On September 10th, the Montana State University Bobcats football team will play their home opener, the fourth annual Gold Rush game against UC-Davis. This will be the first game in the newly renovated stadium which has been completed just days before this first scheduled home game and right on schedule and budget. The contractor, Martel Construction has done a wonderful job and along with the same project manager that oversaw the 1998 renovations of the stadium, has helped create a larger venue for more fans to watch Bobcat football games.
The first game of the season is on Thursday, September 1st, but that’s an away game against Utah in Salt Lake. The second game will be the home-opener, and some tickets are still available. There are also commemorative gold t-shirts which come with a ticket purchase for that Saturday September 10th game. It’s also US Military Appreciation day, so expect a flyover before the game. If you can’t attend or get tickets to that first game, the next Saturday, September 17th, is the Wendy’s Hall of Fame game at the new stadium against Minot State.
Over a year ago, Montana State University decided to embark on a campaign to raise private funds and bonds to support a $10 million dollar expansion and renovation of the football stadium. $6 million in private funds was quickly raised and another $4 million in bonds have funded the project.

While there had been considerable criticism of the project and it’s cost when it was first launched, especially during hard economic times, Bill Lamberty, Bobcats Sports Information Director is quick to point out that the project used no state or federal monies and has been built mostly from private donations. The overwhelming positive response to raise $6 million in such a short time last year and launch the project is a testament to the strong support for the MSU football program here in Bozeman. Lamberty says that the project was completed without any major problems, setbacks, delays, or cost overruns. (Maybe these guys could give some pointers to some of the road construction projects here in the state.)

Numberwise, the stadium capacity has been increased 44% from 12,000 to 17,200 permanent seats. Some previous games had higher than 12,000 in attendance, but that was due to the addition of temporary bleachers in the end zones. Much of the new seating is towards the south end zone area, and also includes a new student entrance in the southeast corner of the stadium to make access from the tailgate party area easier and faster.
There is also a new state of the art high-definition LED scoreboard and graphics system. The old scoreboard system was actually quite nice, and in the spirit of recycling and reusing, was donated to Bozeman High School to replace their aging football scoreboard system. And no stadium renovation project would be complete without a new and powerful sound system, so there is a large new system which has been installed throughout the stadium which allows for even louder Bobcat screams and pounding renditions of AC/DCs  ‘Hell’s Bells’ which is the traditional prelude to the players entering the stadium.

There are also large new restroom facilities and concession areas to help handle the larger crowds. Because the legendary cannon would now be pointing at the newly constructed seating area, it has been moved to the northwest corner of the stadium and will still be a fixture at the home games and heard during each Bobcat score.
The new stadium and bigger crowds will augment and inspire the already promising Bobcats football team lead by quarterback DeNarius McGhee. And of course beating the Griz last year and capturing the Big Sky conference title are also a good indication of where the program stands just days before this new season starts.

Undoubtedly people will arrive at the wee hours of the morning on September 10th to tailgate at that first home game, but the first chance to see the stadium will actually be at the grand opening ceremony on Friday night September 9th which is open to the public and starts at 6pm. Who knows, it might just last all night long. Another opportunity to get on the field and celebrate the renovation will be on Thursday September 15th at 5:30pm for the MSU/Chamber Relations Stadium Kick Off Party (formerly the Turf Party). This event is open to the business and Bobcat communities as a networking event, cost is $5.

This would be a great year to get that pair of season tickets and ensure that you’ll also have that Cat-Griz ticket at the end of the season for what promises to be an exceptional game.

More information on Bobcat athletics is available online at: www.MSUBobcats.com

Tickets available at the Bobcat ticket office, or at: www.montana.edu/bobcats/tickets.php or phone:  994-CATS

Go Bobcats!

Mike Comstock is an MSU graduate; software engineer by day, math tutor in the evenings, musician on the weekends, and freelance writer in his spare time.