Bobby Dodd Stadium, commonly known as Bobby Dodd or The Flats is the football stadium located at the corner of North Avenue at Techwood Drive on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. It has been home to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, often referred to as the "Ramblin' Wreck", in rudimentary form since 1905 and as a complete stadium since 1913. The team participates in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. It is the oldest stadium in the FBS and has been the site of more home wins than any other FBS stadium.
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Location
The stadium is located on the east side of the Georgia Tech campus, across from freshman housing facilities and just a short walk from the campus library and fraternity/sorority row. The facility is in Midtown Atlanta, just off Interstate 75/85 (the "Downtown Connector"), across from the famed Varsity restaurant.
North Avenue station, located on the Red and Gold lines of the MARTA subway system, is a short walk to the east of Bobby Dodd Stadium along North Avenue.
History
Bobby Dodd Stadium, formerly known as Historic Grant Field, is the oldest continuously used on-campus site for college football in the Southern United States, and the oldest in the FBS.
Football has been played at the current site since 1905. In 1913, permanent grandstands were built for the first time, mostly by Tech students. It was originally named for Hugh Inman Grant, son of John W. Grant, a well-known Atlanta merchant and original benefactor of the stadium. From 1913 to 1919, the stadium grew from a capacity of 7,000 to one of 25,000.
The stadium bears little, if any, resemblance to its original form, having been expanded many times. The original facility, roughly corresponding to the lower level of the current stadium's west grandstands, seated 5,600. The terrain in the area slopes upward from north to south, a slope very noticeable in the background of early photos, before the slopes were covered by the large stands built over them. Due to that natural grade, much of the field itself is below street level. The houses observable in the background of early photos were replaced by dormitory buildings in the 1930s. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a speech at the stadium.
By 1925, the east and south stands were completed, making the stadium a 30,000-seat horseshoe with an open north end. The west stands were rebuilt and a large press box was added in 1947, bringing capacity up to 44,000. The original all-steel 4,105-seat North stands were erected in 1958, and in 1962 and 1968 the upper decks were added to the East and West sides, respectively, bringing capacity to its all-time high of 58,121. Following this, Grant Field hosted the inaugural Peach Bowl in 1968, and would serve as its venue from 1968 to 1970. Grant Field was used as a site for an Atlanta Falcons game on October 5, 1969, when it was sharing Fulton County Stadium with the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball and there were scheduling conflicts for the 1969 NLCS. Grant Field also served as the home field for the Atlanta Apollos of the North American Soccer League for their 1973 season. In August 1984, the stadium hosted the annual Drum Corps International World Championships. In 1985 the South stands were razed to make room for the William C. Wardlaw Center, a modern field house and athletic office facility to replace the facilities in the old Heisman Gym, which was located just to the north of the stadium; the construction of the Wardlaw Center reduced the stadium's capacity to 46,000.
In 1988, the stadium was renamed in honor of Bobby Dodd, who has the most wins of any coach in the team's history.
The current, modern west grandstand covers the old concrete one, which is still intact underneath. The high interstitial space is currently used for storage. The lighting was replaced in 1998.
In 2001, the stadium served as the home venue for the Atlanta Beat of the Women's United Soccer Association in their inaugural season. Following the 2001 season, a major expansion and renovation project was started, which was done in two phases in order to play the 2002 season in the stadium. For the 2002 season, seating was returned to the South end in front of the Wardlaw Center, and the original North stands and lower east bleachers were rebuilt and bowled in, with a club section featuring chairback seating and an air conditioned lounge added. After the 2002 season, the expansion was completed by adding a massive free standing upper deck in the north end zone. This addition of a north end zone upper deck brought Bobby Dodd Stadium to its current capacity. The new stadium was rededicated during the 2003 home season opener versus the Auburn Tigers on September 2, 2003. Georgia Tech won that game 17–3 in front of a capacity crowd of 55,000.
In the summer of 2009, Bobby Dodd Stadium underwent a number of changes. First, the scoreboard was renovated and after completion, is now twice as big as the old scoreboard. Also, ribbon boards were installed in front of the Wardlaw Center, as well as along the sides of the stadium. Another change was the improvement of the sound system in the stadium.
On October 5, 2016, Major League Soccer expansion team Atlanta United FC announced that it would play its home matches for the first half of the 2017 MLS season at Bobby Dodd Stadium until Mercedes-Benz Stadium was ready in mid-2017. The soccer club paid the university and the athletic association over $1 million for the usage of Bobby Dodd Stadium.
In the summer of 2020, Georgia Tech athletics officials announced that the playing surface of Bobby Dodd Stadium would be replaced with the Legion NXT synthetic turf by Shaw Sports. The stadium also got a new sound system, new LED lights, a full rebrand of stadium signage, and renovated restrooms.
On August 8, 2023, Georgia Tech announced a "multi-decade" naming rights deal with the Hyundai Motor Company, with Grant Field changing its name to Hyundai Field. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the agreement is for 20 years and worth $55 million.
In 2024, sections 218 and 219, and a part of section 217, in the stadium were permanently removed to fit the new Fanning Center, a 100,000 square-foot facility, into the northeast corner of the historic venue. Bobby Dodd Stadium's capacity, starting with the 2024 season, was reduced from 55,000 to 51,913.
In October 2024, plans were announced for "Full Steam Ahead", a $500 million dollar expansion and renovation project to Georgia Tech's athletic facilities, including Bobby Dodd. The plans call for additions to the stadium's amenities and facilities, including the replacement of existing metal bleachers with chairback seats, an additional video board between the North and West stands, and new club level areas, among other additions. The plan was approved by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia on May 15, 2025. Construction is set to begin in Fall of 2026 and conclude in 2027.
Notable games
September 27, 1913: Georgia Tech 19, Fort McPherson 0The first game at the newly christened Grant Field was between Georgia Tech and the soldiers from Atlanta's Fort McPherson. Georgia Tech was met with a decent fight from their Army opponent but ultimately prevailed in a 19–0 shutout.
October 7, 1916: Georgia Tech 222, Cumberland College 0In the most lopsided game in American football history, Georgia Tech, under coach John Heisman, defeated Cumberland College, 222–0. It has been said that Coach Heisman was repaying the Bulldogs for a 22–0 baseball defeat the previous year in which Cumberland had allegedly used professional players to ensure victory or conversely that he was showing how that running up the score against weak opponents was vastly influential over the voters in college football rating polls. In any case, the Engineers (as the Georgia Tech team was known at the time) never threw a pass and never took more than four plays to score.
November 29, 1917: Georgia Tech 68, Auburn 7This win marked the end of the first undefeated, untied National Championship season for the Yellow Jackets. In 1917, Georgia Tech outscored opponents 491–17 in the midst of a 33-game undefeated streak spanning over five seasons.
December 8, 1928: Georgia Tech 20, Georgia 6This was the culmination of Georgia Tech's second perfect season and National Championship, though the Yellow Jackets would go on to the Rose Bowl to face Cal in what would turn out to be a famous game itself. Georgia Tech played only two away games in its 9–0 regular season lineup hosting Notre Dame, Alabama, Auburn and Georgia. The main reason for this is that many of the other Southern teams' stadiums were not as large or accessible as Grant Field in Midtown Atlanta.
November 15, 1952: #4 Georgia Tech 7, #12 Alabama 3In one of the biggest games of Georgia Tech's third national championship season, two of the highest ranked teams to ever face off on Grant Field saw Georgia Tech defeat Alabama in a closely matched defensive battle. Georgia Tech's Jake "Mouse" Rudolph was knocked unconscious by tackling Alabama's Bobby Marlow on a fourth-down play on the goal line late in the game, which became known as the "$125,000 tackle". This play prevented Alabama from scoring and provided the Yellow Jackets with the opportunity to win the game with one touch down drive. The victory preserved the Yellow Jackets' undefeated record, and Georgia Tech was invited to play in the Sugar Bowl and earned the bowl payout. Tech, which had already defeated number 6 Duke would go on to defeat Florida State, Georgia and undefeated number 7 Mississippi (in the Sugar Bowl) in the midst of a 31-game undefeated streak.