As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in this post may be "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase an item, I will receive an affiliate commission.
If you have just moved to Texas and wondering what the football stadium in Wichita Falls is, you’ve come to the right place.
Wichita Falls is home to several football stadiums, but the most notable is Memorial Stadium. Located on the southwest edge of the city, Memorial Stadium is a 14,500-seat stadium that serves as the home field for the John Hirschi High School Huskies, S.H. Rider High School Raiders, and Wichita Falls High School Coyotes. The stadium has also been the home of the Midwestern State University football program since 1988.
What is the Football Stadium in Wichita Falls?
Memorial Stadium is an American football and soccer stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas located on Southwest Parkway at Barnett Road. It is owned and operated by the Wichita Falls Independent School District.
Built in 1970, the stadium can seat 14,500 fans with room for 2,500 more
and is one of the largest high school football stadiums in the state of
Texas. Some of the stadium’s attractions include parking for up to 3,600 cars, a two-story press box for visiting coaches, dignitaries, and
the media, as well as an artificial turf playing surface and a state of the art scoreboard, most of which were added several years after the stadium’s initial opening. Every summer, Memorial Stadium is host to the Oil Bowl Classic, an annual high school all-star football game that pits the best football players from Texas against those from Oklahoma.On April 10, 1979, Memorial Stadium was severely damaged when an F4 tornado tore through the southwest portion of Wichita Falls, the winds only measuring up to an F3 on the Fujita scale while the tornado was directly on top of the stadium, however.
The tornado in question also brought upon extremely severe damage to the town of Wichita Falls, causing major safety reforms to buildings and a massive rebuild of the town and the infrastructure within it. That Tuesday in April 1979 hosted the creation of several smaller but equally devastating tornados around the Red River Valley area in what is known as the 1979 Red River Valley tornado outbreak, often casually referred to as “Terrible Tuesday”.
Memorial Stadium was built in 1970 and was the first high school stadium in Texas to feature artificial turf. The stadium has hosted several high-profile events over the years, including the Pioneer Bowl, which was a NCAA Division I-AA playoff game from 1971 to 1982.
Today, Memorial Stadium is a popular destination for football fans in Wichita Falls. The stadium is home to a number of annual events, including the Battle for the Border, a rivalry game between Hirschi and Rider, and the Coyote Classic, a showcase for high school football talent in the area.
