Princeton Stadium

^{October 21, 2006
Princeton Stadium (Capacity: 27,733)
Princeton, NJ
Princeton Tigers vs Harvard Crimson
Final Score: 31 – 28}

* The stadium was re-visited for a game on September 20, 2025

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Historic Princeton University, founded in 1746, is located in the borough of Princeton, NJ and we’ve been to handful of football games here in what is a great setting all around. This small, upscale community in Central Jersey is a wonderful place to live and visit as the residential area gives way to a great central road (Nassau Street) with mostly local businesses. On the other side of Nassau is the University, which takes up about half the town. Princeton gives off an aura of prestige and many great minds have studied at the school that has produced dozens of Nobel Prize winners. Athletics has a significant place at the university and Princeton was part of the first collegiate game against Rutgers in 1869. The Tigers sport quite a history with four national championships in the 1900s and many members in the College Football Hall of Fame. After becoming a part of the Ivy League, the school won 13 conference championships with the last outright title coming in 2021. The Tigers moved into wonderfully designed Princeton Stadium (capacity: 27,733) in 1998 after spending 82 years at Palmer Stadium.
Prestige Ranking: 3 out of 5

Location

The football stadium is set with other athletic facilities on the south side of campus and if you are ambitious, you can walk to Nassau Street from here. The college town’s main road is worth a walk-through, errr I should say eat-through, as there are a ton of great local restaurants, especially in the Palmer Square section. After spending time in town, walk through campus, which features many beautiful gothic-style buildings, some of which date back to the 1800s. The oldest building, Nassau Hall, was completed in 1756. Aside from the Art Museum, there’s not much to do, but again the walk in itself is quite enjoyable.
Location Ranking: 7.5 out of 10

Accessibility / Parking

Route 1 goes diagonally through New Jersey and it’s pretty close to Princeton. That’s the easiest approach, but certainly not the most frequently used. Others in the state will need a variety of roads to reach the area and it can take time due to stoplights and congestion. Our journey involves Route 206, which certainly has both. On Saturdays, it’s also crowded around Princeton and keep that in mind if you want to park downtown and then take the long walk to the game. If just heading to Princeton Stadium, recent additions in the form of very large parking garages have made that journey much easier. The garages are easy to navigate and have great egress. It is a walk though as it takes 10 minutes by foot to reach the one on Stadium Drive or Theatre Drive. Another option is mass transit to Princeton as NJ Transit trains on the Northeast Corridor line make a stop about four miles south of town. From there, a local shuttle train (known as the Dinky) brings commuters on campus.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 6.5 out of 8

Exterior

Surrounding 3/4ths of the stadium in a horseshoe design is a light brown concrete wall, designed almost to look like bricks. There are many square arches throughout and it mimics old Palmer Stadium, just without a true main entrance (which would have been good here). Although plain, it is nice that the exterior is a separate structure from the actual seating bowl. In small letters is the name “Princeton University” above each entrance.
Exterior Ranking: 6 out of 10

Concourse and Food

The roomy concourse runs underneath the upper-deck and is mostly covered, expect for a couple corners and the south end. There is plenty of room and though it is bland with mostly beige concrete to look at, I do like the touch of landscaping and shrubbery that is set up along the sides. There are even some trees in the corners. What is awkward are that steps are needed to bring fans up from the main concourse to the lower deck of seats. That also means no field view. For those that sit in the upper deck, even though there is not a separate concourse, there are crossing platforms that lead to bathrooms, which is nice because the steep stairs can be a workout. Bathrooms overall are plentiful. Inside the stadium is a walkway at the top of the lower deck that features accessible seating.
Concourse Ranking: 3.5 out of 5

Food

Food options are generally basic with grab-and-go burgers, hot dogs and chicken sandwiches. At least they were of decent size. Limited options meant the absence of pizza, popcorn and peanuts. In those grab-and-go areas, sneakily in the middle is a chilled section that includes salads and sushi. I had to talk my daughter out of it as sushi at a football game probably isn’t the best idea.
Food Ranking: 3.5 out of 8

Interior

Inside, the first level has seating that surrounds the field in the shape of a rectangle (with the corners being angled towards the field). Sitting above three sides is an upper deck section of seating that is unattached. I love an upper-deck and this one provides a really nice vantage point to see the game thanks to steep rows. Even in the lower level, the pitch of the seats is quite good. Enhancing sightlines is the absence of a running track. Seats are all bleachers with no backs, but the spacing between each row is above normal. One of the neat things about Princeton Stadium is the way the outer wall horseshoes the stadium, providing a more intimate feel. Above the seating in the open end is the scoreboard and a view of the other athletic facilities. The press box is located above the seats and built into the outer wall. One addition I would like to see is more orange and black color to liven the place up a bit as the beige and aluminum gives off a bland, sterile feel. They added some striking along the wall near the field, but the place could use more. Note that there is also no premium seating here. Otherwise, the design is pretty good as it quite intimate and close to the field with great sightlines.
Interior Ranking: 11 out of 14

Scoreboard

Princeton Stadium’s scoreboard above the south end is mainly video that is of adequate size. It is quite clear and utilizing the ESPN+ broadcast means that replays are frequent. Sides have necessary game information and the top labels the team and field. Since this scoreboard is at one end, little digital displays embedded into the towering stadium wall can be used for down/distance so you don’t have to keep turning your head. Takes a little remembering that they are there.
Scoreboard Ranking: 3.5 out of 4

Displays

On the outside of the stadium is an interesting Tiger sculpture made out of stainless steel. It makes for a nice photo op on the way in to the stadium. For a team with so much history, there is a real lack of showing that off. Only thing is a listing of Ivy championships in a corner of the stadium. Current players also now have posters around the concourse.
Displays Ranking: 2 out of 6

Cost

Prices are reasonable with tickets being $20 and free parking. That ticket cost is fairly standard for 2025 and only a couple other Ivy schools are cheaper. Concessions are priced fairly too as lunch for my two kids and myself came to $25. Also, keep an eye out for their annual Kids Club game, where they get in for free. It’s an excellent deal and there is no charge to join the Kids Club.
Cost Ranking: 7.5 out of 8

Fan Support

In 2006, there was a pretty good crowd on hand for a rather important game against an Ivy opponent. The announced paid number was 16,284 and it looked like that much as many of the sideline sections were full. It did take some time for the crowd to arrive and it took longer for them to get into the game, however they were into it for the second half. My subsequent trips during the 2020’s saw fan support has really dropped off as only 4,000 or so were on hand for the team’s first home game in two years. The 2025 was a good gauge as to where fan support stands as they were playing San Diego (few travelling fans to artificially inflate attendance), it was the home opener and the weather was perfect. The attendance for that one was just 3,656. It’s a sad fall and something that has been similar across the Ivy. In terms of comparisons, Princeton was 6th in the league for attendance standings in 2024.
Fan Support Ranking: 3.5 out of 8

Atmosphere

With the smaller crowds, atmosphere suffers as well. At least most fans group together towards midfield and that helps the noise not get lost in the large stadium. Cheering for touchdowns is decent and you’ll get several that will stand and applaud for that. Third down noise is mostly absent, except toward the end of a close game. Much of the game, they opt for music in between plays and the volume, timing and playlist overall make it to be annoying in my opinion. The band would be no help, as there antics are just as annoying, as is typical of all Ivy League schools.
Atmosphere Ranking: 6.5 out of 14

Other Stuff

Though the winged football helmet is most famously worn by Michigan, it was actually at Princeton where the design was first used. After a long hiatus, the Tigers brought back their famed helmets in 1998……Prior to Princeton Stadium, the Tigers’ old football field (Palmer Stadium) was located on the same site and modeled after the Greek Olympic stadium. The horseshoe design had a very distinct Ivy League feel……The field here is named after William C. Powers due to a donation he made…..The Tiger mascot will roam around and interact on occasion, while other times, he looks very cat-like.

Game (Initial Visit)

The game was great with lots of action in the first half including a blocked punt, several long QB scrambles and quite a few trick plays. By the end of the first half, Princeton was up 24-14 and seemed in control. But Harvard roared back with two TD’s in the third quarter to go ahead by four. Finally, an interception at the Harvard 39 yard-line set up the Tigers for a score near the end of the game. They failed on a 4th down, but a controversial unsportsmanlike penalty kept the game alive. Brendan Circle caught a 20-yard pass with 4:37 left and that held up for the winning score. Princeton went to 6-0, while Harvard dropped to 5-1. The Crimson committed 5 turnovers and both quarterbacks ran a combined 26 times.

Stadium Experience Ranking: 64 out of 100