I know there are many University of North Texas and North Texas State University students, graduates, fans, and followers in the Forney area, so this is for “you guys.”
At the north junction of Interstate 35-E and Interstate 35-W in Denton, Texas, is the stadium where I have gone to watch the University of North Texas Mean Green Football Team (American Athletic Conference) with my “Boys” and various other relatives and friends. From a ways away, I could always see the beautiful new stadium that had replaced an old, familiar Fouts Field, introduced in 1952.
The new stadium was proposed after the 2002 New Orleans Bowl and cost about $80 million to construct. It was a major part of the “Mean Green Village.” First thoughts named the stadium Mean Green Stadium (planning stage) but ResNet Proand vider APOGEE purchased the naming rights in 2011. The first six seasons beginning in 2011 saw an average of about 18.5 thousand spectators per game (about 60% capacity).
Beginning in 2011 and until 2023, the stadium was known locally and regionally as APOGEE STADIUM, and it was a good name for the “zenith” aspects of the location and height and growth of the University and its programs.
It had been built with the idea of using only private fundraising instead of raising student fees! The projected stadium was to seat 50,000, but the Athletic Department revised that plan to 32,000 with the idea that later expansion, if warranted, could add enough area to actually seat 50,000 fans.
Prior to the 2023 season, Denton Area Teachers Credit Union (DATCU) purchased the naming rights to the stadium, which includes a press box, alumni pavilion, luxury boxes, and most parking takes place on the other side of the Interstate with ticket-holders crossing over on the very tall and wide pedestrian bridge, which offers a magnificent view of the “coming and going” traffic and gives a realistic view of just how fast many drivers go!
However, when my extended family and other Forney area fans and alums journeyed to the stadium this year, no longer was there an APOGEE on the horizon over the highway but a DATCU STADIUM that was still basically accessed by the pedestrian walkway and still a magnificent structure. The address is still 1251 S. Bonnie Brae Avenue, Denton, Texas, 76207. Its official capacity is 30,850 paid ticket purchasers, and the record attendance is 30,123 for a game against the University of Houston in 2019.
For what it is worth, the field and surrounding stadium areas encompass 46 acres. And I recommend that if you attend a game next year that you climb all the way to the top corner of the student area stands opposite the scoreboard area and see the view that my “Grandson Luke” and his Dad, Waylon, enjoy for a few glorious minutes each year! Go, Mean Green!
- Log in or Subscribe to post comments.