Carter-Finley Stadium has been used by NC State since 1966; it replaced Riddick Field, which opened in 1906.

Overall, NC State has a record of 238-125-6 at this field (as of Summer 2023), posting a 118-87-4 record in conference play*. Additionally, NC State is 73-55 in ranked games (be it the AP, Coaches, or BCS/CFP poll) at Carter-Finley Stadium, 53-18 in games where they are ranked, 26-48 in games where their opponent is ranked, and 6-11 in games where both teams are ranked.

* This number discludes the 1984 game against Clemson when the Tigers were on probation from the ACC.

As the 1950s turned to the 1960s, NC State's historic home for football, Riddick Stadium, was becoming increasingly outmoded. The stadium, whose permanent seating capacity remained below 15,000 for its entire life, was dilapidated, old, and -- worst of all -- small. The Wolfpack played just 3 games at home every season from 1957 through 1964, and played only two games at home in 1963. Since 1943, the annual game against North Carolina had been held in Raleigh just twice: once in 1955, and once in 1965, with the second game largely being scheduled under the expectation of the Wolfpack having a new stadium. As a result, the Tar Heels held a 13-6 record over the Red and White during that period. The reason for such uneven scheduling? "[I]t would be a disadvantage to the Wolfpack financially to keep the game in Raleigh," Durham columnist Elton Casey explained; "it would lose money" [1]. They had to prioritize financial longevity over their on-field success.

Though a new stadium came in 1966, it had been a long time coming for coach Earle Edwards, who arrived at the school in 1954. Speaking to the Wolfpack Club in 1962, Edwards described his team as "football gypsies" before giving a lengthy discourse about why NC State needed a new stadium: "A [new] stadium would open a whole new door for us. It would put us on a sound financial basis. It would be an aid in recruiting.... The earlier we ask for these things," he pleaded, "the better chance we have of getting them." At the meeting, he suggested committees be formed immediately to iron out details such as landscaping, parking, ticketing, and operations. The club was seeking to raise $60,000 (just over $600,000 in 2023) from private sources for the construction of such a stadium [2] [3].

Unfortunately, as Edwards alluded, these things take some planning. In the meantime, the university began to discover that the administrators were not the only people at NC State who wanted a new venue for their home games. During the 1963 homecoming game against Virginia Tech (a 13-7 win where a 20,500 person crowd burdened Riddick's old bleachers), the student body made their opinions known: chants of "We want a new stadium" reverberated through the air during the game's final minutes [4].

To their credit, NC State was not wasting time. The state Consolidated University Board had only authorized the school to proceed on April 11th, 1963, with initial approval coming for a $2 million (just under $20 million in 2023) stadium with room for 40,000, a quarter of which was student seating. Much of the funding was expected to be raised via increased ticket sales and a $2 per person increase in students' annual athletic fees to $17 per year. Early plans called for the stadium to be built on 100 acres of college-owned property located "one half mile west of the State Fair grounds and south of the Camp Polk prison grounds" (near the current location of the North Carolina Museum of Art) [5] [6].

By September 1963, it was announced that a new site was in consideration. Apparently, the original spot near Polk prison needed quite a lot of work; the preliminary study deemed the original grounds as "not an acceptable solution" for reason of cost by the Board of Trustees' Building Committee. Instead, a former agricultural research station and fish hatchery was selected [7] [33]. With the location finally selected, plans to construct a new stadium could begin in earnest.

By September 1964, the new stadium's future was further assured: a $200,000 donation (just under $2 million in 2023) by Harry C. and Wilbert J. "Nick" Carter helped make sure of that. Brothers from Wallace, North Carolina, the Carters were NC State alumni with major roles running the Greensboro operations of the nationally-prominent J. P. Stevens' textile company, where they opened one of the nation's first synthetic textile plants in 1937. Nick graduated from NC State in 1924, while Harry, a member of the class of 1932, was conferred an honorary doctorate in 1943 for his work in supporting NC State's School of Textiles. Though still a long ways short of the school's goal, the brothers were recognized "because of the outstanding contributions of Nick and Harry Carter and the family to the textile industry of North Carolina and the nation over more than four decades," as Chancellor John Tyler Caldwell put it. Though it was ambitious, the school hoped that the Carters' donation, in conjunction with a donation of $125,000 by the Wolfpack Club, would help incentivize other donors to contribute, allowing the venue to host games by 1965 rather than the original 1966 date [9] [10].

Construction work started about a month after the Carters' donation, with the drainage of the former research hatchery near the center of the future stadium's location coming as one of the first tasks at hand. Edwards, known for his laconic wittiness, referenced the lake's future drainage when he quipped "If we don't play any better, you'd better not drain it too soon because I'm going to jump in it" after a two-game skid by the Wolfpack [11]. About two months later, on December 14th, the premises were honored with a groundbreaking ceremony [12].

Now is a good time to recall that NC State had at one time intended to open their new stadium in time for the 1965 season; given the way the construction timeframe had shaken out, this would have allowed just 9 months of work from the groundbreaking ceremony to the stadium's opening. However, NC State athletics managers had already convinced the other three "Big Four" (aka Tobacco Road) teams to play their home games on NC State's campus, meaning Duke, Wake Forest, and UNC would all be playing in Raleigh in the same season for the first time since 1955. Part of the incentive for NC State to retain the games despite the fact they were still playing in Riddick Stadium was to bolster 1965 season ticket sales under a program which gave ticket preference and priority to previous season ticket holders when picking seats at the new Carter Stadium in 1966 [13].

On November 13th, 1965, NC State played its final football game in Riddick Stadium. A 3-0 homecoming-day win over Florida State, most would find the moment bittersweet; David Grady, a halfback for NC State in 1907**, did not. "It's a damn good thing," Grady sneered when asked about Riddick's closure. "Should have happened thirty years ago. Was never big enough to start with." Though Grady may have reflected what many fans thought about the closing of NC State's long-time home field, not everyone felt that way. "I'm sorry in a way to see the stadium go," said John W. Sexton, who saw time primarily as a substitute in 1908. "I hate to lose the name of Dr. Riddick" [15].

** Grady's name does not appear in any post-game summaries from the 1907 season. He evidently neglected to mention he played only on the scrub team.

In a similar vein, NC State officials likely had bittersweet moments about their timeline for starting the project. Though they waited to begin construction until sufficient sums had been secured, rising costs of materials, in conjunction with higher bid prices than anticipated, resulted in the project being roughly $1 million over-budget in November 1965 [16]. Their trepidation to incur debts makes sense when you consider the fact that the university still had outstanding bonds from Riddick Stadium's construction while work on Carter Stadium was in progress. The final $3,000 dollars worth of Riddick's bonds were burnt at the incomplete Carter Stadium in December 1965; though considerable progress had been made, the stadium was still under construction at the time of the bond burning ceremony [17].

Around the same time, bids started for the construction of the A. E. Finley Fieldhouse, which was to be located at the north endzone, opposite the grass berm [18]. By the time the complex was finished, the whole project cost $3.7 million (over $34.5 million in 2023) [20]. The fieldhouse's modernist look was mocked by several reporters -- it's large glass fronting required a "12th man" (mostly backup Hal Morgans for the first season, though Ron Watkins took over after Morgans suffered an injury) with a long net on a pole to rove the building's patio to ensure no kicks broke the large windows [68] [69].

The double-deckered concrete stadium was complete with an enclosed press box, elevators, and paved parking options. Though still nearing completion into late September, the stadium managed to open with 41,000 seats in proper time on October 8th, 1966 [21]. Additionally, it was designed with the ability to expand to 70,000 if and when needed [24].

Edwards was enamored with the new venue. "I can't say enough about it," he raved. "How long we looked forward to this... What it will mean to our program -- recruiting, finances, making a new atmostphere. This gives us an athletic complex that ranks with anybody for miles around.... When I say we're glad to have it," he finished, "it's the understatement of the year -- and many more years" [25].

The stadium was one-of-a-kind in its day. Upon opening, it was described as a "sleek, 20th-century stadium of rare beauty and functionalism" by one source [33]. Reporter Ed Hodges described the stadium's modernist architecture more ethereally: "Empty, Carter Stadium resembled an ancient reclaimed Greek amphitheater that had been the setting for a thousand great dramas" [62].

In the days leading up to the stadium's inaugural game against South Carolina, the Wolfpack rung in the new stadium -- literally. Students rang a "Victory Bell" every day for four straight days once every 20 seconds, with NC State cheerleaders organizing a vigil complete with coffee and doughnut service for each one hour shift; then-governor Dan K. Moore also particpated in the ringing on the day of the game. The Victory Bell started its life aboard a Southern Railroad locomotive and rode there until the railroad discontinued steam rail service around 1954. The bell came to NC State by the way of 1968 sophomore class president Jim Bailey, who donated the bell in September 1965 with the intention of ringing it when NC State took the field, when the Wolfpack scored, and to celebrate victories. By the time it was used for the ringing in ceremony, the bell had been painted red in the school's colors and mounted on a mobile cart; the 250-pound bell's toll could be heard almost a quarter mile away *** [26] [78].

*** Interestingly, the bell seems to have gone missing over the years; I can find no information about it despite a panoply of other interesting bell stories from the school. Anecdotal evidence suggests it was rung to celebrate touchdowns until the mid- to late-1970s (Twitter).

"We're real honored to be the first [N.C.] State adversary to play here," said Tom Price, South Carolina's sports publicity director, "but we hope they haven't picked us as white meat" [63]. Though NC State was considered the favorite to win, Price's words proved prescient, and the Victory Bell's tolling fell on deaf ears. Trouble came early: the Gamecocks recovered an NC State fumble deep in Wolfpack territory to score first just a couple of minutes into the game. State tied the score briefly at 7 apiece, but never led, going on to lose Carter Stadium's inaugural game 21-31.

When Carter Stadium officially opened on October 8th, 1966, it was the first time the Atlantic Coast Conference had ever seen a new football venue; the last time any member school had constructed a new football venue was Maryland's Byrd Stadium (now SECU Stadium), which was finished in 1950, three years prior to the creation of the conference. And it was not without its wrinkles: one of the most confusing aspects of the new stadium was that the upper and lower levels were numbered the same. Though tickets specified whether they were for the upper or lower level, it was only in one place, and if the ticket agent took the wrong stub of the ticket, it was impossible for the ticket holder to know which level they were meant to sit on. Though avoidable, such a gaffe is not surprising considering the old Riddick Stadium was just a single level. "We'll correct this next year," promised assistant athletic director Willis Casey, "by giving the upper level sections different numbers" [27].

The only thing missing on opening day -- besides, of course, logical section numbering, and maybe a win over the Gamecocks -- was lighting for night games. Though originally included in stadium construction plans, the project's rising costs led the school to delay light installation until the following year. Construction on the lights began in March 1967, and NC State's field was once again night-time ready by mid-June 1967 [28] [30]. Another cost-saving change was the decision to make only 10,000 of the seats the chair-backed style, instead of the entire venue, with the remainder of the seating being benches [7]. The original stadium lights were replaced with ones "50% brighter" in 1984 [70].

The first major renovation after the installation of permanent lighting was the expansion of the stadium, which was begun in 1974 and finished in the summer of 1975. The stadium was expanded by the addition of 3,000 bleachers above the bank behind the south endzone. At the same time, all of the old seating, most of which was wooden, was replaced with aluminum metal bleachers. This work increased the stadium's capacity to 44,000 [31] [71]. Starting in 1978, the figure for a sellout started being reported as 45,600, but it's my impression that this merely includes standing room on the grass berm, which had not previously been counted, in the venue's total size.

Around that same time, the venue was going through another major change: the 13-year-old stadium was being renamed. Philanthropist A. E. Finley, for whom the stadium's original fieldhouse was named, had donated quite a large sum of money to the school over the years. Though he shunned public acclaim for his contributions, by 1979, it was conservatively estimated the former businessman had donated at least $1 million (just over $4 million in 2023) to the school. "I never broadcast what I do," Finley said. "If folks appreciate it, let them talk about it." Finley's personal assistant, R. C. "Bobby" Brown, echoed Finley's unscrupulous generosity when he noted "I have no idea what [his donations] would add up to, and I'm sure he doesn't either." In fact, Finley had no idea the stadium was even being renamed in his honor. "They called me the day before [the dedication] and asked me to be sure to be at my seat a half hour before kickoff" [39]. The stadium was renamed Carter-Finley Stadium prior to the 1979 home opener against East Carolina; NC State went on to win 34-20.

Beyond the new name, initial upgrades to the facility were fairly minor for the same reason construction was delayed: they wanted to wait until they had paid off their 40-year bonds. This was accomplished in July 1978, nearly 26 years ahead of schedule. Among the prominent improvements planned for Carter-Finley upon the completion of their debts were the expansion of venue parking [32] [33]. Another scheme developed around this time was a proposal to convert Carter-Finley Stadium into an NFL-ready stadium by expanding the stadium to its maximum capacity and adding a retractable roof. The plans were nixed nearly immediately by NC State personnel due to the prohibitive costs -- it was described as "a terrible financial burden" [33] [34] [35].

Wikipedia and some period newspaper reports indicate a couple of capacity increases from in the 1980s and 1990s, claiming that the stadium's capacity expanded from 45,600 to 47,000 before the 1984 season, and to 51,500 from before the 1992 season, however, no renovations actually ocurred. Though newspaper coverage did sometimes report increased capacities in those years, it was sporadic and inconsistent, and likely attempted to reflect overflow capacities the Wolfpack were allowing into sell-out games. As Jimmy Bass, director of the Wolfpack Club from 2000-2005 (and assistant director from 1981-1986) put it, "Other than a few coats of paint, Carter-Finley has not gone through any renovations" [38]. The first image of the 1990 expansion sketches (above) gives some explanation of the venue's capacity in that era, indicating exactly 44,285 permanent seats, plus seating for 8,569 on the grass berms for a total capacity of 52,854, though the accuracy of these numbers can not presently be confirmed in other period sources [77].

One of the few actual changes to the stadium in this period was the erection of a new scoreboard before the 1985 season. The $500,000 (just under $1.5 million in 2023) system was computerized and fully-colored, comparable to a couple of modern scoreboards used by the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Washington Redskins [41]. The improved board was financed entirely by sponsors such as Bobby Murray Chevrolet (now Capital Chevrolet), First Union National Bank, and Coca-Cola [42]. Joking on its cost and flashiness, Technician ran an article following the screen's debut from the perspective an imaginary, bewildered freshman: "You see, State's got this brand new scoreboard at their football stadium that is really out of this world. It's like a TV, I guess, because it shows these scenes on a screen when something good happens on the field... There's only one problem -- usually nothing's happening on the field, so they just show commercials instead (just like real TV!)" [46].

After years of few modifications of consequence, NC State began a fundraising drive for renovations to Carter-Finley in 1993 by selling naming rights for the future home venue for NC State basketball, the Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena (now known as PNC Arena). Unfortunately, the school went through an athletic low point when Jim Valvano was forced to resign amid a firestorm of allegations and the highly-successful Dick Sheridan retired due to health reasons. Fundraising and construction efforts stalled, meaning the renovations were delayed for nearly a decade [49] [33].

In 2001, that plan finally fomented in the form of an ambitious multi-phase construction project. First on the slate was the replacement of the grass berm at south end of the stadium with 5,864 permanent seats, including 2,030 chair back seats with cup holders, 3,710 bleacher seats, and 62 wheelchair locations with 62 companion seats. With the University eyeing a completion date of December 2002 or January 2003, they also expected to replace the 1985 scoreboard with a 160-foot-tall video board, as well as add three lighted practice fields on the campus complex. The final element of the initial phase of work was a 4-story, 100,000-square-foot football operations center.

The second phase was still in the preliminary design stages at the time of Bass's 2001 announcement, but was expected to include the replacement of the old press box, lovingly nicknamed the "Double Wide In The Sky," with a 3-story press box over the western stands; the box would contain 875-900 "open seats" on the lower level, luxury boxes on the second floor, the press suites on the third level, and a roof area to be utilized by coaches and scouts. This work was expected to start after the 2002 season, when the old press box was being demolished, with a projected cost of between $25 million and $30 million (just under $50 million in 2023).

The third phase was still in its developmental stages in 2001, but included the demolition of the A. E. Finley Fieldhouse. Early plans were to build another 6,500 seats and luxury boxes in its place. Phase III's price tag was expected to go over $23 million, and would bring Carter-Finley's permanent seating to somewhere north of 58,000, plus the suite seating. The money for all three phases was to be privately funded by the Wolfpack Club [38].

Work started on the construction of the new south endzone bleachers in February 2001 with the demolition of the stadium's original ticket booth. The next step of construction was creating the long concrete tunnel through which NC State enters the field before games; located 55 feet underground, the work halted progress on the rest of the endzone for months [33]. Eventually, however, the south endzone opened, bringing NC State's capacity to 51,500 prior to the 2001 season. A new 24-by-32-foot "superscreen" in the north endzone was also installed, alongside a new sound system [51].

Once the tunnel and south endzone seating were completed, work began on the "football operations center," which became the Murphy Center. The 103,000-square foot facility was named for Rose Hill-based pork producer Wendell H. Murphy, an NC State graduate of the class of 1960 and member of the Centennial Authority. Murphy donated at least $5 million (about $8.25 million in 2023) towards the completion of the project [52]. The center houses offices and staff meeting rooms, a dining room, a players' lounge, a 15,000-square-foot weight training room, and an "exhibition space"/memorabilia room on the second floor, as well as the locker rooms and a sports medicine facility [33] [50].

Next on the docket was the demolition of the old press box and the construction of Vaughn Towers, recently renamed the TowneBank Center. Originally called "Wolf Towers" or "Wolfpack Towers" prior to construction, the towers hold 955-club seats, 51 corporate suites, a chancellor's box, two boxes for home and visiting coaches, four radio and television booths, and a press area that seats up to 112 members of the media. The center's completion brought NC State's capacity to 53,570 ahead of the 2005 season [53]. The tower was initially named for former nuclear engineer C. Richard Vaughn, a member of the class of 1961 who donated over $5 million towards the endeavor, but was renamed in July 2022 in recognition of a similarly-valued corporate donation by TowneBank, a Portsmouth, Virginia-based financial institution.

The A. E. Finley Fieldhouse survived most of the renovations, partially because of its usefulness to the team. For a couple seasons, NC State mimicked Clemson's much-vaunted bus trip around the stadium when they bussed from their locker rooms in Finley Fieldhouse to the entrance tunnel on the opposite side of the stadium, and continued utilizing the fieldhouse as a locker room at halftime even after the opening of the Murphy Center; the home locker rooms in the Murphy Center are located on an upper level, and officials deemed the wait for elevators too long. Demolition began after the close of the 2005 season, and the bowl was completed prior to 2006, bringing Carter-Finley's capacity to 57,583; home locker rooms were also added beneath the north endzone for mid-game usage [54].

The improvements were widely heralded by NC State staff. "I don't know if there's a better [facility] in the country," said NC State head coach Chuck Amato; "I don't know if there's a better one in the world" [55]. While touring athletic facilities around the country, then-athletic director of UConn Jeff Hathaway said, "We want our people to get a sense of what some of the best facilities in the country are like, and this is certainly one of the best" [56].

In 2011, the decade-old "superscreen" was replaced with a new high-definition scoreboard; the video board was replaced once again prior to the 2023 football season [57] [58]. Prior to the 2021 football season, it was announced the venue's north endzone would be modified again, replacing some of the bleacher seating with premium seating; this dropped the venue's capacity to 56,919, where it remains as of 2023 [59]. Prior to the 2022 football season, the venue was also equipped with new LED lights capable of shining both white and red.

In 2009, NC State's original crowned (or "turtle-back") playing surface was replaced with a sand-based, laser-leveled field; a new irrigation system was also added [33]. Carter-Finley Stadium has always used a natural grass field, despite coming of age during the heyday of synthetic turfs. While rival schools sometimes joke that the field is kept as natural grass "so the homecoming queen would have something to chew on," the real answer is obviously because of the pride NC State's Turfgrass Management program takes in maintaining a pristine playing surface. The university has always been rather protective of their turf, even in the early days of the stadium: in 1968, grass maintenance was the main reason cited for the Wolfpack allowing very few high school games on the field [61]. And even today, marching band students at NC State are only allowed one practice session at Carter-Finley per season, unlike neighboring schools like UNC, whose marching band practices in the stadium frequently.

The venue was first planted with Tifton Hybrid Bermuda Grass, which was set growing over a year in advance [64] [65]. As far as I can tell, the stadium has been primarily a Bermuda Grass hybrid nearly every season since then, except for 1994. That season, the field was pummeled during a well-attended Rolling Stones concert which was held less than a week after a home football game, resulting in considerable mid-season repair work. Because September is pretty late in the turfgrass season, the field was re-seeded with supplemental rye, which tends to do better in cooler weather [66]. By 2003, the blend used was the Tifway 419 Bermuda Grass, which it seems to remain in usage to this day [67].