Notre Dame Alumni Stadium

As you walk around the outside of this stadium, you will notice things like banners and plaques and entrances with names rather than just numbers and letters. Notre Dame does a lot to show honor to the people who have been here before us. And we love coming here!
On Game Day, before you enter the stadium, you can line up to watch the players, coaches and staff parade into the stadium led by the bagpipe players. I did that for the first time, up close and personal with my husband this year. What a trip! We met a father and son who love tradition the way we do and had a great time chatting with them for a while. Once things got going, my husband was shaking hands and high-​fiving with everyone within arm’s reach. It doesn’t take much to make us happy.
Once inside the stadium, well, that’s when the magic happens. There a feeling that you’re among greatness. Go ahead as tease, but I love it here. And there is a lot to see too. There are some spots for a great view of Touchdown Jesus. Plenty of spots to take memorable photos together.
It’s been a sellout crowd for quite a while now and they seat somewhere over 80,000 fans at one time. Wow! Unfortunately, the seating part leaves something to be desired but that’s part of the historic charm. At almost 85 years old, this stadium boasts lovely wooden bleacher seating for most of the seats. Thankfully, we don’t sit for most of the game. We are usually up cheering on our team in one way or another.
Hot cocoa is a necessary staple item when visiting this stadium. Don’t skip it. A Game Day pin never hurt anyone either. ;-)
This year, they replaced the grass with turf. Honestly, it’s a sight to behold. Just beautiful. We have sat all around the stadium. From the very top row to right above the student section (craziest time ever!!) to the day we somehow procured seats in the alumni section and could literally feel the honor of being there to my very first game in the pouring rain soaked to my core just below the press box. Every seat in the house is a great seat!
GO IRISH!!!

Tradition and a Great Stadium
No seat in this stadium is bad, and the stadium has been around for years. You walk into the stadium and you can feel the tradition that exists in the stadium… The seats are bench seats, and they are packed in, but as they have remodeled the stadium, they have added an upper level with food service, and the food looked pretty good. The one down side is they dont have the large HD screens that most stadiums have, but it keeps with the tradition of being an old stadium. We sat at the top and had a great view of the game. I cant wait to go back!

Amazing. Really.
The stadium is built for soccer. Fairly large stadium seating on one side, facing towards the east where the players benches are. Small seating areas on either end of the pitch seems to be where the rowdy students sit, alternating sides at half so they are directly behind the opponents goalie. The turf looks AMAZING also. Would have loved to run and slide on it, but security probably wouldn’t have been impressed. There was on a small concession stand upstairs and one downstairs that I saw, but the line went quickly.
Price couldn’t be better either for tickets. Students $ 3, and adults $ 5. For 5 kids and 1 Adult it was just $ 20 to get in. However, we spent another $ 20 on 2 large drinks and 2 popcorns… kinda pricey, but whatever… for top 10 NCAA soccer, it was well worth it!
And the soccer is top-​notch. We saw #2 ND take on Duke on a Friday night last week, and the takeaways from the kids were great.
1. Fast feet. Blurry fast. All players.
2. Soft feet. Hard passes received as if they were on strings.
3. Targeted passes. Where they want the ball, that’s where it goes.
4. Movement as a team. One moves, they all move.
ND won 3 – 1, but it was a closer game than what the score shows. ND got a PK in the 90^th minute, so that was a bonus to see that also. Several yellow cards were shown through the play also… it was rough out there.
And yes, they swayed to «ND Our Mother» at the end of the game.