In contrast to college football stadiums, the largest of which can and regularly do accommodate over 100,000 spectators, no stadium in the league currently has a listed seating capacity of more than 82,500. In the opposite direction, the league has a firm minimum on the number of seats an NFL stadium should have; since 1971 the league has not allowed any stadium under 50,000 seats to host a full-time NFL team. Next year's Super Bowl will be in Atlanta, which is set to host its first NFL championship since 2000, this time in the recently built Mercedes-Benz Stadium that comes with a retractable roof. A dome also requires turf, and there's a big debate between the effects of natural grass and artificial turf. There were no domed stadiums until 1962, a few NFL stadiums predate it, so requiring every team to use a dome is unrealistic.
Plus it's tough to upgrade a domed stadium to add extra luxury boxes or seats. That being said, 4 of the last 6 new NFL stadiums have retractable roofs, so they are becoming more common. The final potential source of reform is grassroots disgruntlement that leads to a political reaction against sports subsidies. Stadium politics has proven to be quite controversial in some cities. Some citizens apparently know that teams do little for the local economy and are concerned about using regressive sales taxes and lottery revenues to subsidize wealthy players, owners, and executives. Voters rejected public support for stadiums on ballot initiatives in Milwaukee, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle, although no team has failed to obtain a new stadium.
Still, more guarded, conditional support from constituents can cause political leaders to be more careful in negotiating a stadium deal. Initiatives that place more of the financial burden on facility users—via revenues from luxury or club boxes, personal seat licenses , naming rights, and ticket taxes—are likely to be more popular. Only domed and retractable roof stadiums are included, i.e. stadiums that cover both spectators and playing field. Wembley Stadium in London, which seats 90,000 spectators, is not included as the roof can only be partially closed. The stadiums are divided into current stadiums, closed stadiums, and future stadiums (those currently under-construction and those planned for construction). NFL teams with retractable roofs say weather conditions and fan comfort are the driving factors in their open-or-closed choices.
The decision can be easy on days of heavy rain or extreme temperature, but controversial in some other conditions, such as days when direct sun makes certain seats uncomfortable. Out of 225 regular-season and playoff games in the four stadiums, 149 have been played with the roof closed and 76 with it open. After an Arizona Cardinals home game, soon after the fans exit the stadium, the field leaves too. The four NFL teams with retractable-roof stadiums have chosen to play almost twice as many games with the roofs closed than with them open. That lone statistic raises the question of whether the convertible tops, such as the one planned for a new Atlanta stadium to be partially funded with public dollars, are worth the increased cost over a fixed dome.
FedExField has consistently made it to the list of worst NFL stadiums. One reason cited is its location, which makes it difficult for fans to reach especially via public transportation. The five-level venue has hosted college football games, as well as occasional international soccer and rugby matches. The Saints are the only team to have won a Super Bowl at home, a domed stadium.
Miami's Hard Rock Stadium hosted the championship game, and the Colts' home games were played in a retractable roof stadium. By having a field that rolled out of the stadium to fully bask in sunlight, the Cardinals could have a retractable roof and natural grass. Sports teams do collect substantial revenues from national licensing and broadcasting, but these must be balanced against funds leaving the area. Most professional athletes do not live where they play, so their income is not spent locally.
How Many Nfl Teams Have Enclosed Stadiums Moreover, players make inflated salaries for only a few years, so they have high savings, which they invest in national firms. Finally, though a new stadium increases attendance, ticket revenues are shared in both baseball and football, so that part of the revenue gain goes to other cities. On balance, these factors are largely offsetting, leaving little or no net local export gain to a community. Nicknamed the "Eighth Wonder of the World," the Astrodome was built to protect an entire sports area suitable for baseball and football, with seating for 66,000 spectators.
The Lucite-paneled dome, spanning 642 feet , is supported by a steel lattice. The entire interior is air-conditioned at 74 °F (23 °C) and fully lighted with power from its own electricity-generating system. The playing field, constructed 30 feet below grade, spans 150,000 square feet. In the future, more franchises may opt to break ground on domed and retractable-roof venues, but the data indicates it isn't in their best interest, unless every team is on an equal playing field. Until then, the teams with open-field stadiums appear best suited to march on to victory, especially when the games count the most.
MetLife's seating capacity is the biggest among all NFL stadiums. It hosted Super Bowl XLVIII, as well Wrestlemania, soccer games, as well numerous concerts. It covers 2.1 million square feet, provides parking for 28,000 vehicles, and cost $1.6 billion to construct.
Allegiant, one of the newest stadiums, is domed and has ten levels. It has a unique high-tech look with a lot of black and silver. It also hosts the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Rebels college football team. State Farm Stadium is regarded as an architectural landmark in the area, and has won awards for its design. It boasts the first retractable natural grass-playing surface in the US, as well as the first completely retractable roof operating at an incline.
State Farm is a multi-purpose facility, also having hosted soccer and basketball matches, motor sports, and trade shows. Opening in 2006, the stadium offers outstanding, unobstructed views for 63,400 fans with the ability to expand to 73,000 for mega-events. The stadium has hosted two Super Bowls , two National College Football Championship games, and the 2017 NCAA Final Four Basketball Championship. Encompassing over 1.7 million square feet of space, State Farm Stadium has numerous premium seating and space options including 88 lofts and 7,505 club seats.
In a study done by Pinnacle.com on scoring in the NFL from 2003 to 2015, they found that total points per game scored in outdoor venues was 42.4. Alternatively, in games played in a dome stadium teams combined for 46.2 ppg. While this margin may not seem significant, you have to keep in mind that this is an easily predictable 9% increase in scoring output. In the highly competitive world of the NFL and fantasy sports, no advantage can be ignored.
In fact, this correlation is so strong it is even factored into betting lines in Vegas. During the same period of time the average Over/Under betting lines in Vegas for indoor games was 44.6 ppg while outdoor games were listed, on average, at 41.7. As we enter Week 15 of the2020 NFL regular season, some teams are allowing fans into stadiums, while others are still playing games without anyone in attendance. For the club, the field's roof wasn't a luxury as much as it was a necessity.
After years of watching the Oilers indoors, the Houston fans let the team know that "the people wanted outdoor football," Texans vice president Tony Wyllie says. However, the fans' request presented a problem because the team shares the venue with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, a winter show that needs to be indoors. The public share included a state grant and a tax increase on rental cars. The Cowboys, thanks in part to their palatial stadium along with league-high levels of revenue and operating income, are the most valuable NFL franchise, according to Forbes, worth an estimated $6.5 billion. Below is the list of the oldest active NFL stadiums in the United States as of 2020.
This order of the oldest National Football League venues will change when the Oakland Raiders move into their new stadium in 2020. Below is the list of oldest NFL Stadiums in the game as of 2020 for each NFL team. The NFL history is plentiful, and the venues play a critical role in each team's history.
With every stadium having different architecture, designs, seating capacities, and more, you are bound to have a different experience in each arena. U.S. Bank also ranks among the best, and its design is considered a trendsetter for stadiums that have come after it. It has a roof that mimics the effect of a retractable one, effectively protecting fans and players from the city's chilly weather. MetLife Stadium was originally envisioned as a retractable-roof stadium, but the owners of the New York Giants and New York Jets, who share the facility, balked at the cost, according to a report about the stadium. With two teams playing on the field, the stadium gets more football-related use than many NFL facilities, noted Lee Slade, a senior principal at Walter P. Moore. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, many NFL stadiums prevented fans from attending games early in the regular season.
As the year unfolded, with the NFL losing billions of dollars in stadium revenue, teams started welcoming a smaller number of fans back into their buildings. Pricing is also a factor when it comes to building domed stadiums. The added price of an extra roof often inflates the budget of a stadium. Any city or financier of a stadium would not want extra tens or hundreds of millions added to their stadium project because of an "unnecessary" component. There are, however, some college football stadiums that are not outdoor.
The other two play in indoor stadiums that are home to NFL teams. Four teams have closed roofs, including the Detroit Lions, Las Vegas Raiders, New Orleans Saints, and Minnesota Vikings. Five have retractable roofs that can be opened or closed, including the Minnesota Vikings. SoFi Stadium is an unprecedented and unparalleled sports and entertainment destination built in Inglewood, CA, by Los Angeles Rams Owner/Chairman E. Stanley Kroenke. The first indoor-outdoor stadium to be constructed, SoFi Stadium is the home of the Los Angeles Chargers and the Los Angeles Rams. Contributing greatly to the cacophony is the partial roof that covers 70 percent of the fans from the elements and reflects sound back to the field.
Also, with the smallest footprint in the NFL, Qwest Field has a tight seating arrangement that puts fans really close to the field and concentrates their noise. Cleveland had lost the Browns to Baltimore, where owner Art Modell moved and renamed the team in 1996 in frustration after not getting a new or renovated stadium in Ohio. The Browns were revived in 1999 after Cleveland agreed to build a new stadium for the team. The city borrowed its share of the cost of the stadium and initially relied on an alcohol and cigarette "sin tax" to pay off this debt before shifting to the general fund.
The city receives some game-day revenue, such as parking and a tax on ticket sales. A better approach would be to use antitrust to break up existing leagues into competing business entities. Under these circumstances no league would be likely to vacate an economically viable city, and, if one did, a competing league would probably jump in.
Other consumer-friendly consequences would ow from such an arrangement. Competition would force ineffective owners to sell or go belly up in their struggle with better managed teams. Taxpayers would pay lower local, state, and federal subsidies. Teams would have lower revenues, but because most of the costs of a team are driven by revenues, most teams would remain solvent. Player salaries and team profits would fall, but the number of teams and player jobs would rise.
Monopoly leagues convert fans' (hence cities') willingness to pay for a team into an opportunity for teams to extract revenues. But in most cases, local and state governments have paid over $100 million in stadium subsidy, and in some cases have financed the entire enterprise. A professional sports team, therefore, creates a "public good" or "externality"—a benefit enjoyed by consumers who follow sports regardless of whether they help pay for it. The magnitude of this benefit is unknown, and is not shared by everyone; nevertheless, it exists. As a result, sports fans are likely to accept higher taxes or reduced public services to attract or keep a team, even if they do not attend games themselves. These fans, supplemented and mobilized by teams, local media, and local interests that benefit directly from a stadium, constitute the base of political support for subsidized sports facilities.
A second rationale for subsidized stadiums is that stadiums generate more local consumer satisfaction than alternative investments. Professional sports teams are very small businesses, comparable to large department or grocery stores. They capture public attention far out of proportion to their economic significance. Broadcast and print media give so much attention to sports because so many people are fans, even if they do not actually attend games or buy sports-related products.
Hard Rock Stadium is the home to the Miami Dolphins National Football Team out in Miami, Florida. The football stadium frequently hosts college playoff games and is hosting the 2020 SuperBowl. Here are the Hard Rock Stadium parking tips if you plan on driving to the venue.
Mercedes-Benz Superdome is home to the New Orleans Saints NFL team out in New Orleans, Louisiana. The venue is best known as a safe haven after Hurricane Katrina, along with hosting countless college playoff games and SuperBowls. Here are the Mercedes-Benz Superdome parking tips if you plan on driving to the venue. Bank of America Stadium is the home venue of the Carolina Panthers. The stadium is located in Charlotte, the biggest city in North Carolina.
Bank of America Stadium was built specifically for football games and has a capacity of 75,523 seats. Aside from the Lions, Ford Field also hosts college footballs games, wrestling championships, marching band finals, and basketball games, among other events. The stadium takes in a lot of natural light that reaches the field because of its giant windows. Over the last 3 seasons, the passers with the biggest indoor/outdoor splits are Drew Brees and Matthew Stafford . Drew Brees averages 4.1 more fantasy ppg indoors while Stafford brings home 3.8 more points.
This means you can draft a QB who is more likely to get off to a hot start by targeting these QBs. In 2007, the NRG Stadium became the new Reliant Stadium and was a multi-purpose stadium in Houston, Texas, in the United States. Built at the cost of $352 million, this stadium has a seating capacity of 72,220 and was constructed for $352 million. Among the first retractable roofed facilities built for the NFL, it has a seating capacity of 72,220.
In 2006 the stadium hosted a memorable game between two of the most successful American football teams, the Chicago Bears and Cardinals. Its major events include the 2011 BCS National Championship games and Pro Bowl and Super Bowl XLIX of 2015. Furthermore, the State Farm Stadium was also selected for hosting Soccer CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2015. In 2010, the first bowl game was played in this stadium and became the third-highest attendant game of all Cotton Bowl games.
AT&T also holds a record for arranging 101,763 seats for fans in professional wrestling of 2016. "The football games have probably the least to do with that decision," Waggoner said. If a municipality wants the stadium for use in concerts, rodeos or other year-round events, a closed building is the way to go. Purists who see football as an outdoor game may be mollified by the open-stadium option of a retractable roof. Now, however, it seems like NFL teams have more money than they know what to do with.
A number of new stadiums have been built in the past few years. And, with many teams recently switching cities, a few more new builds are in the works. The new Inglewood stadium being built for the Rams and Chargers will have a retractable roof.
