Originally built to seat just 12,000 in 1924, Tiger Stadium now has a capacity of more than 92,000. That makes the stadium, located in Baton Rouge, La., one of the Top 10 largest stadiums in college football.
Tiger Stadium is known far and wide as “Death Valley,” a name that some say is derived from the stadium’s original nickname, “Deaf Valley.” Though the origins of these nicknames are unclear, “Deaf Valley” is certainly a fitting moniker: The stadium has for decades been recognized as one of the loudest, if not the very loudest, in all of college football.
No less an authority than legendary Alabama coach Bear Bryant once proclaimed Tiger Stadium to be "the worst place in the world for a visiting team. It's like being inside a drum." Over the years, the Sporting News, Sport Magazine the Gannett News Service and others have declared Tiger Stadium the most intimidating venue in college football.
The stadium has seen countless great moments over the years—in 1988, legend has it that an LSU win over Auburn triggered such an enormous roar at Tiger Stadium that the vibrations were recorded by a seismograph at the school’s Geology Department—but none is more famous than Billy Cannon’s famous punt return in 1959.
Cannon, who won the 1959 Heisman Trophy, returned the punt 89 yards to lead his No. 1-ranked Tigers past No. 3 Ole Miss, setting off furious celebrations both in the stadium and across the state. Afterward, LSU coach Paul Dietzel told Sports Illustrated that Cannon's score was "the greatest run I ever saw in football."
