After one season away, Sam Houston returns to renovated Bowers Stadium

Sam Houston State fans celebrate the Bearkats' 38-35 win over James Madison in a semifinal game in the NCAA FCS football playoffs on Saturday, May 8, 2021, in Huntsville. (Photo by Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Sam Houston did not play a single true home game during the 2025 football season.

Instead, the Bearkats took a 70-mile commute down I-45 to play at Shell Energy Stadium in downtown Houston, where they competed in front of sparse crowds.

That changes in 2026. The fan support, student body, and overall energy will make a triumphant return as Sam Houston football returns to campus in Huntsville, TX. Elliott T. Bowers Stadium was closed in 2025 due to ongoing renovations, but on July 30, the refurbished venue reopened its doors.

“I’ve spent more time in Bowers Stadium than anybody,” Sam Houston athletic director Bobby Williams said at the stadium unveiling. “As an assistant football coach, as an assistant athletic director, running the stadium, all the band festivals, all the high school playoff games, our games, and then having been athletic director for 29 years, nobody’s seen this place or knows this place better than I do. It’s fun when I walk into this building, I don’t know where I’m going because it’s all new.”

Plans for a major renovation date back to 2020 when Dr. Alisa White first became president of the university. While touring the venue with Williams, her first observation was, “We need a new pressbox,” a statement uttered three seasons before Sam Houston joined the FBS.

An expanded, modernized pressbox was one signature upgrade to the renovated Bowers Stadium. Other changes include more suite level seating in the upper levels, widened concourses, and expanded access to restrooms and concessions designed to reduce time spent waiting in line.

Sam Houston also added a “living room feel” to Bowers by implementing sofas, settees, and other soft seating options. The overall capacity doesn’t change much from its previous mark of 14,000, and all seating remains contained between the 5-yard lines. Still, Dr. White stated the stadium can accommodate several hundred more spectators than before, with opportunities to add further seating at the field level.

“The input I had at the beginning was I wanted it to have a boutique feel,” Dr. White said. “I wanted it to be very different from any other stadiums that you would see, not just in our footprint, but around Texas, particularly even in our conference. I wanted to make sure when you came into this facility, you would see our brand immediately. I wasn’t concerned about doing a 360 (degree seating). I wanted this to be a real icon… I was not going for big. I was going for first-class, boutique, and I think we got there.”

The total cost of the project, along with Sam Houston’s other athletic renovations to the Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum and tennis facilities, sums to $90 million. The Bearkats’ move to Conference USA in 2023 helped make these upgrades financially feasible, and the desire to invest in such facilities was a driving force behind leaving the FCS for the FBS.

“When Dr. White and I talked about moving to Conference USA and FBS, we knew there would be challenges,” Williams said. “The curveball has been the rev-share part of it and all the different changes like the portal. That makes it challenging because you do have to pay for these buildings, and how do you find the revenue streams to do that? That is one of the major reasons we moved to FBS. When we won the national championship in 2020 and we played on ABC and ESPN, I think it actually cost us $300,000 that year to play those games. Then we went to Conference USA and our income dramatically increased.”

Even though Sam Houston’s budget has grown substantially since joining the CUSA, the Bearkats are still navigating the modern world of college football economics. In 2024, former head coach K.C. Keeler estimated the program to have “the least amount of NIL money in the country.” Williams acknowledges that Sam Houston struggled with finances early but believes the renovated Bowers Stadium is a positive step in the program’s commitment to investment.

“Raising our budget to compete at the Conference USA level and getting in the rev-share game — we struggled early, but now we’re in the game, and we’re in a very positive part of that,” Williams said. “We’re able to compete at that level and recruit people. I’m pleased with everything we’ve done. It’s taken us a little bit longer, but that’s the challenge.”

The renovation may also spur another source of revenue. One potential fundraising method for the athletic programs involves securing naming rights for the renovated stadium, and discussions have already commenced.

“We’re in talks with some on naming, but we’re looking for the right partner — somebody who wants to partner with us but also somebody whose brand aligns with ours,” Dr. White said. “I’d love to be able to announce that today, but we are still seeking that perfect partner, and we are in talks with some.”

Until that deal is finalized, Bowers Stadium will continue bearing the name it was given when first constructed in 1985. And it will provide a true home to a Sam Houston program that didn’t have that luxury a year ago.

“My whole goal was really to elevate the fan experience,” Dr. Alisa White said. “Bearkat fans are avid. They deserve a phenomenal experience, and that’s what we’re gonna give them.”

The new Bowers Stadium will host its first football game Saturday, Sept. 12 when Tulsa pays Sam Houston a visit for a non-conference matchup.

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