[7] Replacing Alumni Field, the stadium hosted its first game on September 25, 1965, with UMass beating American International College, 41–0.

McGuirk Stadium's current capacity is only modestly above the NCAA's former requirement of 15,000 average attendance for FBS membership.

[11] Lights were installed in the stadium for the 2008 football season, permitting UMass to play night games at home on a regular basis.

The plaza on the east side of the stadium behind the ticket gates, MinuteFan Park, hosts food and souvenir vendors and other exhibitors on game days.

It would have been prohibitively difficult to meet the minimum FBS attendance of 15,000 fans per game, and its press box and replay facilities were well below MAC standards.

[13] The renovation added a new training facility and locker rooms on the stadium's north end, called the Football Performance Center.

[15] Although construction on the renovations began in March 2013, an official groundbreaking ceremony was held on April 26, 2013, and completed in time for the 2014 season.

The project team, consisting of Perkins+Will, UMass Athletics, UMass senior administration, and members of the Design & Construction Department, met over the course of four design charrettes to develop a series of improvement projects and build-out options for the existing stadium seating bowl and support facilities.

The pledge provides the support necessary to design and construct a seasonal air-supported indoor structure and contribute to a high-definition scoreboard at McGuirk Alumni Stadium, among other planned fan experience facility improvements.

Construction was slated to begin at the conclusion of the 2018 football season, with a formal timeline for completion to be established as the final scope for all the improvements within the project are determined.