Did you know that despite being one of the most storied franchises in the National Football League, the Chicago Bears play in the league’s smallest stadium? There are several interesting facts about NFL stadiums, as some of these venues were built several decades ago. Over the last two decades especially, NFL stadiums have gone through drastic changes. Keep reading for more NFL stadium facts.
Here are 10 NFL stadium facts to know:
- The Superdome in New Orleans has hosted the most Super Bowls. (source) While south Florida is home to the most Super Bowls hosted (11), the Superdome in New Orleans is the one stadium where the most Championship games have taken place. The current home to the New Orleans Saints has hosted seven Super Bowls.
- XII – Dallas Cowboys 27, Denver Broncos 10
- XV – Oakland Raiders 27, Philadelphia Eagles 10
- XX – Chicago Bears 46, New England Patriots 10
- XXIV – San Francisco 55, Denver Broncos 10
- XXXI – Green Bay Packers 35, New England Patriots 21
- XXXVI – New England Patriots 20, St. Louis Rams 17
- XLVII – Baltimore Ravens 34, San Francisco 49ers 31
- Soldier Field is the smallest stadium in the NFL. (source) The Chicago Bears have called Soldier Field home since 1971, despite the stadium being constructed in 1924. Currently, the venue seats just 61,500, which makes it the smallest stadium in the National Football League.
- Only four NFL stadiums don’t have naming rights. (source) Naming rights on NFL stadiums can be rather lucrative, as SoFi is currently spending $30 million per year to have their brand on the home of the Los Angeles Chargers and Rams. Currently, only four NFL franchises don’t utilize a corporate-sponsored name on their home stadium, with these being the Buffalo Bills (Bills Stadium), the Green Bay Packers (Lambeau Field), the Cincinnati Bengals (Paul Brown Stadium), and the Chicago Bears (Soldier Field).
- Florida is home to the most NFL stadiums. (source) Both Florida and California host three NFL franchises. Florida has the Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Jacksonville Jaguars, while California has the Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers, and San Francisco 49ers. However, the three franchises in Florida all play in their own individual home stadiums, while the Chargers and Rams share SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. In Florida, the Jaguars play at TIAA Bank Field, the Buccaneers host games at Raymond James Stadium, and Hard Rock Stadium is home to the Miami Dolphins.
- There are 32 NFL Franchises, but only 30 NFL stadiums. (source) There are more franchises in the league than there are stadiums, as the New York Jets and New York Giants both play at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams have their home games at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. It was on January 29, 2016 when the Rams and Chargers came into agreement to share a stadium, but the Jets and Giants have been playing in the same venues for much longer. The two franchises shared Giants Stadium from 1976 through 2010, and have shared MetLife stadium since.
- SoFi Stadium is the most expensive NFL stadium ever built. (source) It officially opened in 2020 and cost an incredible $5.5 billion to build. SoFi Stadium is home to the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams, and is officially the most expensive NFL stadium ever constructed. It was so expensive that the cost of the venue was more than twice the price of the second most expensive stadium, which is MetLife Stadium at $1.7 billion ($2.03 billion adjusted for inflation).
- TIAA Bank Stadium is the only NFL stadium to have pools. (source)TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida, is the only NFL stadium that allows fans to pay for tickets where they can eat, drink, and hang out in the pool while catching the action on the field. The pools were added in 2014, when the stadium was named Everbank Field.
- The world’s largest video scoreboards can be seen at Chargers and Rams home games. (source) Prior to officially opening SoFi Stadium in 2020, the largest video scoreboards in the world were completed — 360-foot, double-sided 4K video boards. The previous record for the largest video scoreboards had been held by AT&T Stadium, home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
- MetLife Stadium has the highest seating capacity in the NFL. (source) AT&T Stadium has the highest seating capacity in the National Football League, but its MetLife Stadium that has the highest listed seating capacity, as the max capacity for Giants and Jets home games is 82,500.
- The highest attendance ever for an NFL game was at Cowboys Stadium in 2009. (source) To this day, the highest attendance at an NFL stadium for a game was in 2009 at then-Cowboys Stadium, as 105,121 were in attendance. The Giants ultimately won the game by a score of 33-31, after outsourcing Dallas 13-7 in the fourth quarter.
