In 1976, The Register declared football season the most important time in the Capital City. “There is no doubt that this is Football City with the residents setting aside a certain segment of their year to be seated in the stadium when the Tiger home games give them an opportunity to show their college colors—as well as their loyalty,” Orene Muse writes in her editor’s note at the beginning of the feature.

LSU athletic director Carl Maddox wrote the highly anticipated opening story of the September 1976 issue of The Register, titled “LSU’s Great Stadium With New Addition Will Become Greater.” Across more than four pages, he detailed the creative funding mechanisms that would make an ambitious expansion of Tiger Stadium slated for 1977 possible. And, he argued, the addition of the 8,300-seat upper deck to bring the total capacity to 76,000 was long overdue.                       

“…The demand for season tickets and for certain individual game tickets (primarily Ole Miss, Alabama and Tulane) continued unabated, and it became increasingly clear that the present capacity of Tiger Stadium is just not enough to accommodate all the fans who want to see Tiger football,” he wrote. Now, 50 years later, the stadium dubbed Death Valley holds over 100,000 roaring fans. Through stadium expansions, incredible wins, tough losses and new coaches, year after year, Tiger pride seems only to grow stronger and louder.