Ratliff Stadium, High school stadium in Odessa, US.
Ratliff Stadium is an American football stadium in Odessa, Texas, with a long low grandstand of pale tan facade and concrete seating tiers, plus a taller block-like section with exterior metal stairs. Two white lattice light towers stand in front of it. It seats 17,931 people and is the home field of Odessa and Permian High Schools.
Ratliff Stadium opened in 1982 on land donated by ranchers Bud and Sallie Ratliff, who had established their ranch there in 1903. Its original capacity of 19,302 was reduced to 17,931 in 2008 when additional handicapped seating and accommodations were added. Since 2015 it has also hosted home games of the UTPB Falcons football team.
The stadium hosts the football teams of Odessa High and Permian High, whose annual meeting is a long-standing local rivalry. It also stages marching band contests and graduation ceremonies for the Ector County district. The 1990 book and 2004 film Friday Night Lights, about Permian's 1988 season, made the venue known beyond Odessa.
The stadium sits in Odessa and is shared by Odessa and Permian High Schools, so home games alternate between the two. Seating was reduced to 17,931 in 2008 when handicapped seating and accommodations were added, so accessible places can be booked. It also hosts track and field, soccer, marching band contests and graduation ceremonies, so check which event is on before travelling.
Most of the on-field football action in the 2004 film Friday Night Lights, adapted from the 1990 book on Permian High School's 1988 season, was shot here. The stadium's concrete tiers and two white lattice light towers appear on screen.
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