Kidd Brewer Stadium, affectionately known as “The Rock,” is the home field of the Appalachian State Mountaineers football team in Boone, North Carolina. Opened in 1962 as the modest 10,000-seat Conrad Stadium, it was renamed in 1988 to honor longtime coach Kidd Brewer and has since grown into a 40,168-seat venue tucked into the Blue Ridge Mountains.
What sets Kidd Brewer Stadium apart from nearly every other stadium in the country is its elevation: sitting roughly 3,333 feet above sea level, it is one of the highest college football stadiums in the United States. The stadium has also carved out a place in television history, having hosted the second college football game ever broadcast by ESPN back in 1979.
Stats at a Glance
- Team: Appalachian State Mountaineers (Sun Belt Conference)
- Location: Boone, North Carolina
- Opened: September 15, 1962 (as Conrad Stadium)
- Renamed: September 3, 1988
- Capacity: About 40,168
- Elevation: About 3,333 feet above sea level
- Notable fact: First venue in North or South Carolina with artificial turf
From Conrad Stadium to The Rock
The stadium opened in September 1962 as Conrad Stadium, named for university trustee William J. Conrad, with just 10,000 seats. Fans had long nicknamed the venue “The Rock,” and in 1988 the university officially renamed it Kidd Brewer Stadium in honor of the coach who built Appalachian State’s early football tradition.
Expansion came in steady waves over the decades, with the seating bowl growing from 18,000 seats by the late 1970s to more than double that figure through a series of additions in the 2000s, 2010s, and a major 2019-2020 project that pushed capacity to its current 40,168.
A Mountain-Top Home Field
Because Boone sits high in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Kidd Brewer Stadium’s playing field rests at an elevation of roughly 3,333 feet, giving opposing teams an extra adjustment on top of a notoriously loud home crowd. That altitude, combined with the stadium’s compact, steep seating bowl, has long been cited as part of the Mountaineers’ home-field advantage.
The stadium was also a pioneer on the technology side, becoming the first stadium in North or South Carolina to install artificial turf, and later hosting one of ESPN’s earliest college football broadcasts in 1979, well before the network became a fixture of Saturday football coverage.
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For upper-deck seats. Watch line play at the stadium, or the far side of the park from the top of a lift hill.
Kidd Brewer Stadium FAQs
Who plays at Kidd Brewer Stadium?
The Appalachian State Mountaineers football team, a member of the Sun Belt Conference, plays its home games at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, North Carolina.
What is Kidd Brewer Stadium’s capacity?
The stadium currently seats about 40,168 fans, a figure reached through a series of expansions completed around 2019-2020.
Why is Kidd Brewer Stadium called ‘The Rock’?
Fans gave the stadium the nickname “The Rock” long before its official renaming; the venue opened in 1962 as Conrad Stadium and wasn’t officially renamed Kidd Brewer Stadium, after former coach Kidd Brewer, until 1988.
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Photo: Geologik at English Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.