The House that Rockne Built: Notre Dame Stadium

Knute Rockne’s years as coach catapulted Notre Dame to become a nationally-known contender in football, and it was he who inspired the University to build a stadium that was on par with the team’s prowess. “The House that Rockne Built” has seen seven Fighting Irish football players win the Heisman Trophy. In 1997, following year after year of sell-out football games, the first game in the newly-expanded stadium took place. More seats were added without disturbing the original stadium. It was bigger—the stadium could now hold 80,000 fans–yet it looked very much like the structure where Rockne’s team played. Today, 128 years after that first game against Michigan, 97 years after Knute Rockne’s team played their first game, Notre Dame Stadium continues to be sold out every football game. The magic of this brick-and-mortar structure attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.