‘Dunwoody continues to be home’: School stadium renamed for Ryan Seacrest
Media personality Ryan Seacrest will have a football stadium named after him at his alma mater Dunwoody High School after making a major, unspecified donation to add seating and renovate the space.
A private committee, dubbed “Bring It Home Dunwoody,” is trying to raise an additional $1.5 million to add 2,000 seats, new bathrooms, concessions and press box.
With 1,000 seats, the stadium isn’t currently big enough for the Dunwoody Wildcats to host games. It shares North DeKalb Stadium, which has a capacity of 6,500, with Chamblee High School.
If the fundraising campaign meets its goal, the renovations will enable the Wildcats to play at home, making them the first DeKalb County high school to have its own on-campus home field.
The DeKalb County School Board revealed Seacrest’s donation and approved the Seacrest Stadium name at its Monday meeting.
“Despite his national visibility, Ryan and his family have remained deeply connected to Dunwoody,” District 1 School Board Member Andrew Ziffer said during the meeting, according to 11 Alive. “Their support of the stadium project represents a full circle moment in which a Dunwoody Wildcat, a DeKalb County student, gives back to the school that helped shape his earliest opportunities.”
Seacrest, a Los Angeles resident who hosts “Wheel of Fortune,” “American Idol” and ABC’s annual New Year Eve special as well as a syndicated radio show heard locally on Power 105.3, graduated from Dunwoody High in 1992.
“Through all of life’s adventures, Dunwoody continues to be home for me and my family,” Seacrest said in a statement provided to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Wednesday. “It’s a place with so many special memories and a rich community that has given us so much. It is a true honor to know generations of Wildcats will get to enjoy this space and experience some of the magic that makes our city one that keeps us coming back.”
“Bring it Home Dunwoody” has spent recent months seeking $1.5 million from a variety of donors including local residents, corporate sponsors and alumni. So far, it has raised about $362,000, not including Seacrest’s donation.
No taxpayer dollars are involved in the fundraising.
Catherine Mootz, a committee member, Dunwoody resident and senior brand manager at Home Depot, previously told The Dunwoody Crier that a famous alumnus had anonymously contributed money. Seacrest’s name was revealed this week.
“I heard a little bit about this initiative and immediately said yes because this is something that is going to benefit my city and my kids’ future,” she said. “This has been a push for over 20 years. I think the Dunwoody community has really been trying to make this happen.”
In 2016, Seacrest told radio host Dan Patrick about his time on the Dunwoody High School football team. “I grew up actually playing center on the offensive line, short snapping, long snapping,” Seacrest said. “Moved to pulling guard, then I moved to linebacker. Then I lost weight and became a strong safety.”
Seacrest was humble about his skills: “I didn’t have a lot of technique or finesse or skill … People are pretty surprised when they hear I owned a pair of cleats.”
He said his team was quite good, winning a regional championship. (Dunwoody won a state championship a year after he graduated.)
Presaging his future career, Seacrest did morning announcements at Dunwoody High School as a student and was nicknamed “The Voice of Dunwoody.” He also landed a job at top 40 station Star 94, working on air while attending high school.
Seacrest, whose father recently passed away, visited Atlanta last year to open a new Seacrest Studios at Arthur M. Blank Hospital at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
He has funded studios at more than a dozen children’s hospitals in several cities nationwide. (He opened one in Miami this week.) The studios provide entertainment for sick children..
“It’s the best studio we’ve ever had,” Seacrest told the AJC in 2024. “It’s the most high-tech equipment we’ve ever had. It’s the biggest screen we’ve ever had. It’s audio. It’s video. It’s a content studio. We want to provide escapism and fun for kids going through tough things.”
About the Author
Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.
