Before 1938, the Razorbacks played in a 300-seat stadium built in 1901 on land on top of "The Hill", which is now occupied by
Mullins Library and the Fine Arts Center (in the "center" of campus). The new stadium cost approximately $492,000 and was funded by the
Works Progress Administration, with the University of Arkansas only paying 22% of the contract. The stadium opened for the
1938 football season as University Stadium, holding a capacity of 13,500 spectators. In the home opener for the Razorbacks, the Razorbacks defeated
Oklahoma A&M by a score of 27–7 on September 24, 1938. The following week, Arkansas dedicated the stadium to then sitting Arkansas Governor
Carl E. Bailey on October 3, 1938, changing the name of the stadium to Bailey Stadium. Following Governor Bailey's defeat in the 1940 gubernatorial election to
Homer Martin Adkins, the stadium's name was changed in 1941 to Razorback Stadium.
Renovation Athletic director Frank Broyles began searching for architects for the proposed $65 million stadium expansion and renovation in 1998, believing that the renovation was needed in order for the Razorbacks to compete in the Southeastern Conference at a consistent level. Broyles hoped for a completion date of 2000 or 2001 and narrowed the search down to three architecture firms:
Eisenman Architects of
New York,
Heery International of
Atlanta and
Rosser International of Atlanta. The renovation was partly funded by the
Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, when the foundation donated $21 million in 1999 to help renovate the stadium. What was then the largest
LED display in a sports venue, the screen produced by
SmartVision was installed along with a new scoreboard at the northern end zone in 2000. The expansion was completed before the beginning of the
2001 football season, increasing the permanent seating capacity to 72,000 from its previous capacity of 51,000 seats. 4,000 bleacher seats were added in the south end zone upper deck bringing capacity to just over 76,000 with the new expansion. In honor of the Reynolds Foundation's generosity, the stadium was formally renamed Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium on September 8, 2001, where Arkansas lost to
Tennessee by a score of 13–3. On November 3, 2007, the date of the last Fayetteville home game of the 2007 football season, the playing field was dedicated and named in honor of outgoing athletic director Broyles. A major renovation to the stadium was proposed in 2011 by Athletic Director Jeff Long, unveiling the plans to enclose the north end zone. The proposed renovation is estimated at $78 million to $95 million, which would feature at least 5,000 new seats, including field-level suites and indoor and outdoor club areas. A new upgrade to the stadium for the 2012 season increased the size to , from the previous LED screen size of . The upgrade was contracted through
LSI Industries. During the 2016–17 offseason, the Broyles Athletic Center was demolished as part of a $160 million renovation and expansion of the stadium by CDI Contractors and AECOM Hunt. The expansion added 4,800 seats and new premium seating to the north end zone. This expansion boosted the capacity of the stadium from 76,000 (with south end zone top bleachers) to 80,800. However, since bleachers are no longer being used on the roof of the south end zone, official capacity beginning with the 2018 season, as relayed to the university's board of trustees prior to its vote to approve the expansion project, was 76,212. The increase in capacity is fewer than 4,800 seats because some club seating on the east side was eliminated to add additional suites. On August 5, 2019, the University of Arkansas installed natural grass onto the playing surface, replacing the turf installed under Coach Bobby Petrino in 2009. ==Controversy==