The Michigan Wolverines have bragging rights for plenty of reasons. We’re talking about a school that just won the NCAA men’s basketball national championship title. Their football team isn’t so shabby, either.
But, one of the reasons the Wolverines have had bragging rights is because of their Big House. The football stadium, officially called Michigan Stadium, is currently the largest stadium in the United States. It’s also the third-largest stadium in the world. With a capacity of 107,601, Michigan Stadium is only behind Narendra Modi Stadium at 132,000 in India and Rungrado 1st of May Stadium at 114,000 in North Korea.
However, that could change. One Big Ten Conference team may take away the crown.
Michigan’s Big House could fall to Big Ten Conference rival
Penn State currently has the second-largest stadium with a capacity of 106,572. It’s undergoing renovations and could come out of the makeover at a capacity higher than Michigan’s.
In an “Inside the Lions” substack story out this week by Penn State beat writer Audrey Snyder, Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft said the $700 million renovation could push the venue’s capacity to around 108,000. He said that by the team’s Oct. 10 game against USC, he expects all the upper bleachers to be installed, and that could surpass the Big House’s capacity.
“We continue to count, but I think we’ll be north of 108,000,” Kraft told Snyder in the piece. “I think we could get to 109,000, but what people don’t understand is there are all these nooks and crannies that we’re using now.”
Now, Michigan Stadium could always renovate and try to add more seats. But, for now, at least, it appears the Wolverines’ bragging rights in this area could be over.
