H.A. Chapman Stadium Highlights

1930 — Groundbreaking ceremony for the 14,500 seat Skelly Field occurred on May 11 . The first football game was played on Oct . 4, 1930 in front of a crowd of 13,000 . Tulsa defeated Arkansas 26-6 .

1938 — TU traded Skelly Field to the Tulsa Public Schools for the Philtower Building lot at 5th and Boston . TU began to lease the stadium from the board of education .

1947 — Lease renewal for Skelly Field was signed . The 5,000 seat north end zone stands were added and the scoreboard moved to the south end zone . Skelly Field was the original name, but changed to Skelly Stadium when the north end zone seats were added .

1953 — In August, former TU star Jim Finks played for the Pittsburgh Steelers in an exhibition game against the Chicago Bears before a crowd of 10,000 .

1956 — On June 18, Evangelist Reverend Billy Graham held a one-night rally and set what was to that date a stadium record crowd of 28,000 .

1960 — Newly formed American Football League entries, Houston Oilers and Dallas Texans, met in an exhibition contest in August .

1964 — The stadium corporation was reorganized and it planned to build two high school stadiums (LaFortune and McLain) in exchange for Skelly Stadium .

1965 — Skelly Stadium was enlarged to 40,235 seats at a cost of $1,250,000 . The track was removed, the field lowered and box seats added . The excavated dirt was used to support the new south end zone stands . Seating was added to the west stands plus a new two story press box, escalator and elevator . Work was completed in August .

1966 — The third story photo deck was added to the press box . Skelly Stadium turned into a baseball field for one game on May 5 . The St . Louis Cardinals baseball club played their triple-A farm team, the Tulsa Oilers, in an exhibition game . The contest drew a crowd of 18,904, which saw the Cards beat Tulsa 5-4 .

1968 — Skelly Stadium was returned to the University .

1972 — Tartan turf was installed in the summer months .

1977 — Professional soccer made its debut at Skelly Stadium with a preseason game .

1978 — The Tulsa Roughnecks, an NASL professional soccer team, moved into Skelly Stadium .

1979 — Getty Oil Company and Getty Refining and Marketing Company made a $350,000 grant for refurbishing and repairs to the Stadium .

1980 — A modern scoreboard and animated message center was installed above the south stands . The sign package was donated by Dr . Pepper, KJRH Television and Getty Refining and Marketing Company . The largest crowd for soccer occurred on April 26 when the Roughnecks met the New York Cosmos before 30,831 fans .

1987 — The largest crowd in Skelly Stadium history, 47,350, saw Tulsa lose to the nation’s number oneranked Oklahoma Sooners, 65-0 .

1982 — A new artificial turf was installed and the lighting system was replaced .

1984 — A new scoreboard above the north end zone and 25-second clocks were added in each end zone .

1991 — Stadia Turf, a new artificial surface, was installed in the summer . The football season had the highest season attendance average in school history with an average of 31,236 fans for seven home games .

1993 — A new scoreboard was erected in the south end zone . It was completed just one day before the home opener on September 18 .

2000 — New FieldTurf was installed in the summer . The synthetic artificial turf looks and feels like natural

Case Athletic Complex

The Case Athletic Complex opened in June 2007, less than three years after the plans were unveiled for the facility that houses Golden

Hurricane football .

On November 11, 2004, University of Tulsa

President Steadman Upham unveiled plans for the Case Athletic Complex to be located in the north end zone of Skelly Stadium . Excavation began on January 13, 2006 .

The 30,000 square foot complex was built at a cost of $10 million, and it began phase one of following the 2007 football campaign, when

Skelly Field at H .A . Chapman Stadium underwent major renovations . grass . The visiting team locker room was refurbished .

2003 — Installed new stadium lighting . 2005 — The north end zone stands were demolished in February, thus clearing way for the new Case Athletic Complex . The stadium seating was reduced from 40,385 to 35,542 .

2007 — The Case Athletic Complex in the north end zone was completed in June; and on April 24, it was announced that the H .A . and Mary K . Chapman Trust has provided the financial gift for half of the estimated cost for renovation of the newly named H .A . Chapman Stadium .

2008 — The H .A Chapman Stadium underwent major renovation and now has a new stadium capacity of 30,000 .

2013 — A new playing surface, FieldTurf Revolution Cool Play featuring cork and rubber, was installed in the spring of 2013, as was an 80-foot LED electronic sign located on the south end zone field level wall .

2017 — A new FieldTurf surface was installed .

2018 — ONEOK Club had a complete renovation and

the renovation of Skelly Field . Phase Two began an LED board was added to the north end zone .

The Case Athletic Complex, named for Mike Case, a developer and philanthropist who made a significant financial gift for the project, houses football coaches offices, meeting rooms, game day suites, academic support center for all student-athletes, football locker room and equipment room, athletic training room, video production suite and Lettermen’s Club suite .

A renovation of the locker room was completed in the summer of 2018 .

The facility provides the Tulsa football program with an exceptional every-day use facility, as well as providing all TU student-athletes with an area dedicated to academic enhancement .