Located in the center of campus, the University of Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium is one of the most intimate settings in college football. Build in 1924 on a site used for football since 1902, horseshoe-shaped Nippert is the nation’s fourth oldest site and fifth oldest stadium in college football.
Although not the Big House, the Horseshoe, or the Swamp, Nippert is a great venue to watch a game. The big, tradition venues are historic with a game-day atmosphere that is an event in itself, but the top row is also the top row. Meanwhile, Nippert Stadium provides close-to-the-field seats with good sight lines.
Given the much-improved attendance the past three years, enthusiastic crowds have made Nippert Stadium a tough place for opponents to play. In 2006 undefeated Rutgers got hammered. The 2007 season started by dominating Oregon State, and then UC thumped an 8-1 UConn team. A few weeks ago 7-2 Pitt came to town and discovered the power of the Nippert atmosphere.
Sure I hope UC football continued success both on the field and in the stands. Given the importance of revenue through seats and boxes, UC knows something needs to change. The good news is that recent news indicates expanding and renovating Nippert instead of renting Paul Brown Stadium. After all, college football needs to be on campus, especially when having a one of the great venues for fans.
A Frank Angle 
Hey Frank,
I definitely have memories at Nippert. My last year at Louisville (1999), we played @ Nippert, pulling off a 23-13 win, though in both teams defense, neither school was that good back then.
Does seem like it was sellout that year. The rivalry was really just taking off between the schools.
Then, in 2007, I came with my old high school, Mission Viejo High to help coach the Mission Viejo Diablos in the Herbstreit Challenge. That turned out well too with Mission winning 26-22 over Cincinnati Moeller.
All the kids on the Mission team loved playing in Nippert. I have some pictures of us at the game, me lurking the sidelines with former Bills/Jags QB Rob Johnson, who is the offensive coordinator at Mission Viejo now, and pictures of the stadium with the sun fading behind it.
Really beautiful stadium, I love the older stadiums that look like they will still be standing 100 years from now.
Great read. I will be posting one soon about small or smaller teams since I started college at I-AA ETSU in Tennessee, then transferred to Louisville my junior year. I still find myself pulling for these smaller teams, even this year, my wife and I went to more Fresno State games than USC games. I wish the USC fans and supporters had the passion and love and even loyalty to USC like most small team’s fans have.
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A great post, I have been going to football games at the Nip since 1991 and have always loved its simple yet classicly elegant charm. The intramural softball games are still played there and I have parked a couple homers into the right center field stands, though pulling one to left would be a challenge (second picture, home plate would be in the back corner of the end zone)
A bit of history on the name of the field. In 1923, Cincinnati running back Jimmy Nippert suffered a spike wound late in the annual matchup with Miami of Ohio. The Cats won the game, but Nippert would die of blood poisioning from the wound on Christmas Day. His grandfather James Gamble (one half of Proctor and Gamble) donated the funds to complete the then unfinished stands and stadium. The stadium is formally named The James Gamble Nippert Memorial Stadium. But of course everyone knows it as Nippert.
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Thanks for adding the information about how the stadium got its name. Your adjectives describing Nippert Stadium are right on … simple, yet classically elegant.
I decided on doing a post on the stadium as a way of getting more information out about UC football. After all, outsiders don’t know much about us.
Thanks for visiting!
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Thank You Frank I had not seen this post before. Looks like a fun place to watch a game. Loud is always good for the home team. :+) The Grizzlies are also known for their loud fans.
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Starla,
Knowing you like CFB, glad you saw this. Given the location, 35,000 fans can be make it tough on opponents. On the other hand, its location make any upgrading/expansion a difficult task. Which, in the end, would be sad to see the venue become limited use.
BTW – Because of its location, the stadium is never locked as it is a path for students to/from classes!
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Wow that’s amazing never locked. Sounds like upgrading and sxpanding could be difficult.. I wonder how many Fans the Grizzly home feild can hold? I’ll have to look that up. :+)
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See the campus map to see that the stadium in surround! http://www.uc.edu/content/dam/common/docs/maps/campus_map_west.pdf
To see more about UC, here are some virtual tours.
http://magazine.uc.edu/explore.html
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That was nice Thank You for the links I enjoyed the tours. I can also see that the stadium really is surrounded which makes expanding difficult.
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Fortunately, the NFL stadium in town provides an option that I don’t like because I would like to see the games stay on campus. Nippert renovations would have to include upgrading restrooms and the concourse, luxury boxes for revenue, and a few more seats. Then again, how long would it take to payoff the cost. It can be done, but both difficult and questionable cost/return.
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That was my first thought how much moneyit would take to do all the upgrades. :+)
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