It is named after Amon G. Carter, a prominent Fort Worth businessman, newspaper publisher, and city booster.

In 1923, TCU received a private donation from Mary Couts Burnett, the widow of a wealthy and well known Texas rancher.

TCU played its first season of football in 1896, and since then had built a reputation of excellence garnering national attention, and joined the Southwest Conference in 1923.

Carter asked Andrew Poyar, one of the designers of Shields-Watkins Field (now Neyland Stadium) at the University of Tennessee, to create the blueprints for the structure.

The stadium hosted its first football game on October 11, 1930, when TCU defeated the University of Arkansas.

An upper deck, topped by a two-story press box and highlighted with a large stylized "TCU", was added in 1956.

New club seats and luxury suites were added prior to the 2008 season, increasing capacity to 44,358, and again in 2020.

In August 2010, TCU announced a $105 million renovation of the west side and north end zone of Amon G. Carter Stadium to better enhance football fans' experience, upgrade amenities, and transform the historic Fort Worth icon into the "Camden Yards" of collegiate football stadiums.

The planned renovation quickly expanded into a rebuild of the entire stadium above ground level, and partially below.

The highest ever recorded attendance at Amon G. Carter was 53,294, which occurred in the 2023 season opener against Colorado.