Malone Stadium is a
stadium
A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...
in
Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe (historically french: Poste-du-Ouachita) is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and parish seat of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,702, it is the principal city of the Monroe metropolita ...
, United States, on the campus of the
University of Louisiana at Monroe
The University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) is a public university in Monroe, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System.
History
ULM opened in 1931 as Ouachita Parish Junior College. Three years later it became the Northeast Cen ...
. It is primarily used for football and is the home field of the
ULM Warhawks. The stadium, named for former coach
James L. Malone, opened in 1978 and has a seating capacity of 27,617 people. The field Was named JPS Field, for a local company, JPS Aviation/JPS Equipment Rental. The field was named after the company after they agreed to fund installation of a new
FieldTurf playing surface in 2014.
History
Because Northeast Louisiana University's previous stadium could hold just over 8,000 spectators, the late Mayor
W. L. "Jack" Howard pushed for construction of a new football stadium.
Malone Stadium, named after the winningest coach in school history
James L. Malone, opened on September 16, 1978, with a capacity of 20,000, with the then-Northeast Louisiana Indians beat Arkansas State, 21–13.
It is located across
Bayou Desiard
Bayou Desiard is a bayou in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana and Morehouse Parish, Louisiana. The bayou receives inflow from Bayou Bartholomew (Bartholomew Lake), Black Bayou Lake and Mill Bayou and flows through downtown Monroe, Louisiana and the campu ...
from the main campus, the center of the school's athletic facilities. The field runs roughly north-northeast, with an imbalanced grandstand, the west stands being the larger stands. The lower west level is a solid enclosed structure, with the ULM Athletic Training Center enclosed, and the upper level extends much higher, with the press box and luxury boxes located on top. The east side is also decked, with a short first deck wrapping around almost from goalpost to goalpost and another short steel-supported upper deck running the length of the field.
Renovations
Both sides of seating were extended into each
end zone
The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field. ...
in 1983, increasing the capacity to 23,277. The press box was enlarged in 1991, and capacity decreased to 22,077. In 1993, 8,350 seats were added to the stadium, increasing capacity to its current figure of 30,427.
![Malone Stadium panorama](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Malone_Stadium_panorama.jpg)
In 2007, ULM excavated the natural grass from Malone Stadium to install ProPlay artificial turf.
[ Retrieved on October 12, 2009.]
In 2011, the university installed a new scoreboard with a
HD video
High-definition video (HD video) is video of higher resolution and quality than standard-definition. While there is no standardized meaning for ''high-definition'', generally any video image with considerably more than 480 vertical scan lines (N ...
display measuring 23 feet high by 48 feet wide (1,104 square feet) and flanked by two low definition video panels for advertisements measuring high by wide. Also, a new sound system was installed in the upper corners of the scoreboard.
A record crowd of 31,175 was reached on September 21, 2012 against the
Baylor Bears
The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only two private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior to j ...
at the 2012 home opener.
In 2014, JPS Aviation/JPS Equipment Rental paid $450,000 to replace the artificial turf with new
FieldTurf and for the field to be named JPS Field at Malone Stadium for the next eight seasons.
A new field house facility was completed in August 2016 at a cost of $4.1 million. The building is located in the north end zone, attached to the west grandstand. It features a hall of fame area, locker room, coaches’ offices, and patios overlooking the field.
Largest crowds
The largest crowd to see a Warhawk football game in Malone Stadium was 31,175 on September 21, 2012, when the Warhawks hosted Baylor University. In 2020, there was only 25% of people allowed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
See also
*
List of NCAA Division I FBS football stadiums
This is a list of stadiums that currently serve as the home venue for Football Bowl Subdivision college football teams. These include most of the largest stadiums in the United States.
Conference affiliations reflect those in the current 2022 ...
References
External links
JPS Field at Malone Stadium - ULMAthletics.com
{{Louisiana college football venues
College football venues
Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football
American football venues in Louisiana
Sports venues in Monroe, Louisiana
Sports venues in Louisiana
1978 establishments in Louisiana
Sports venues completed in 1978