Kelly/Shorts Stadium

• 2400 East Campus Drive
• Mt. Pleasant, MI 48858
• (989) 774-2842
• Website

I didn’t grow up in Kalamazoo. I didn’t even go to school in Michigan so I really don’t have loyalties to schools.

Sure, I cheer for Western Michigan because it’s fun to root for the home team but I’m not going to get caught up in the whole Western/Central Michigan rivalry.

Fall is a good time for me because I pick up a ton of extra work. There’s a pretty regular overtime shift on Friday night’s and some Saturday’s with my full time job but there’s also a side hustle type job that I pick up work.

I was up in Mt Pleasant for that side hustle job this past Saturday and eventually, I ended up at at Central Michigan football stadium.

The on campus football stadium at CMU is Kelly/Shorts Stadium. It’s a rather large 35,000 seat stadium built on the south side of campus and the south side of Mt. Pleasant in 1972. The stadium was initially named Perry Shorts Stadium named after a graduate on “generous donor” to the university. The Kelly part of the name was added in 1983 to honor longtime football coach Bill Kelly. The stadium is first noticed from outside campus on BL-131 by the large logo on the back of the video board that towers over the nearby parking lots.

The thing I noticed right away about the stadium is how much parking there is right around the stadium. There are several lots that butt up right against the stadium. On the press box side, there is quite a bit of parking for the high dollar donors that leads to a VIP entrance.

The stadium is kind of weird in the fact that the main entrance isn’t through the tower like it is at most stadiums. It’s actually in the southwest corner of the facility. There is a small box office right next to the large wrought iron gates that funnel people in to the stadium.

The best thing about this access is just how close it is to the parking lot. It’s literally right across the street from the main tailgate lots. You don’t have to walk up and down hills or stairs to get in to the game.

Finding your way around the stadium is pretty simple. It’s a horseshoe concourse that goes from the north endzone and wraps all the way around the south end. There was a tent right inside the stadium with a map to show sections but really, it isn’t that hard to navigate.

The concourse underneath the main grandstand is pretty typical for a stadium like this. It’s a large walkway amongst the large maroon beams that hold the seating bowl up.

There a few different options for concessions and again, they’re pretty typical for this kind of stadium set up. The basic stadium concession stands are built in to the brick walls of the structure. They have the typical stadium food and drinks.

There are also some kiosks set up on either side of the walkway. Some of these are just beer. Others are have some basic items like candy, pops and water.

There are also some outside vendors right inside the main gate. These are food truck type places. One of them there on this day was a Kona Ice truck. The other was A’s Sweets and Treats which had elephant ears, freeze dried candy and other fun stuff you don’t normally get at a concession stand.

At the far north end of the grandstand, local restaurant Max and Emily’s Eatery has a stand. They had a little bit more substantial food with a variety of sandwiches from their restaurant in downtown Mt. Pleasant.

The student section and band section is on the other side of the stadium and they have their own concession stand at the top of the bleachers. I didn’t walk over there because it seemed too far and I’m lazy….and it’s just a concession stand.

The north side of the stadium is the open side of the horse shoe. There’s also an entrance on this side and right inside the gate is the merch shop. It’s it’s own standalone building called the Chippewa Varsity Store. The entrance is from inside the stadium though so it’s only a game day shop.

There is also a large building that sits very close to the field on the north side. It’s the Chippewa Champions Center. It’s a multi purpose facility that houses the locker room and athletic training areas, a VIP club on game days and multi use meeting facilities than can be used on non-game days. The facility was added to the stadium in 2020 and replaced the old locker room facility which was much more basic.

The west side of the Chippewa Champions Center is part of the fan fest that takes place before the game. There’s a patio where they serve BBQ and beer. The Fan Fest is a new thing this year and there were lines pretty much the whole time to get BBQ.

The large chunk of the seating at Kelly/Shorts Stadium is on the west side of the venue. It’s accessible through portals if you’re sitting in the main grandstand. If you’re sitting in the endzone or on the east side, you just walk down the stairs from the concourse.

The seating is very basic. The whole stadium is just metal bleachers.

Unless you’re in a suite. Then you get an actual stadium seat but there are only a few rows of those.

I was there for the 2026 home opener versus Colgate. The stadium was actually pretty full. Much more full than when I’ve been to CMU games in the past. It wasn’t near a sell out but there was a really good sized crowd

The game itself wasn’t….great. Central dang near got beat by an FCS team that is picked to finish near the bottom of the Patriot League but they found just enough offense in the end to get the win.

Of the three Michigan MAC schools, the thing I will say I like the most about this stadium is the access. There are no hills to climb before or after the game and the stairs aren’t ridiculous…and there are handrails. I’ve been in the stadium before where it has felt big and empty but that wasn’t the case on this day. It actually felt like a college football game day atmosphere and once the sun went behind the press box, it was an enjoyable day for football.