On July 20, 1920, the UT trustees voted to build a permanent grandstand, projected at a total cost of $20,000, at Shields-Watkins Field, when the field was completed. The grandstand was erected on the west side in 1921 and had 17 rows and seating for 3,200. In 1925, under the leadership of Nathan Dougherty, engineering professor and Athletics Association head, the stadium began to take on its eventual character. The Athletics Association added two rows of boxes and extended the west stands an additional 59 rows. Dougherty left room between the stadium and Phillip Fulmer Way (then Fifteenth Street) for eventual double-decking of the stands. Construction also started on the east side of the field, with a new concrete stand rising 21 tiers high, with a seating capacity of 3,800 and dressing rooms beneath it.
In 2000 the stadium’s official seating rose to 104,079, its highest number. Beginning in 2013, with its official capacity of 102,455, it stood as the third-largest collegiate stadium in the nation (Penn State and Michigan had greater seating capacity). The largest crowd to see a game at Neyland was 109,061 on September 18, 2004, when UT beat Florida 30-28. It is one of two major football stadia in the nation that can be accessed by water (the University of Washington’s stadium is the other).
Neyland Stadium has 42 skyboxes on the west side and 78 skyboxes on the east side. Its west upper deck/press box area seats 5,137. In 2006 a 10,300-square-foot East Club, resembling an English pub, was installed, along with 425 luxury seats. The club seats replaced about 2,400 bench seats, dropping the stadium’s seat count from 104,079 to about 102,037. The addition of West Club seats (424) and Tennessee Terrace seats (1,800) brought the official capacity of the stadium to 102,455.
The south end upper-deck expansion in 1972 included installation of lights and brought night football to campus. The home opener that year against Penn State was the first night game.
The stadium was named for legendary football coach General Robert R. Neyland on October 27, 1962, at the halftime of the Alabama game (Alabama 27, Tennessee 7).