The stadium opened in 1973 as Reno H. Sales Stadium, built for about $500,000. Reno Sales was a lineman on the first Bobcat football team in 1897 and was the college's only graduate Later in life he was an engineer and philanthropist. Born in Iowa, Sales moved with his family as a youngster to Montana in 1881 and they homesteaded near Salesville ; he was the chief geologist for Anaconda Copper for During his long life, Sales was widely known as "Mr. Bobcat," and for his generosity and devotion to his
Bobcat Stadium
Prior to the 1998 season, the stadium was renovated for about $12 million and renamed "Bobcat Stadium." The facility was designed to accommodate further expansion in the southeast end zone. On October 6, 2010, the university was granted approval by the board of regents to proceed with the planning, design and eventual construction of new endzone seating and related enhancements to Bobcat Stadium. Some of the enhancements include new visiting team and referee locker rooms, restrooms, an LEDvideo board in the north end zone, and a new scoreboard atop the new section. The new 7,200-seat end zone "bowl" connects the two sideline grand stands. The renovation was projected to cost $8–10 million; $4 million was required to be raised privately with the remaining amount to be financed and paid for through ticket and other athletics related revenue. No new student fees or other public money was to be used for the project. A day before the project was presented to the board of regents, it was an announced that an anonymous individual donated $1 million to the project in honor of former Bobcat legend Sonny Holland. Ground was broken for the expansion on January 28, 2011, and the work was completed in time for the home opener against UC Davis on September 10. The upgraded stadium has 17,777 seats, but capacity is routinely expanded through the use of standing room only areas and temporary bleachers in the north endzone. An attendance record of 20,767 was established during the 2012 season opener vs. Chadron State on August 30. Bobcat Stadium set a new record with 21,007 at the 2013 season opener against Monmouth on August 29. The venue was further enhanced with floodlights through the use of donations obtained in the fall of 2011. Since 2012, MSU has had the capability to host night games and meet television broadcasting lighting requirements.
Future Expansion
MSU is nearing the end of a fundraising campaign that began in 2017 to add a football operations facility, the Bobcat Athletic Complex, that will enclose the northwest end of the stadium. The approximate cost of the facility is $17 million with all funds coming from private donors. It will house training facilities, coaches offices, locker rooms, along with other football-related space. No start date for construction has been set.
Previous venues
Gatton Field
Through the 1971 football season, the Bobcats played home games for four decades at Gatton Field. It was located directly south of the Romney Gym, across Grant Street and northeast of the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse, which opened in 1957. The playing field ran east–west and had lighting as far back as the 1940s. It was razed in and is the site of the Marga Hosaeus Fitness Center, opened in 1973. Bobcat Stadium is approximately a half mile due south. The field was named for Cyrus J. Gatton, a former Montana State football player from 1913–1916. Born in Iowa and raised in Bozeman, Gatton enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Service during World War I and was killed in northeast France while flying for the 11th Aero Squadron on November 4, just a week before the Armistice. The class of 1917 voted in 1920 that when the school built a new football field it should be named for Cyrus Gatton, and the request was honored ten years later.
The new stadium was not completed for the 1972 season; the Bobcats played their home games at Van Winkle Stadium at Bozeman High School, with expanded temporary seating. Despite the change of venue, MSU lost just one home game, won the Big Sky title, and finished 8–3 overall.
