five times the surface area of the previous video board.^[12]

From 1924 through 1970, the playing surface at Folsom Field was natural grass. In the summer of 1971, AstroTurf was installed and the first game played on the new surface was a 56–13 win over Wyoming on September 18.^[13] Unranked in the preseason, the 1971 Buffs finished third in the AP Poll behind Nebraska and Oklahoma, for a sweep of the top three spots by the Big Eight Conference.^[14][15] The synthetic turf was replaced in 1978 and again in 1989, with "Astroturf-8."^[16]

After 28 years of AstroTurf, Folsom Field returned to natural grass in the spring of 1999.^[17] The project, which included bio-thermal heating, drainage, and a sub-air system, cost $1.2 million.

In March 2025, Colorado announced that the natural grass surface would be replaced again with AstroTurf 3D3 starting the next season. This was done to prepare Folsom Field for potentially hosting the College Football Playoff in the future as the grass is difficult to grow in the winter when the playoffs take place; and so the stadium can host concerts outside of summer. The new turf is expected to be completed on July 1.^[18]

The largest crowd for a CU football game at Folsom Field was 54,972 in 2005, against in-state rival Colorado State on September 3, in which the Buffaloes won with a 47-yard field goal by Mason Crosby with four seconds remaining.^[40] This early-season, non-conference rivalry game, the Rocky Mountain Showdown, is more often played in neutral Denver at Mile High Stadium and its successor Empower Field at Mile High.^[1]

The largest crowd ever at Folsom Field was in 1977 for a rock concert, one of the popular Colorado Sun Day concert series. The attendance on May 1 was an estimated 61,500 (exceeding the seating capacity by about 9,000) for a show featuring Fleetwood Mac, Bob Seger, Firefall, and John Sebastian.

View from the club level seats before the football Spring Game on April 14, 2007

• 
  Facade built prior to 2003 season on July 13, 2006
• 
  Interior view, 2007
• 
  View to the southwest of the Flatirons in 2016
• 
  A view of the north side of the stadium in 2016
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  New video boards were added before the 2012 season.
• 
  Folsom Field's east side as it looked in 2016 after the addition of the Champions Center.

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