Kinnick Stadium Kinnick Stadium , formerly known as Iowa Stadium , and known in the area simply as Kinnick , is a stadium located in Iowa City , Iowa , United States . It is the home stadium of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes , in the sport of college football . First opened in 1929 , it currently holds up to 70 , 585 people , making it the 7th largest stadium in the Big Ten , and one of the 20 largest university owned stadiums in the nation . It is named for Nile Kinnick , the 1939 Heisman Trophy winner and the only Heisman winner in university history , who died in service during World War II . It was named Iowa Stadium until 1972 , when longtime lobbying by " Cedar Rapids Gazette " sportswriter Gus Schrader successfully convinced the UI athletic board to change the name . Construction . Iowa Stadium was constructed in only seven months between 1928 and 1929 . Groundbreaking and construction began on March 6 , 1929 . Workers worked around the clock using lights by night and horses and mules as the primary heavy - equipment movers . There was a rumor for many years that horses that died during the process were buried under what now is the North end zone . Historians report this is a myth and the animals were disposed of in the nearby Iowa River . The round - the - clock construction came to an end in July . Despite several problems to overcome , including the athletic director ' s resignation and a slight redesign , the stadium was completed and the first game was played October 5 , 1929 , against Monmouth College . Iowa won the game 46 – 0 . The stadium was dedicated two weeks later , when the Hawkeyes tied Illinois 7 – 7 . Features . The playing surface is currently synthetic Field Turf , although it was AstroTurf from 1972 until grass was reinstalled for the 1989 through 2008 seasons . The installation of artificial turf came at the same time that Iowa Stadium was renamed Kinnick Stadium in honor of the Heisman winner who had perished 29 years earlier . When filled to capacity , Kinnick Stadium would be the fifth - largest city in Iowa ( after Des Moines , Cedar Rapids , Davenport , and Sioux City ) . Prior to the 2012 football season , the stadium did not have field lights ; the school contracted Musco Lighting ' s portable light trucks for night games in previous years . By capacity , Kinnick Stadium is the 27th largest college football stadium , the 42nd largest sports stadium in the United States , and the 86th largest sports stadium in the world . Kinnick Stadium is well known for its pink visitors ' locker rooms , a tradition started by emeritus Iowa coach Hayden Fry . Believing that pink would put opponents in a " passive mood " , and because he thought that some believed pink was a " sissy color " , Fry had the visiting locker rooms decorated completely in the color pink . The pink locker room tradition has been continued with the newly renovated locker rooms , which include everything from pink urinals to pink lockers . Controversy flared during the 2005 season when a visiting law professor , along with other university faculty and students protested the pink coloration as demeaning to women and homosexuals . Despite these protests and with lots of student support , however , the locker room remains pink . A more recent feature is the bronze statue of Heisman Trophy winner Nile Kinnick , the statue depicts Kinnick dressed as a scholar , rather than in his football uniform . The bronze statue is placed near the team entrance to the stadium . When the renovation of the stadium was completed , and the statue unveiled , a tradition among the players began : one player , before entering the locker room , reached out and touched the helmet that was placed at Kinnick ' s feet . From that point on , all Iowa players , before entering the locker room , and after getting off the bus , walk up to the statue and rub the helmet , as a token of respect for Kinnick - the only Iowa player to ever win the Heisman Trophy . The on - field entrances to the stadium all have one thing in common , a picture of Nile Kinnick is placed above the tunnel before exiting the tunnel to the field . Renovation . After 75 years of operation , the Iowa Board of Regents endorsed a major renovation of Kinnick Stadium on March 10 , 2004 . The US $ 86 . 8 million project was to build a new state of the art press box , a new scoreboard with a new sound system , replace the " temporary " south endzone bleachers with permanent seating , triple the restroom facilities , and more than double the number of concession stands , as well as smaller changes such as new locker rooms , a bronze statue of Nile Kinnick and the dedication of the Krause Family Plaza to which Kinnick Stadium is now adjacent . Every brick for the renovation came from the Glen - Gery Brickyard in Redfield , Iowa , which is located near Nile Kinnick ' s boyhood home in Adel , Iowa . The stadium was rededicated on September 1 , 2006 . Among other things , the rededication featured a flyover by a F4F Wildcat , the aircraft that Kinnick flew in World War II . The stadium also underwent major renovations in 1956 , 1983 , and 1990 where capacity was gradually taken from 53 , 000 to 70 , 397 . The most recent renovations in 2004 – 06 pushed the capacity to its current level at 70 , 585 . In the Spring of 2009 , the grass turf and 20 year old drainage system were replaced with a new state of the art synthetic Field Turf playing surface .