Chad Richison Stadium (formerly Wantland Stadium) is the on-campus

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

facility for the

University of Central Oklahoma The University of Central Oklahoma (UCO or Central State) is a public university in Edmond, Oklahoma. It is the third largest university in Oklahoma, with more than 17,000 students and approximately 434 full-time and 400 adjunct faculty. Founde ...

Bronchos in

Edmond, Oklahoma Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area in the central part of the state. The population was 94,428 according to the 2020 United States Census, making it the fifth largest cit ...

. The official

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of the stadium, following recent renovations, is 10,000, making it tied for the 16th largest Division II stadium, and tied with Walton Stadium of the

University of Central Missouri The University of Central Missouri (UCM) is a public university in Warrensburg, Missouri. In 2019, enrollment was 11,229 students from 49 states and 59 countries on its 1,561-acre campus. UCM offers 150 programs of study, including 10 pre-profes ...

and

Francis G. Welch Stadium Francis G. Welch Stadium, also known as Jones Field at Welch Stadium or Welch Stadium, is a sport stadium in Emporia, Kansas. The facility is primarily used by the Emporia State University college football, football and Track and field, track & f ...

Emporia State University Emporia State University (Emporia State or ESU) is a public university in Emporia, Kansas, United States. Established in March 1863 as the Kansas State Normal School, Emporia State is the third-oldest public university in the state of Kansas. Em ...

for the largest in the

Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division II, Division II level, headquartered ...

History

The stadium opened in 1965, and was originally named Wantland Stadium after former Broncho head coach

Charles W. Wantland Charles William Wantland (February 22, 1888 – March 31, 1964) was an American athlete and coach. Wantland served as a sports coach and athletic director, and dean at University of Central Oklahoma, Central State Teachers College in Edmond, Oklah ...

. The stadium is a dual sided with a grass berm that imitates a horseshoe-shaped facility with its long axis oriented north/south, with the south end enclosed by grass and the north end bounded by the Sports Performance Center. Visitor seating is on the east sideline. The student seating sections are in Section 102 located in the west stands on the south side, next to the UCO Stampede of Sound which is near the south goalline. The Bronchos' bench is also located along the west side. Chad Richison Stadium underwent a dramatic facelift in the summer of 2005 with the addition of a three-level press box that includes club seating and new stands on both sides of the field. Artificial turf, new lighting and a state-of-the-art scoreboard were added to the facility in 2003. In 2014 a new videoboard was installed. In 2017, the university began construction of a 45,000 square feet sports performance center located along the north end zone. The Sports Performance Center opened during the 2018 season. During the 2021 season after a $10 million donation from

Paycom Paycom Software, Inc., known simply as Paycom, is an American online payroll and human resource technology provider based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with offices throughout the United States. It is attributed with being one of the first fully on ...

CEO and former Broncho wrestler

Chad Richison Chad Richison is an American entrepreneur who has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Paycom since its founding. A native Oklahoman, Richison began his career in sales with ADP, a global payroll provider, before moving to Colorado t ...

, the university renamed the structure Chad Richison Stadium.

Events

The Stadium also hosted the 1982 NAIA Championship Game. The Bronchos played against

Mesa State Colorado Mesa University is a public university in Grand Junction, Colorado. The university's other locations include Bishop Campus, which houses Western Colorado Community College in northwestern Grand Junction, and a regional campus in Mon ...

. The Bronchos clinched their 2nd crown winning 14-11, in front of a national audience on the

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

. Wantland Stadium was the home field for all three Edmond high school teams, Memorial, Santa Fe, and North. Edmond Public Schools leased the facility from UCO for $7,252 per game. As part of the lease EPS collected all revenue from ticket sales, and concessions. In 2015 Edmond Santa Fe opened their football stadium and the other EPS schools shifted their games to on-campus stadiums. UCO has hosted the Oklahoma All-State Football Game in the facility six times since 1994. The stadium also hosts the annual UCO Stampede of Sound's Invitational Marching Band Contest. It also has hosted the class 6A Oklahoma Bandmaster's Association (OBA) Marching Contest several times. In February 2015, voters passed a $91 million bond issue which included expansion of a football field near Santa Fe High School. In 2016, Wantland hosted the OSSAA Class 5A football championship game.

References

College football venues Buildings and structures in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma American football venues in Oklahoma Central Oklahoma Bronchos football {{Oklahoma-sports-venue-stub