Why is Michigan Stadium nicknamed the Big House?
College football is famous for a very wide variety of things, including the massive crowds on campuses every Saturday. Several college football stadiums have capacities for more than 100,000 people, but no college stadium is bigger than Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.
With a capacity of 107,601, the “Big House” is the largest college football stadium, as the NCAA notes. So, yeah, it’s big.
But maybe you’re wondering why exactly Michigan Stadium is nicknamed the Big House. The history there is a little unclear since Michigan didn’t hold a formal ceremony or anything for the official nickname, but we have some clues about how it came to be.
According to news outlet MLive:
The nickname “Big House” was used for Michigan Stadium in a Sept. 13, 1985 Detroit Free Press story, in which Notre Dame running back Allen Pinkett was quoted, “ … I’m looking forward to playing against (Michigan) in the Big House …,” alluding to the then-101,701-seat Michigan Stadium.
It’s unclear whether that was the very first time the moniker was used, but its origins trace back to the 1980s.
Keith Jackson, the retired, legendary broadcaster for ABC Sports, is credited with coining the term “Big House,” but it’s unclear what year he did so. Without question, Jackson popularized the term.
There you go. Maybe it was the Detroit Free Press including a quote, maybe it was locally called the “Big House” and Jackson helped grow the nickname, maybe it’s a combination of those two things along with general college football culture.
But there’s not doubt the Big House is big.