Louis Tullio Field
Located on the back campus of Mercyhurst, Tullio Field seats 2,300 spectators on the bleachers while others opt to sit on the rolling hills to the south of the field. The field is named after the late Louis J. Tullio, 24-year mayor of Erie , who coached the first football team at Gannon College in 1949 and whose family helped finance the structure. The inaugural home game on Tullio Field was held Sept. 7, 1996, and the field was dedicated during Homecoming on Oct. 12, 1996, when Mercyhurst played and defeated cross-town rival Gannon.
Tullio Field was converted from natural grass to Astroturf in 1998.
When Laker football began in 1981, home games were played at the 10,000-seat Erie Veterans Stadium. An on-campus stadium was part of the master plan of the college and the athletic program but the vision was in the distance. The dream was given an unexpected boost in 1996 when Veterans Stadium was suddenly unavailable for games. Faced with not having a field to host fall football games, Mercyhurst officials responded by building what is now Tullio Field.


