Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium update

Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium has undergone major renovations over the last few years, and the updates are scheduled to be completed before the start of the 2026 season. On Tuesday, Dr. Ed Scott met with the media to give an update on all the stadium upgrades.

The upgrades officially began in May 2024, and the expectation is they will be completed by the end of August ahead of the first home game of the season. While the most notable change will be the new Landers Plaza on the west side of the stadium, there are many more upgrades that will enhance the fan experience at Tiger football games.

Both scoreboards in the north and south have been upgraded, and the audio system has been completely revamped. The renovations will also include new ribbon boards and a new “LED Entertainment Lighting System.”

Austin White is the project executive for MFA Program Management, the group leading the renovations, and he joined Sports56 Mornings with Greg Gaston and Eli Savoie Thursday morning. White went in depth on all the changes to the stadium and said the renovations completely transform it.

“It’s a true transformative project for the stadium,” White said. “There’s 360 degrees of construction going on out there right now. From the south scoreboard to the north tunnel expansion, and then a lot of work going on on the east. A lot of work that had to occur on the east to make this project possible back in the summer of 2024.”

The south scoreboard will be larger following the renovations, and it will be the largest videoboard in the stadium’s history at 47’x114’, which puts it on par with videoboards at Ohio State, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Arizona State.

The renovations will also replace the scoreboard in the north end zone, giving it full-video capabilities.

In addition to new videoboards, the stadium will have a 360 distributed audio system. This will provide “360-degree coverage for an immersive game day experience.”

“This one is really a game changer,” White said. “They’ve always had speakers that were mounted on the east and west of the south scoreboard, and that was a point-source audio system. So, as Dr. Scott laid it out the other day, if you were sitting in the south end zone, you needed earplugs, and if you were sitting in the north end zone, you couldn’t hear sometimes. This is going to cover the entire 350 degrees of the stadium. There are subwoofer enhancements going in, so not only can you hear the game, you feel the game.”

The north tunnel is also progressing well, and it will allow the stadium to host stadium shows inside Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. Scott thinks the location will help bring in more concerts.

“We’re now under the class of stadium shows,” Scott said. “That’s a different class because not every artist can play a full stadium. It’s different from playing FedExForum with 20-something thousand if we’re going to seat 45,632, to be exact. So, I think we’re in a really interesting sweet spot where we can get high-level artists who want to play big venues, but we can also get up-and-coming artists who are now graduating to the stadium shows as well.”

Scott also said that there will be a difference at the concession stands. The athletic director said that he approached all the vendors to put together a $7 value meal for the upcoming season. It’s clear that, in addition to the stadium renovations, Scott wants to be creative to get more fans to games this season.

The Tigers will play its first game in the newly renovated stadium on Sept. 5 against Arkansas State.