Facilities & Directions

AmFirst Stadium

On July 16, 2024, Jacksonville State University Board of Trustees approved an unprecedented partnership with the announcement that Jax State, AmFirst, and the Jax State Foundation signed a multi-year agreement to rebrand the home of Jax State Football as AmFirst Stadium. The commitment named Jax State’s football stadium for the first time in the university’s history. 

Long ago, in the days when Jacksonville State University went by Jacksonville State Teachers College and the athletic teams were nicknamed the “Eagle Owls,” football was played in a field next to John Forney National Guard Armory.

In 1946 as JSU began to change, enrollment began to rise and so did the popularity of football. Seeing the need for a new facility, the school built a stadium in the present location and it was dedicated in front of an overflow crowd at the 1947 Homecoming game against Pembroke. The Gamecocks went on to win that game and posted a perfect 9-0 season, including a 7-0 win over Florida State.

The “College Bowl” as it was called, was renamed in 1961 to honor longtime JSU supporter Paul Snow. Then in July of 2010, the stadium was renamed Burgess-Snow Field at JSU Stadium to honor former coach Bill Burgess, who led the Gamecocks to the 1992 NCAA Division II National Championship. The facility took on its current title as Burgess-Snow Field at AmFirst Stadium prior to the 2024 season with the addition of the new football operations building and expanded suites. 

The stadium got a facelift in 1965 when seating was expanded from 5,000 to 8,500 and a new press box was installed on the north side of the facility. Under the supervision of long-time Athletic Director Jerry N. Cole, the field house was constructed in 1977 and the expansion of the stadium was complete in time for the 1978 season when the student section was added to bring the capacity to 15,000.

AmFirst Stadium completed a $47 million expansion just in time for the 2010 season. The new facility consists of seven stories, with the bottom four floors dedicated to nearly 400 dorm beds. The top three floors includes 33 luxury skyboxes, a new press area, coaches booths, radio and television broadcast facilities, and a game management booth. The stadium was also expanded to include 24,000 seats. 

The natural playing surface was replaced during the summer of 2005 with an artificial playing turf. It was the first major renovation to the stadium since the 1978 season. It took three months to install at a cost of just over $700,000 and was completed in time to hold summer graduation on the new playing field. That field was replaced before the 2016 season with another ProGrass surface.

Prior to the 2017 season, the standard definition video board that was installed in 2007 was replaced by a new board that includes a full high definition display that measures 12 feet in height and 80 feet in width.

With the announcement of a move to the Football Bowl Subdivision and eventually Conference USA, plans got underway quickly to once again enhance the facility to the highest level of college football. The nearly 50-year-old field house was demolished following the 2022 season. Over the next two years the Gamecocks worked out of Stephenson Hall, outside the stadium, even using the former physical education building as their game day locker room where the team would leave the stadium under the east endzone stands to the adjacent building for pregame and at halftime. 

Prior to the 2024 season, Jax State unveiled The Loring and Debbie White Football Performance Center as the Gamecocks' new state-of-the-art operaions building behind the west endzone. Nine suites, featuring outdoor seating, were built into the facility to increase fan experience. During the major stadium renovation the original press box on the north side was torn down and replaced with premium outdoor suites and tabletop seating options along the length of the field. 

The record for a single-game crowd for a football game at AmFirst Stadium was set in the season opener in 2017 versus Liberty when 23,944 fans witnessed the Gamecocks claim a 37-10 win over the Flames.