Martin Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in the northwest United States, on the campus of Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. It is the home field of the Washington State Cougars of the Pac-12 Conference. Its full name is Gesa Field at Martin Stadium due to Richland-based Gesa Credit Union signing a 10-year sponsorship deal in 2021 for the playing surface; it has used artificial turf since its inception in 1972, with infilled FieldTurf used since 2000. History The stadium is named after Clarence D. Martin (1886–1955), the governor of the state of Washington (1933–41), a former mayor of Cheney and 1906 graduate of the University of Washington. His son, Dan (Clarence D. Martin, Jr., 1916–1976), made a $250,000 donation to the project in January 1972 under the stipulation that the stadium be named after his father. Additional gifts were continued by Dan's widow, Charlotte Martin; $250,000 in 1978 and $150,000 in 1979. Martin Stadium opened in 1972 on September 30, with a 19-point loss to Utah, then a member of the WAC, with 20,600 in attendance. Two and a half years had passed since the south grandstand and press box of its predecessor, the wooden Rogers Field, was significantly damaged by fire, a suspected case of arson. The WSU Cougars played all of their home games at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane in 1970 and 1971. Aside from those two years, the Cougars have played at the site of Martin Stadium since 1895. In its first season in 1972, only the south grandstand, press box, lights, and artificial turf were new; the remaining sections from Rogers (north sideline and east end zone) were replaced later. The seating capacity in 1972 was 22,600; the wooden north stands were demolished after the 1974 season, and the new concrete grandstand expanded the seating to 26,500 for 1975. (1975 aerial photo) The east end zone seats from Rogers were finally replaced in 1999. The stadium has an unorthodox east-west alignment; north-south is conventional (e.g. Joe Albi). After renovations in 2003, seating capacity was reduced to 35,117, and was 32,952 in 2014. Since the expansion of Reser Stadium at Oregon State in 2005, Martin Stadium fell to last in football seating capacity in the Pac-10, and is last in the Pac-12. The current attendance record was set during the championship year of 1997, when WSU beat Stanford on Senior Day in front of