Nippert Stadium is Old as Hell and I Kind of Love It

Nippert Stadium was built in 1915. Nineteen fifteen. That’s before World War I ended. That’s before the NFL existed. That’s before basically everything in modern football happened.

And they’re still playing games there.

I went to a Cincinnati game last year. Sat in these ancient metal bleachers that felt like they might collapse if everyone jumped at the same time. The concourse was cramped. The bathrooms were… concerning. Everything about the infrastructure screamed “we should’ve replaced this decades ago.”

But you know what? The atmosphere was incredible.

There’s something about an old stadium that creates intimacy. Nippert only holds 40,000 people. That’s tiny by Big 12 standards. But the stands are right on top of the field. The noise has nowhere to go. When Cincinnati scores, you feel the whole place shake.

The location helps too. It’s right in the middle of campus. Students walk to games. The tailgating happens in parking lots that are genuinely part of the university. It doesn’t feel like a detached football complex — it feels like the stadium is PART of the school.

I talked to some Cincinnati fans while I was there and they’re fiercely protective of Nippert. There’s been talk of building a new stadium, moving to the suburbs, doing the whole modern-stadium thing. They hate it. They want to keep playing in their hundred-year-old venue.

Mike’s note: From a pure football-watching perspective, Nippert is tough. The sightlines aren’t great in some sections. The amenities are dated. But there’s history there that you can’t replicate. Four of the oldest stadiums in college football are still in use — Nippert is one of them.

I get it. New stadiums are nice. But they’re also soulless. They all look the same. They all have the same corporate sponsors. They all feel like they were built by a committee that optimized for revenue extraction.

Nippert has character. Nippert has history. Nippert has those metal bleachers that make your butt go numb by halftime.

I respect Cincinnati for keeping it. I hope they keep keeping it.

— Jake