The Top 10 Largest Stadiums in the USA: Tradition and Revitalization

There are sports infrastructures that speak of history, intense emotions, unimaginable achievements, and unpredictable plays. Many of them are over a hundred years old and still host great athletic feats. Iconic symbols of the places where they are located, these facilities have been renewed, expanded, made safer and more technologically advanced over time, while continuing to reach new records and increasing notoriety.

In the United States, there are eight of the ten largest stadiums in the world by capacity. Michigan Stadium ranks first with an actual capacity of 107,601 spectators. Its opening date? October 1, 1927, a whopping 97 years ago. And behind this famous football arena, there are other glorious facilities, which, although built in the early decades of the last century, have always retained their architectural beauty and contributed to the development of great cities through forward-thinking construction choices and subsequent equally innovative and bold interventions.

Michigan Stadium. Known as “The Big House”, this massive facility is the largest college stadium in America. It is the home of the Michigan Wolverines, the team of Michigan University. Located in the town of Ann Arbor, since its opening (1927), it has been renovated several times without altering its original architecture. Recently, there have been reports that the owners plan to increase its seating capacity to 150,000.

Beaver Stadium. Opened in 1960, it is a college football stadium located on the campus of Pennsylvania State University. With a capacity of 106,572 seats, Beaver Stadium is the second largest stadium in the U.S. and the fourth in the world. The Penn State Nittany Lions team plays here, and the stadium has been expanded six times; the most significant renovation occurred in 2001, when a grandstand was added to the south side. In 2023, Pennsylvania State University approved a new major $700 million renovation project to be completed before the 2027 season.

Ohio Stadium. It is the fourth largest college stadium in the country, with a capacity of 102,780 seats. Located in Columbus, on the campus of Ohio State University, it is an American football stadium. Opened in 1922, it has undergone several renovations over the years. Starting in 2000, expansion work was carried out in phases, removing the track and adding seating that increased the capacity to 101,568 in 2001 (with a $200 million investment) and to 102,329 in 2007. The facility is also known as The Horseshoe for its distinctive horseshoe shape, designed by architect Howard Dwight Smith and inspired by the Circus Maximus in Rome. In 1974, it became the first football stadium to be officially listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, the official U.S. government list of sites, buildings, structures, districts, and works for their historical significance or “great artistic value.”

Rose Bowl Stadium. Located in Pasadena, California, it is one of the “institutions” of college football. The Rose Bowl is an open-air stadium with 89,702 seats, inaugurated in 1922 and recognized as a National Historic Landmark and California Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. It hosts the UCLA Bruins’ games, the team of the University of California, Los Angeles. Every year, the Rose Bowl Game, a college football competition, takes place in this stadium on New Year’s Day. The facility has often been renovated for major international events, including the 1994 FIFA World Cup final, won on penalties by Brazil against Italy.

Lambeau Field. Green Bay, Wisconsin, with its 106,000 inhabitants, is the smallest city in the United States to host a National Football League franchise, the Green Bay Packers. And this is where Lambeau Field is located, with 81,441 seats, the third-largest NFL stadium. Inaugurated in 1957, it was the first stadium built specifically for NFL games, not other leagues. Originally named City Stadium, in 1965, it was dedicated to Earl “Curly” Lambeau, the facility’s founder, player, and first coach of the Green Bay Packers. The stadium has been sold out since November 1959, and the waiting list for tickets is extremely long. The most significant renovation occurred between 2001 and 2003, with funds coming directly from the home team—or rather, its fans, as the Green Bay Packers are publicly owned, mostly by their supporters. One last note: Lambeau Field was nicknamed “The Frozen Tundra” after the NFL championship final in December 1967, played at a temperature of -25°C (the game is also known as the Ice Bowl).

Notre Dame Stadium. Inaugurated in 1930, it is the football stadium of the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, and home of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The design of the facility was overseen by Knute Rockne, one of the most talented coaches in college football history, who was also the coach of Notre Dame University at the time. He is responsible for the decision to keep the distance between the playing field and the stands to a minimum and to build a stadium with features identical—but smaller in scale—to those of Michigan Stadium. With 60,000 seats for decades, Notre Dame Stadium was significantly expanded and completely renovated between 1994 and 1997, adding an upper ring and over 20,000 seats, bringing the current capacity to 77,622. Home games have been sold out since 1964. Notre Dame is one of the most distinctive college football stadiums, also known for its view of the Word of Life mural on the university library façade. The painting is also called Touchdown Jesus because it depicts Jesus with his arms raised, in the same way, the referee signals a touchdown.

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Known as one of the greatest stadiums in the world, the Coliseum has been a National Historic Landmark since 1984. A multifunctional facility, opened to the public in 1923, it has a capacity of 77,500 seats. It is home to the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans football club and has also been the stage for two editions of the Olympic Games, in 1932 and 1984; the next will be the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The first Super Bowl was held at the Coliseum in January 1967. Over the years, the stadium has undergone several modernization and revitalization interventions. The latest was in 2019, with the renovation of all seating and the creation of new luxury boxes and club suites. Ahead of the LA28 Olympics, an ambitious new restyling is set to begin, including the construction of a track above the field, while below the playing surface, there is consideration for an area dedicated to athlete warm-ups and check-ins before competing. There is also the idea of creating a mechanical platform that would slowly lift athletes to the field for a dramatic entrance. In short, the list is long, but no intervention will change the stadium’s original design, inspired by Egyptian, Spanish, and Mediterranean Renaissance styles.

Caesars Superdome. This massive indoor arena in New Orleans (previously known as the Louisiana Superdome and Mercedes-Benz Superdome) takes its current name from its main sponsor, Caesar Entertainment, one of the largest hotel-casino chains in the world. Inaugurated in 1975, the multifunctional facility has a capacity of 73,208 seats for football games (expandable to 76,468); 73,432 for basketball games; 73,432 for baseball games. The Caesars Superdome covers an area of 5.3 hectares and has a dome-shaped roof, which at 83 meters in height and 207 meters in diameter makes it the largest fixed-dome structure in the world. The stadium hosts the home games of the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). Seven American football finals have been played here, with the next mega event being the 2025 Super Bowl. Over the years, the structure has been renovated several times, with work also done on the playing surface and expansions in the stands. During Hurricane Katrina (2005), it was used as a shelter for displaced people, earning the nickname Shelter or Last Resort, which some New Orleans residents still use to refer to it.

Wrigley Field. Home of the Chicago Cubs, inaugurated in 1914, it is the second-oldest stadium in Major League Baseball (MLB) after Fenway Park. With a capacity of 41,268 seats, Wrigley Field has hosted several memorable games in the Football World Series. The facility is named after the Cubs’ second owner, chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr., who purchased the club in 1918 and decided to give his name to the stadium (originally called Weeghman Park). Although maintaining its location and structure, the stadium has been renovated and expanded many times over the years. The most recent renovation occurred between 2013 and 2019: expansion of the stands, renovation of locker rooms, executive offices, press rooms, fan entertainment areas, new video boards, and restoration of the historic red sign at the main entrance. The current owners, the Ricketts family (Thomas S. Ricketts is the president of the Chicago Cubs), are considering a new major modernization project for the facility while strictly maintaining its historic and architectural charm.

Fenway Park. In the top 10 largest stadiums in the USA, the place of honor goes to the oldest baseball field in America, Fenway Park in Boston, nicknamed America’s Most Beloved Ballpark. The stadium is a Historic Landmark, the first one in the country. It was inaugurated on April 20, 1912, and is home to the Boston Red Sox. In a century of life, Fenway Park has witnessed all the major moments of baseball history, from the incredible achievements of Babe Ruth to the tragic sinking of the Titanic. Many of its distinctive elements have been preserved intact over time, such as The Green Monster, the great 11-meter-high wall in the left outfield, which has prevented many possible home runs.