Arkansas State University

 

By the Numbers Capacity 30,382 Year Opened 1974 Field Allison Field First Game Sept. 28, 1974 vs. Louisiana Tech (L, 21-7) First A-State Victory Oct. 5, 1974 vs. Eastern Michigan (W, 14-7) Surface GEO Surfaces Field Turf All-Time Record* 163-82-1 *entering 2021 season Top Home Crowds Crowd Year Opponent 31,243 2012 Middle Tennessee (W, 45-0) 30,451 2013 UAPB (W, 62-11) 30,427 2004 Memphis (L, 35-47) 30,243 2012 ULM (W, 45-23) 29,872 2011 Memphis (W, 47-3) 29,465 1997 Central Arkansas (W, 36-35) 29,317 2014 ULM (W, 28-14) 29,143 2015 Missouri (L, 20-27) 29,029 2014 Utah State (W, 21-14) 28,041 2012 Memphis (W, 33-28) Centennial Bank Records Record Stat Year Best Record 8-0 1986 Worst Record 1-5 1991 Most Team Points Scored 83 vs. Texas Southern 2008 Most Player Points Scored 30 points by Corey Walker vs. Louisiana Tech 1996 Longest Run 91 yards by Michael Gordon vs. UAPB 2013 Longest Pass 89 yards, 3x, last by James Blackman to Jeff Foreman vs. Memphis 2021 Most Total Offense (Team) 764 vs. New Mexico State 2014

Construction was completed prior to the 2019 season on a two-level 66,500-square foot football facility in Centennial Bank Stadium’s north end zone. The Arkansas State Athletics Department is committed to providing its student-athletes, coaches and loyal fan base with the best facilities and amenities within the conference and across the country. The renovation to the north end zone will en- hance its fan game day experience and assist in the Red Wolves’ ability to recruit and train the best student-athletes to Arkansas State University. In constructing the new premium seating options and team complex, A-State will create an electric atmosphere and enhance the home field advantage at Centennial Bank Stadium. First and foremost, the project will enhance the Arkansas State student-athlete experience. The project features include a new weight room and training/rehabilitation area, new team locker room, position meeting rooms, players’ lounge, academic rooms and team-theater meeting area. The Red Wolves Den, A-State’s new outdoor premium seating options, has created a unique experience for fans; comprised of loge boxes and terrace seating with premium food and access to two cash bars.

The Arkansas State University Board of Trustees voted on Dec. 11, 2017, to name A-State’s football field “Allison Field” and its future north end zone facility “Centennial Bank Athletics Operations Center” in recognition of a combined $10 million from the Johnny Allison family and Centennial Bank to the Red Wolves Foundation. Honoring the former A-State letterman who played on the 1968 football team, served on the ASU Board of Trustees from 1979-84 and was named an Arkansas State University Distinguished Alumni in 1998, “Allison Field” is proudly dis- played at multiple locations on the field as well as the tunnel entrance into the Centennial Bank Athletics Operations Center. With Centennial Bank’s $5-million sponsorship, its previously acquired naming rights to Centennial Bank Stadium will be extended by 10 years to 2037. The new construction in the north end zone now displays the Centennial Bank Stadium name.

One of the many impressive aspects of Arkansas State’s new north end zone facility will be the athletics performance program and the weight room. Success on the football field begins in the weight room, and A-State will have one of the best. The area will feature 18 new power lift racks, inlaid platforms, a designated nutrition center, new weights and cardio equipment, media (TV, audio, etc.) and direct access to the Student Activity Center, among much more. Behind the efforts of Jake Miller, A-State’s Assistant Athletics Director for Athletics Performance, the area will be in use this fall to help Red Wolves student-athletes become bigger, stronger and faster.

The new Centennial Bank Athletics Operation Center will house an enhanced sports medicine, training and rehabilitation area. A-State student-athletes, who already receive great medical care, will now enjoy additional space and quality surroundings. Other training centers in the south end zone facility, First National Bank Arena, Tomlinson Stadium, Track and Field complex and Women’s Tennis and Soccer facility serve to compliment this primary space and provide frontline care for practices and events.

The Red Wolves moved into a new state-of-the art locker room inside the Centennial Bank Stadium Athletics Operations Center just before the 2019 season opener. Each student-athlete will have a large customized locker with the latest amenities while enjoying a spacious area with multiple media centers in the locker room featuring a design and logos unique to A-State.

Thanks to one of two $5 million gifts – the largest individual donation in A-State Athletics history – by alumnus Johnny Allison, a “Centennial Expansion” construction and renovation project to the stadium’s press box and west-side concourse took place prior to the start of the 2015 season.

The entire project, including the press box and concourse, covered 40,000 square feet. The Centennial Expansion project included a complete overhaul to the stadium press box, expanding it from 7,120 to 36,000 square feet.

The face of the stadium has been redesigned to include 42 loge boxes, 20 suites, a club area covering close to 8,000 square feet and 344 club seats in its revenue-generating areas.

Not only has depth been added to the press box, it now spans from approximately the 15-to-15 yard lines, allowing for enhanced media, coaching, broad- casting, control booth, visiting athletics director suite, and camera areas.

The project also called for major improvements and additions to the concourse bathrooms, concessions, gating and ticketing areas that have enhanced the game-day experience for all A-State fans.

A-State partnered with Daktronics Inc. prior to the start of the 2014 season to install an approximately 1,600-square- foot LED video display scoreboard in Centennial Bank Stadium’s south end zone, along with a custom audio system, delay-of-game clocks and locker room clocks. The south end zone display measures approximately 32 feet high by 50 feet wide and features a 15HD pixel layout. A Daktronics standard fixed-digit scoreboard measuring 8 feet high by 32 feet wide was installed in the north end zone to keep fans in- formed of the score, game time remaining, quarter, time outs remaining and other statistical information. The four additional game clocks are located at each end of the field and in each locker room to assist with game flow and informing teams of time remaining during breaks in the action.

A-State’s first game at Centennial Bank Stadium was played Sept. 28, 1974. The stadium, which now seats 30,382, has undergone several renovations since then and more are currently underway. A-State originally transitioned from a grass field to an artificial playing surface prior to the 2006 season and upgraded to a state-of-the-art GEO Surfaces field turf in 2010. A new field was installed the summer prior to the start of the 2016 season. Like the original field turf installed 13 years ago, the new product still features a large A-State logo in the center of the field. The multi-use surface provides year-round training opportunities for other A-State sports in addition to the school’s football program.

A three-story football complex was built in the stadium’s south end zone in 2002, which followed a stadium expansion in 1991 that raised the seating from 16,343 to 30,406.