COLUMBIA — Construction on the North End Zone at Memorial Stadium is on schedule, according to Mizzou Athletics.
The project broke ground on Nov. 30 and has picked up significant pace over the spring and summer months.
At times, more than 40 steel beams were brought to the construction site per day in the spring and summer.
The result has been the exoskeleton of North End Zone complex, teasing the new face of Memorial Stadium.
"We're changing not just the face of this structure, but the face of Mizzou football and Mizzou Athletics," said Dave Matter, associate athletics director for strategic communication.
Matter said the project is approximately one third of the way complete. He said construction will continue for another 14 months ahead of the fall 2026 deadline.
Construction will continue into the Tigers' 2025 football season. Matter said that one year of construction is worth the upgrades.
"I think you have to look at it this way ... you have to sacrifice one season to have another hundred with this facility," Matter said.
Capacity will drop for the upcoming season with the hill that held several thousand fans no longer in existence.
Matter said Mizzou is not raising ticket prices based on the lower capacity.
Ticket prices were raised in the spring, which Matter attributed to the changing landscape of college football.
"That is a reflection of the need we have to raise revenue, just to be very candid," Matter said.
Matter said Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz was happy with the progress of the project and has already been using the North End Zone as a selling point to recruits.
"He's thrilled, he's absolutely thrilled." Matter said. "This is the major part of the sales pitch — we're going to have not just as a football program, but as a department, as a university."
He said the project should compete with any Southeastern Conference structure.
"A lot of people say that the athletics department is the front porch to a university, and we are building a heck of a front porch," Matter said.
As football season approaches, Matter said fans will receive instructions on the changes to attending Mizzou football games while construction is ongoing.
"We will do everything we can to communicate all the changes to make sure that the game day experience will be the same for everybody," Matter said.
