Carter–Finley Stadium

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox venue Wayne Day Family Field at Carter–Finley Stadium is a college football stadium located in Raleigh, North Carolina. It has been home to the NC State Wolfpack football team of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) since 1966<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and has a current seating capacity of 56,919 seats.<ref name="facilities">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

History

As early as the 1950s, State was looking to replace its on-campus facility, Riddick Stadium. The concrete-and-wood stadium had been built in 1907 and was showing signs of decline. It never held more than 23,000 seats (14,000 permanent) at any time. Partly because of this, many of longtime coach Earle Edwards' teams played more games on the road than at home. At Edwards' urging, school officials began a concerted effort to build a more modern facility<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Homecoming: Place & History">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The new stadium finally opened in 1966. It was originally named Carter Stadium, in honor of Harry C. & Wilbert J. "Nick" Carter, both graduates of the university. They were major contributors to the original building of the stadium. The name of Albert E. Finley, another major contributor to the university, was added in September 1979.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

While located on University land, the stadium is a few miles to the west of the academic campus on Trinity Road, just off Hillsborough Street.

Carter–Finley Stadium's season tickets have been sold out for nine straight years.Template:When

Carter–Finley Stadium has the smallest clearance between the stands and the sidelines of any stadium in the ACC.

Honored numbers displayed on the west facade of Carter–Finley Stadium include those of Roman Gabriel (18), Torry Holt (81), Philip Rivers (17), Bill Yoest (63), Dennis Byrd (77), Dick Christy (40), Jim Ritcher (51), Ted Brown (23), Mario Williams, Bradley Chubb (9), Russell Wilson (16), and Payton Wilson (11). Gabriel, Ritcher, Christy, Brown, Holt, Byrd, Yoest, and Rivers' numbers are retired.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Carter–Finley also displays banners from NC State's bowl appearances which include the Gator Bowl, Peach Bowl, and Liberty Bowl.

On November 25th, 2024, NC State University Athletics announced a partnership with Independent Sports and Entertainment (ISE) to seek a potential naming rights partner for the stadium, citing "...the blessing of the Carter and Finley families" for the process.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Renovations

Prior to the 2001 season, the university began a program of modernization of the stadium by enclosing the southern end zone with seats, and the state-of-the-art Murphy Center (named for Wendell Murphy) was built behind it. Following the 2004 football season, Carter–Finley was again expanded with the completion of the "Vaughn Towers", a complex of luxury boxes, club seats, and media facilities which opened for the 2005 football season.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

For the 2006 season, a new north end zone grandstand was added consisting of 5,730 new chairback, bench, and handicap-accessible seating with another 1,630 permanent bleacher seats built underneath the video scoreboard making Carter–Finley a bowl and giving it a capacity of 57,583 spectators. Additional upgrades to the stadium included a new north end zone plaza with concession stands and the addition of two video screens in each corner of the south end zone.

Renovations done before the 2023 season included a new north end videoboard that was more than double the size of the previous screen and sound system upgrades for better performance for concerts and musical performances. Construction commenced after the completion of the 2023 NHL Stadium Series game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Washington Capitals on February 18.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Notable events

Concerts

The crowd and players in a 2007 Wolfpack game

The band at Carter-Finley Stadium in 2008

Sunset at Carter-Finley during a game in 2014

width=12% style="text-align:center;Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;|Date	width=10% style="text-align:center;Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;|Artist	width=10% style="text-align:center;Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;|Opening act(s)	width=16% style="text-align:center;Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;|Tour / Concert name	width=10% style="text-align:center;Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;|Attendance	width=10% style="text-align:center;Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;|Revenue	width=20% style="text-align:center;Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;|Notes
June 2, 1979	Boston, Van Halen, Poco & the Outlaws	Template:N/a	June Jam	40,000	N/A
May 4, 1988	Pink Floyd	Template:N/a	A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour	42,982 / 42,982	$866,576
July 27, 1989	The Who	Template:N/a	The Kids Are Alright Reunion Tour	colspan="2" Template:N/a
September 16, 1989	The Rolling Stones	Living Colour	Steel Wheels Tour	52,881 / 52,881	$1,506,393
July 10, 1990	Grateful Dead	colspan="4" Template:N/a
July 22, 1990	Paul McCartney	Template:N/a	The Paul McCartney World Tour	colspan="2" Template:N/a
May 10, 1994	Pink Floyd	Template:N/a	The Division Bell Tour	46,656 / 48,000	$1,597,283
September 7, 1994	The Rolling Stones	Lenny Kravitz	Voodoo Lounge Tour	38,738 / 38,738	$1,797,502
May 30, 1998	George Strait	colspan="2" Template:N/a	45,536 / 45,536	$1,507,720
July 4, 1998	Jimmy Buffett	Little Feat	Don't Stop The Carnival Tour	45,287 / 45,287	$1,524,695
October 3, 2009	U2	Muse	U2 360° Tour	55,027 / 55,027	$4,962,240	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
July 1, 2015	The Rolling Stones	The Avett Brothers	Zip Code Tour	40,428 / 40,428	$7,947,996	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
May 3, 2016	Beyoncé	DJ Khaled	The Formation World Tour	38,292 / 38,292	$4,810,620	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> During the show, the stadium was evacuated after lightning had been spotted in the area. The show later resumed.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
October 14, 2025	Chris Brown	Jhené Aiko Bryson Tiller	Breezy Bowl XX

Soccer

Guadalajara Chivas vs Juventus soccer game in 2011

On July 28, 2011, the World Football Challenge held an exhibition match between Juventus of Italy's Serie A, and Guadalajara Chivas of Mexico's Primera Division at the stadium.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

style="text-align:center; Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;"|Date	style="text-align:center; Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;"|Winning Team	style="text-align:center; Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;"|Result	style="text-align:center; Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;"|Losing Team	style="text-align:center; Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;"|Tournament	style="text-align:center; Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;"|Spectators
July 28, 2011	Template:Flagicon Juventus	1–0	Template:Flagicon Guadalajara Chivas	2011 World Football Challenge	16,124

Hockey

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The National Hockey League announced on February 15, 2020, that the Carolina Hurricanes would host a Stadium Series game at Carter–Finley Stadium on February 20, 2021.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> The NHL announced on December 23, 2020, that the game had been postponed.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> On February 4, 2022, the NHL announced the game would take place in February 2023. On March 3, 2022, the NHL announced the game would take place on February 18, 2023, between the Hurricanes and the Washington Capitals.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

The Hurricanes defeated the Capitals 4–1 with 56,961 fans in attendance.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Following the stadium series game, NC State's club hockey program, the IcePack, defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels 7–3 in front of an estimated 24,000 fans.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Other events

• Carter-Finley served as the primary venue for the 1999 Special Olympics World Summer Games from June 26 to July 4, 1999.
• Carter-Finley will serve as a host venue for the 2029 Summer World University Games.

See also

• List of NCAA Division I FBS football stadiums

External links

• Template:Official website