Boone Pickens Stadium - Oklahoma State University Athletics

FAST FACTS
FIELD OPENED	1901
FIELD NAMED	1913
STADIUM BUILT	1919
REDEDICATED	2009
CAPACITY	52,202
LARGEST CROWD	60,218 (2013)
PLAYING SURFACE	FieldTurf Vertex CORE
SUITES	111
CLUB SEATS	3,500

LINKS
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A-Z Guide
ADA Information

The relocation of the Cowboy football operations to the West End Zone in the summer of 2009 punctuates one of the largest building projects in recent NCAA history. And the result is the new home of Cowboy football.

Boone Pickens Stadium is now a state-of-the-art facility that not only provides Oklahoma State football with a unique game-day environment and a roaring home-field advantage, but also with unrivaled facilities for daily operations located in incredibly convenient proximities. In 2025, Boone Pickens Stadium was named the best college football stadium in the country by USA TODAY, which used reviews from Yelp, Tripadvisor and Google to compile college football stadium rankings for 2025. In more than 1,700 combined reviews between the three services, Boone Pickens Stadium has an average of 4.8 stars to edge out Kansas State's Bill Snyder Family Stadium and Alabama's Bryant-Denny Stadium for the top spot among the 136 Football Bowl Subdivision venues.

Boone Pickens Stadium officially opened a new south side in 2004, a new north side in 2006 and in 2009 put the wraps on the west end zone project. And while the new digs put OSU on the cutting edge of collegiate facilities, the Cowboys still enjoy the home-field advantage that suffocates opponents with the tightest sidelines in all of football.

The result is that every fan in attendance is close to the action and very much a part of the OSU game day experience in the coziest 52,000+-seat stadium in America.

The west end zone project provides "BPS" with a new multilevel football operations center. Some of the new features include football offices, meeting rooms, speed and conditioning center, locker rooms, equipment room, athletic medicine center, media facilities, and hall of fame areas, along with a new training table. Atop the facility, Boone Pickens Stadium is ringed by 99 suites and 3,500 club seats.

The stadium was officially re-dedicated on Sept. 5, 2009, when the Cowboys opened the season against Georgia.

The wheels were set in motion on the multi-faceted, multi-year stadium project when OSU graduate Boone Pickens made the single-largest gift in school history in 2003. His $70 million donation ($20 million of which was earmarked for stadium expansion) spurred the "Next Level Campaign", which generated more than $100 million in gifts and pledges and involved more than 2,500 individuals, making it the single-most successful campaign in OSU history.

Pickens capped the fundraising effort in 2005 with his monumental gift of $165 million that will not only benefit Cowboy football, but will aid with the development of OSU's planned multi-million dollar athletic village. The gift is the largest ever received by a university athletic department.

Due to construction, official capacity at Boone Pickens Stadium had dropped to 44,700 before climbing back to an all-time high of 60,000 in 2008 when seats in the new west end zone were opened.

As a result of the completed stadium project, OSU had its highest average attendance in school history and shattered the school record for season tickets with nearly 46,000 purchased by the Cowboy faithful in 2009.


Boone Pickens Stadium is named in honor of T. Boone Pickens, the OSU alum and philanthropist that sparked at facilities revolution at Oklahoma State.

The Oklahoma State Cowboys now take to the field from the northwest corner of the stadium in front of the OSU student section. The tunnel walk has become one of the most exciting game day traditions, as players file out of the locker room and through the halls of the West End Zone. The Cowboys storm onto the field after the opening of the black iron chute gate.

In the east end zone is the Athletics Center, home of historic Gallagher-Iba Arena. Atop the athletic center are the only suites in college athletics that can be utilized for football and basketball.

In 2020, OSU Football great Thurman Thomas was the first former Cowboy inducted into the Ring of Honor at Boone Pickens Stadium. Thomas' name and number were permanently placed in a spot of distinction above the suite level of the west end zone of the stadium. Thomas was subsequently joined in the Ring of Honor by teammate Barry Sanders (2021), Bob Fenimore (2022), Terry Miller (2023) and Leslie O'Neal in 2024.


The Cowboy locker room recently underwent a major renovation, further enhancing some of the very best facilities in all of college football.

The artificial playing surface was upgraded during the summer of 2022 to FieldTurf's Vertex CORE system, a product was designed to deliver the perfect combination of performance and beauty. FieldTurf Genius, the world’s first smart field technology, was also be installed at Boone Pickens Stadium and the Sherman Smith Training Center. FieldTurf Genius uses computer vision, deep learning algorithms and sensor fusion to monitor the field, record activity and deliver advanced analytics back to the program. FieldTurf Genius is designed to help maximize the longevity, playability and safety of the sports field.

With the conclusion of the 2022 home football season, Oklahoma State Athletics began a multi-year, $55 million upgrade to the seating bowl of the stadium. Each stage of the process will take place during the winter, spring and summer months and not interfere with OSU's home schedules. The first phase of construction will begin with the removal of seating treads and risers from the 200 level seats above the cross aisle and portions of the 300 level. The new seating treads increase leg room by six inches. New lower vomitories will align with the existing upper vomitories and additional aisles will be constructed to reduce the number of seats between aisles. All aisles will have handrails installed.

All of the bench seating will be replaced with the same contoured bench currently in place in the west end zone. In addition, several sections will include replacement of bench seating to add permanent chair-back seats.

Wheelchair and companion seating will be added to the upper cross aisle. Lighting on the plaza (entry) level of the north side will be replaced with new LED lighting.

The first phase of the process concluded late in the summer of 2023 and the second phase was completed prior to the 2024 football season.


Meeting rooms for every position group can be found along the coaches level of the west end zone. Additional meeting areas are located outside of the team locker room on the field level.

6+ Win Home Seasons
1931 (6-0), 1984 (6-0), 2002 (6-1), 2008 (6-1), 2009 (6-2), 2011 (6-0), 2012 (6-1), 2016 (6-1), 2021 (7-0), 2022 (6-1), 2023 (6-1)

Most Home Wins in a Season
Seven (2021)

Most Consecutive Home Wins
14 (2020-22)

Stadium History
OSU's football home is now far removed from the humble athletic grounds that served as the home of Oklahoma A&M football when the team was first formed in 1901.

In 1896, Dr. Lowery Layman Lewis first arrived in Stillwater as professor of veterinary medicine. Lewis became dean of veterinary medicine and later dean of the School of Science and Literature. While he was not officially linked to sports at A&M, the enthusiastic Dean Lewis took the initiative in organizing early track and football teams, encouraging students to sample different events and to participate for their school. Before long, he was recognized as "the most beloved figure" in territorial scholastic students. To students, he was known affectionately as "Old Doc Lew."

Dean Lewis helped locate the football field, placing it in a north-south position north of Morrill Hall. The patron saint of early-day athletics had been an integral part of the campus for fourteen years when in 1910 the Athletic Association heartily endorsed the suggestion to honor Dean Lewis by naming the athletic grounds Lewis Field. The new name was made official during the 1913-1914 academic year.

In the fall of 1919, the new Oklahoma A&M Armory and Gymnasium, now known the Donald W. Reynolds School of Architecture, was completed at a cost of $102,000. At the same time, Lewis Field was moved to its permanent site on the northeast edge of the campus. Shortly after the move, the field was repositioned north-south to east-west to "avoid the prevailing strong winds."


Space is a priority in every area of Boone Pickens Stadium, from the coaches' offices to the club and suite premium seating areas.

The first addition to the stadium came in 1924 with the steel and concrete portion of the south stadium. During the 1929-30 seasons, 8,000 permanent seats were built on the north side to bring the capacity to 13,000.

In 1947, the south stadium was increased from 20 to 53 rows and capacity climbed to over 30,000. The first permanent press box was added in 1948. Prior to the 1950 season, 10,600 more seats were added to the north stands, increasing capacity to 39,000.

The next expansion didn't come until 1971 when the cinder track around the field was removed. The field was lowered 12 feet and 20 rows of permanent seating were added to both sides.

The first artificial surface was installed in 1971 at a cost of $2.5 million, and the coaches' offices (now part of the Athletic Center) were constructed prior to the start of the 1978 season.

The stadium's press box was torn down and reconstructed in 1980 and the lighting system was installed prior to the 1985 season.

A second artificial surface was installed prior to the 2000 season and remained in place until the summer of 2005. The 2005 surface was subsequently replaced in 2014.


Boone Pickens Stadium was officially rededicated in 2009 prior to OSU's win over Georgia. The legendary Thurman Thomas was the first Cowboy inducted into the Boone Pickens Stadium Ring of Honor.

Stadium Timeline
Year	Event
1901	Football began play in unnamed athletic ground north of Morrill Hall
1910	OAMC Athletic Council endorses suggestion to name athletic grounds after Dr. Lowery Layman Lewis
1913	Athletic grounds named Lewis Field
1919	Construction of the Oklahoma A&M Armory and Gymnasium pushes Lewis Field north to its present location. Original stadium built as wooden bleachers.
1924	Permanent steel and concrete south side seating added. Playing field adjusted to east-west configuration.
1929	Permanent north side seating
1947	South side renovations raise capacity to 30,000
1950	South side renovations raise capacity to 39,000
1971	Field lowered, capacity increased to 51,000
1978	Coaches building constructed in east end zone
1980	New press box added for $1.8 million
1985	Permanent lights added for first time for $750,000
2003	Lewis Field renamed Boone Pickens Stadium
2004	New south side completed, including suites and club seating
2006	New north side completed, including suites and club seating
2008	Seating opened in new west end zone, raising capacity to 60,000
2009	Completed renovation, including west end zone suites, raises capacity to 60,218
2022	Locker room renovated, new playing surface installed
2023	North side seating renovation
2024	South side seating renovation

Oldest FBS Stadiums (West of the Mississippi)
Stadium	School	Built
Boone Pickens Stadium	Oklahoma State	1919
Husky Stadium	Washington	1920
Stanford Stadium	Stanford	1921
Memorial Stadium	Kansas	1921
Rose Bowl*	UCLA	1922
Memorial Coliseum*	USC	1923
Memorial Stadium	California	1923
Memorial Stadium	Nebraska	1923
Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium	Oklahoma	1923
Tiger Stadium	LSU	1924
Darrell K. Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium	Texas	1924
Folsom Field	Colorado	1924
Memorial Stadium / Faurot Field	Missouri	1926
Kyle Field	Texas A&M	1927
Arizona Stadium	Arizona	1928
* Off-campus venues