20 Biggest American Football Stadiums

Ryan — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:25:24 +0000

The experience of watching a football game live in a stadium full of fans is completely different from the experience of watching the game on television. Part of the difference is, of course, the fact that you’re watching the game take place in 3D and the sight isn’t altered by the whims of a cameraman. However, the real reason that people love to watch football games at stadiums is because the energy of the crowd completely changes the feeling of watching the game. Crowds of people with their cheering and booing, their excitement and anger, their painted faces and hands filled with stadium food are crowds of people that add another dimension to the game.

If you really want to get the full effect of watching a football game in the midst of a crowd then you should make it a point to visit one of the these theaters of footballing dreams, some of which are among the largest stadiums in the world. It is here where the game will really come to life!

The Biggest American Football Stadiums in America

We start our list with the 15 largest football stadiums in the United States and then move onto the 5 biggest football stadiums outside the US.

15. Kyle Field, Texas

Kyle Field [Capacity 82,000] Here’s a Texas-sized stadium to get some tickets to if you happen to be in the state. It has the distinction of being called the most intimidating football field in the nation in terms of home team advantage.

14. Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, Texas

Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium [Capacity 85,000] Texas is a great place to go to watch football in a crowd because these fans get so passionate about the sport. This Austin stadium is currently under renovation to become a little big bigger than it is today.

13. Memorial Stadium, Nebraska

Memorial Stadium [Capacity 85,000] This Lincoln, Nebraska stadium is frequently called ‘The Sea of Red’. Can you guess what the game colors are that are worn by the die-hard fans that attend these stadium events?

12. Jordan Hare Stadium, Alabama

Jordan Hare Stadium [Capacity 87,000] This is the Alabama home to the Auburn Tigers. When it opened in 1939, it had only about 7,000 seats so it’s certainly come a long way!

11. Rose Bowl, California

Rose Bowl [Capacity 91,000] This isn’t the largest football stadium in the Los Angeles area but it is probably the one that most people know about. If you can remember back to your New Years’ Eve hangover, this is the stadium that you watched on TV. It’s much better in person than even HD can reveal.

10. FedEx Field, Maryland

FedEx Field [Capacity 91,000] How’s that for some branding? Located in Landover, Maryland it is the home stadium of the Washington Redskins. It’s only been open since 1997 so it’s a highly modern stadium with five levels of seating.

9. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Florida

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium [Capacity 92,000] Florida is a state that is serious about its football and you can feel it in the air when this Gainesville stadium fills to capacity. It’s had a bunch of official and unofficial names over the years and continues to most frequently be referred to as The Swamp.

8. Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, California

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum [Capacity 92,000] This Trojans stadium is a National Historic Landmark and a favorite sight for Southern California visitors to see. That’s all fine and dandy but it also limits the extent of renovations that can be done, which has caused many to say that it’s not really good for modern football. Without skyboxes and club seats, many people just don’t want to see the game.

7. Bryant-Denny Stadium, Alabama

Bryant-Denny Stadium [Capacity 92,000] This Tuscaloosa, Alabama stadium was named in part for one of the favorite coaches who made his career here (Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant). You know these fans are devoted since every single home game here has been sold out for the past twenty years.

6. Tiger Stadium, Louisiana

Tiger Stadium [Capacity 92,000] This may not be the largest of the American football stadiums but you wouldn’t know if it you listened to the amazing rumble of the noise here. In fact, the extent of the cheering here has caused this Louisiana stadium to earn the nickname ‘Death Valley’. It was originally ‘Deaf Valley’ but apparently no one there could hear because the name got changed as the result of being mispronounced too many times.

5. Sanford Stadium, Georgia

Sanford Stadium [Capacity 93,000] Located in Athens, Georgia this is the stadium where the Bulldogs play. It is infamous for being a stadium that has seen frequent renovations designed to enlarge its capacity while maintaining the look of the stadium. You wouldn’t want to upset football fans by drastically changing the place where games are played!

4. Ohio Stadium, Ohio

Ohio Stadium [Capacity 102,000] This home of the Ohio Buckeyes in Columbus has the honor of being on the list of National Register of Historic Places. At its most packed, it’s held over 105,000 people.

3. Neyland Stadium, Tennessee

Neyland Stadium [Capacity 102,000] The Tennessee Volunteers play at this Knoxville stadium where over 100,000 fans cheer and jeer at their efforts. The stadium was actually slightly larger a few years ago but added ‘club level’ seats that reduced its size. Additional club-level seating is planned which will again reduce the size of the stadium by abut 2,000 seats.

2. Beaver Stadium, Pennsylvania

Beaver Stadium [Capacity 107,000] This Pennsylvania Stadium can easily roar with a crowd since it holds nearly as many people as the Michigan Stadium. In fact, it currently considers itself the largest stadium because Michigan Stadium is undergoing two years of renovations that will temporarily reduce its capacity and allow this stadium to take the spotlight for awhile.

1. Michigan Stadium, Michigan

Michigan Stadium [Capacity 107,000] This Ann Arbor football stadium which is home to the Wolverines is officially the largest American football stadium. It has always been a big stadium, opening in 1927 with a capacity of 72,000 and a design that cost nearly one million dollars. Today there are frequently more than 110,000 people crammed in here when you count all of the players and media folks. Now that’s a place to go feel the action!

Check out the 5 biggest non-US football stadiums ->

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The 5 Largest (American) Football Stadiums outside of America

Ryan — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:19:13 +0000

Football is a very American game. (In fact, say the word almost anywhere else and people will assume that you’re talking about soccer.) But football has made its way to other places in the past and that’s resulted in some great stadiums outside of the United States. The following are all American stadiums that have been used by American teams playing football in other countries. The majority of them were stadiums associated with NFL Europa, an American football league in Europe which ended in 2007.

5. Rogers Centre, Toronto

Rogers Centre [Capacity 50,000] This stadium located in Toronto is home to the International Bowl, the only post-season bowl game that is played outside of the United States. Although it’s partially a Canadian football stadium (home to the Toronto Argonauts), it is also a part-time stadium to the United States’ Buffalo Bills.

4. Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen

Veltins-Arena [Capacity 61,000] This multi-purpose stadium which hosts everything from football games to concerts is considered to be one of the most modern stadiums in the world due to features such as the a retractable roof. Located in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, it is named after a local brewery (since everyone knows that beer and football go hand-in-hand). It was an NFL Europa stadium in the 2003-2004 season.

3. Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh

Murrayfield Stadium [Capacity 67,000] Located in Edinburgh, this is the largest sports stadium in Scotland. It was the stadium for NFL Europa games off and on throughout the life of the league.

2. Olympic Stadium, Berlin

Olympic Stadium [Capacity 74,000] Originally opened for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, this was the home of one of the NFL Europa teams until the league shut down in 2007. It remains open today as the host to several different annual events but it’s no longer a place for American football games.

1. Wembley Stadium, London

Wembley Stadium [Capacity 90,000] This huge stadium in London holds the distinction of being the largest stadium in the world which has all of its seats under cover. It is the second largest stadium in Europe and was used for NFL Europa Games in the early 1990’s.

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