NFL Stadiums – a brief overview
As many of you may already know, the National Football League (NFL) is the top professional football league in North America. Now, just to set the record straight, we are talking about American Football here – not soccer as it is referred to across the pond. And on that note, with the NFL being as prestigious as it is, there are some absolutely phenomenal NFL stadiums which we would like to highlight right here. We’ve decided to come up with a list of our top 5 according to their capacity, features, and overall appearance, and all of these details can be found below.
Our list of the best
As promised, our list of the top 5 NFL stadiums is ready for you to browse through here, and the list has been fully updated for 2021.
AT&T Stadium
First up we’ve got the AT&T Stadium. Now, this isn’t the largest stadium currently in the NFL, with a capacity of 80,000, but it’s not far off! The real kicker with this stadium is the fully retractable roof that many large stadiums around the world are implementing these days. And as you might imagine, when this roof gets closed, the atmosphere when the home team, Dallas Cowboys, plays a game, it can get absolutely electric in there. The stadium was first opened in 2009, and although the original plan was to get it built for just over $600 million, the overall project ended up costing around $1.15 billion.
With that said, when you look at the stadium, it does look like one of the very best in the league. And when they actually open up the standing capacity at the stadium, you can actually squeeze in around 105,000 spectators, which is something that occurred when the stadium was first opened back in 2009.
MetLife Stadium
Opened in 2010, the MetLife Stadium just has to be one of the best NFL stadiums to come to life over the last few decades. Of course, the MetLife Stadium is the home of New York’s famed Giants and Jets teams, both of whom share the venue throughout the NFL season. As it happens, this is the largest stadium in the league in terms of seating capacity, as you can fit in 82,500 fans for any given home game. Naturally, this stadium sees a lot more action than some of the others listed here too, given that it’s shared by two major teams. And if this wasn’t enough to show how awesome this stadium is, the arena was built for a price of $1.6 billion, making it the most expensive arena that had ever been constructed in the NFL at the time.
Interestingly, despite the fact that the MetLife Stadium hosts two New York teams, the stadium itself is actually located across the border in New Jersey – go figure that one! But given the quality and size that this stadium offers, it’s definitely worth the trip.
Mercedes-Benz Superdome
This stadium is not the largest in the NFL by a long-shot. In fact, it doesn’t even make the top 5 for its capacity, since the current maximum is just over 73,000. However, it’s not just the capacity that makes a venue one of the best NFL stadiums currently in existence. For starters, this stadium has been there since 1975, which makes it a bit more historical compared to some of the others that have been constructed in the last decade or so. On another note, the 200 meter plus diameter of the stadium does make it the largest ‘dome stadium’ currently in existence, which we feel is pretty cool.
It’s also the venue where you can watch events like the Sugar Bowl for NFL, New Orleans Bowl for NCAA competition, and much more. Being down in New Orleans, you’ve also got the guarantee of visiting one of America’s best cities should you make the trip.
Lambeau Field
Having first opened in 1957, Lambeau Field is one that has entertained fans for generations, never mind decades. The stadium was established for a cool $960,000, which is just over $5 million when adjusted for inflation. Despite this price tag being significantly lower than many other NFL stadiums, it’s actually one of the largest in the league, being able to accommodate over 81,000 when full. Although with that said, the stadium has never actually been full, despite the popularity of its home team – the Green Bay Packers. This stadium is also somewhat unique because it is owned by the city of Green Bay, not by any private investment company.
And although we’ve stated above that the ground has remained in place since 1957, making it the oldest stadium in the NFL, the ground has received several makeovers. In fact, there have been 9 separate expansion efforts throughout the years, but what would you expect when the ground is home to a team this large?
FedEx Field
With a capacity of 82,000 spectators, FedEx Field is the second-largest in the NFL, behind only MetLife Stadium. But up until 2010, FedEx Field actually did have the record for the largest capacity, as it originally had a seating plan of 91,000, before it was reduced to allow for further features to be implemented into the stadium. When the venue first came to life, it carried a price tag of just over $250 million, which again, isn’t all that much compared to some of the other NFL stadiums. As the home team has gradually grown in popularity, however, the stadium has expanded several teams and undergone a few great renovation attempts.
On the subject of team popularity, the Washington Football Team held the NFL record for most home fans coming along to home games, and they held this record from 2004 to 2010. While this is awesome, FedEx Field has never been fully occupied, which is something that would be awesome to see in the future. You could also check out our post on the Top MLB stadiums if baseball interests you.