Camp Randall Stadium is an outdoor stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. It is the current home of the Wisconsin Badgers football team, and is located on the west side of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. It currently seats over 80,000 and is widely known as one of the premier American football venues in collegiate athletics. Due in large part to the raucous crowd, the stadium is recognized among the most difficult for opposing teams in all of college football. It is the oldest stadium and fourth largest in the Big Ten Conference.

Originally, the stadium consisted of a horseshoe opening to the south, with a running track around the field. The stadium was renovated at various points to raise the size of the horseshoe by nearly doubling the number of rows around the stadium in various stages, placing south stands in front of the Wisconsin Field House (built in 1930), the removal of the track and addition of nearly 11,000 seats in 1958, the addition of the upper deck in 1966, and finally the 2005 addition added boxes along the eastern rim of the stadium.

The stadium received its name because it lies on the grounds of Camp Randall, a former Union Army base during the American Civil War that was eventually absorbed by the Wisconsin campus. The camp was named after Governor Alexander Randall.

The stadium also houses athletic offices of the university. In 2002, reconstruction on the stadium started, to include luxury boxes and new offices for the football program, as well as expanded seating that increased capacity. In addition, concessions, restrooms and other infrastructure items were upgraded, the walkway around the football field was removed, and new scoreboards were installed. The construction was completed prior to the start of the 2005 season. The football team continued to play at the stadium throughout the construction.

Drum Corps International has used the stadium as the site for its world championships in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1999 and 2002. It will be the site of the 2006 world championships from August 9 to August 12.

The stadium is also used by the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association for its state football championships. The Green Bay Packers have played exhibition games in the stadium.

Camp Randall has also hosted a number of major concerts. These have included: Pink Floyd (May 20, 1988 & July 3, 1994), Genesis (June 9, 1992), U2 (September 13, 1992 & June 25, 1997), and The Rolling Stones (August 26, 1994 & October 6, 1997).

The athletic complex also includes the 1930 Field House, until recently the home of the university basketball teams and still the home of Wisconsin's wrestling and women's volleyball teams; the McClain Center football practice building; and the Camp Randall Memorial building ("The Shell") which includes a 200 meter indoor track surrounding several facilities for intramural sports.

Wisconsin's two Heisman Trophy winnners, Alan Ameche and Ron Dayne, along with their retired numbers, are displayed on the stadium's façade.

[Source: Wikipedia]

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