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Highlights
- Sports stadiums are expensive to construct due to factors such as size, complexity, materials, labor, and location, but they can be a profitable investment for teams through revenue from various sources.
- Sports stadiums have a positive impact on the local community, creating jobs, boosting tourism, and increasing tax revenue.
- The article highlights several of the world's biggest and most expensive stadiums, including Levi's Stadium, Singapore National Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, AT&T Stadium, Yankee Stadium, Wembley Stadium, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, MetLife Stadium, Allegiant Stadium, and SoFi Stadium. Each stadium has unique features and economic impacts on their respective regions.
Sports stadiums are not just where games are played.
They are hallowed grounds where faithful fans gather to cheer on their teams and create lasting memories.
The biggest stadiums in the world are often the most expensive, given the infrastructure and size involved.
Sports teams make money through their stadiums in a variety of ways, including ticket sales, concessions, merchandise sales, naming rights, and rentals.
Constructing stadiums is a billion-dollar project. Factors contributing to the high cost include size, complexity, materials, labor, and location.
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NBA arenas tend to be among the most expensive structures in the world, costing millions and billions of dollars to construct.Despite the high cost of construction, the biggest stadiums can be a very profitable investment for teams.
Revenue generated from ticket sales, concessions, merchandise sales, naming rights, and rentals can help teams offset the construction cost and generate a profit.
In addition, sports stadiums can have a positive impact on the local community. They can create jobs, boost tourism, and increase tax revenue.
10 Levi's Stadium (United States)
$1.3 Billion
Levi's Stadium is a football stadium located in Santa Clara, California, and it has served as the home venue for the NFL's San Francisco 49ers since 2014.
The Stadium was designed by HNTB, an internationally renowned architectural firm, which focused on creating a multipurpose venue with a robust fan experience and green technology as top priorities.
It has a seating capacity of 68,500, expandable to approximately 75,000 to host major events.
The Stadium has created an in-stadium app designed specifically for home football games for the 49ers to provide a better fan experience for fans and guests.
In its first ten years, Levi's Stadium generated $2 billion for the local economy.
While the stadium was built for an NFL team, the study showed that a big chunk of the economic impact came from non-NFL events, especially live music concerts.
In 2023, Taylor Swift's two concerts at the Stadium generated $33 million in economic impact in the vicinity of the stadium.
9 Singapore National Stadium (Singapore)
$1.31 Billion
The Singapore National Stadium is a multipurpose stadium in Kallang, Singapore, which serves as the national stadium of Singapore.
The structure opened in 2015, has a capacity of 55,000 for football matches and also hosts rugby, cricket, and, and other athletic events.
The stadium features an 810,000 square feet, 272-foot tall steel dome with a retractable roof, which was stated to be the largest dome structure in the world.'
Dragages Singapore Pte. Ltd. constructed the stadium. The construction cost $1.3 billion and was funded through a combination of public and private funds.
The Singapore Sports Hub Consortium reportedly contributed $600 million, which covered over 45 percent of the cost.
The Singapore National Stadium generated $250 million in economic impact in fiscal year 2022-23, from April 2022 through March 2023.
Taylor Swift is expected to perform at the National Stadium from March 2 to 4, 2024, when her Eras Tour is slated to reach Singapore.
8 Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (England)
$1.33 Billion
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is England's third-largest football stadium and the largest club ground in London, with a seating capacity of 62,850.
It is the home shrine of Premier League soccer club Tottenham Hotspur in north London.
It is designed to be a multipurpose stadium, and as such, it is the home of the NFL in the UK. Balfour Beatty, Mace, and BAM Construct constructed the stadium.
It features the world's first dividing, retractable football pitch, revealing a synthetic turf field for NFL London Games, concerts, and other events.
The stadium cost $1.33 billion and construction was financed through a combination of the club's resources, bank loans, and club revenues.
Since its opening in 2019, the stadium has generated massive amounts of revenue, and it is expected to "break even" in terms of cost before the end of 2025 (at its current rate of profitability).
According to the Tottenham club website, the stadium brought in $542 million in 2022, a 22.7 percent increase over 2021 ($441 million).
7 AT&T Stadium (United States)
$1.48 Billion
AT&T Stadium is a retractable-roof stadium in Arlington, Texas, in the United States.
It is the home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys, and construction was completed in 2009.
It is also the home of the Cotton Bowl Classic, the Big 12 Championship Game, and the Southwest Classic.
The stadium can seat around 80,000 people, but it can be reconfigured to hold approximately 100,000 visitors for concerts and similar events, making it the largest stadium in the NFL by seating capacity.
Originally estimated at $650 million, the stadium's construction more than doubled, ringing up at $1.48 billion in total.
The City of Arlington provided over $325 million (including interest) in bonds as funding, and the NFL provided the Cowboys with an additional $150 million loan, following its policy for facilitating financing for the construction of new stadiums.
In its inaugural year, the stadium brought in $420 million, the biggest revenue generated by any stadium in its maiden year.
6 Yankee Stadium (United States)
$1.5 Billion
The New York Yankees are baseball royalty and, as such, deserve nothing less than a palace for their home turf; hence, Yankee Stadium stands as their regal domain.
The stadium is located in the Bronx, and has the sixth-largest seating capacity among the 30 stadiums of Major League Baseball (MLB).
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The NFL is a true cash cow, generating a staggering $11.9 billion in revenue in 2022.Turner Construction Company built Yankee Stadium, and the construction cost stands at $2.3 billion, $1.2 billion of which came courtesy of taxpayers.
In 2022, the Yankees reportedly generated $345 million in revenue from gate fees.
That figure encompasses ticket sales, parking fees, concessions, and local merchandise, painting a vivid picture of the stadium's economic impact on the franchise.
5 Wembley Stadium (England)
$1.5 Billion
Buckingham Palace is to the Queen what Wembley Stadium is to English sports fans: a hallowed edifice where the roar of 90,000 fans replaces the echoes of royal decrees.
Wembley is the largest Stadium in the United Kingdom.
It was designed by Australian construction firm Multiplex and Populous and Foster and Partners, and construction was funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the London Development Agency, Sport England, Wembley National Stadium Limited, and the English Football Association.
The Stadium is equipped with many facilities, like 2,618 toilets, eight restaurants, 34 bars, 98 kitchens, and 688 food and drink service points.
Wembley's initial construction cost was $1.5 billion, the most expensive in the United Kingdom.
4 Mercedes-Benz Stadium (United States)
$1.5 Billion
Located in the center of downtown Atlanta, Georgia, Mercedes-Benz Stadium stands as a testament to innovation and architectural brilliance.
The stadium opened in the summer of 2017, replacing the Georgia Dome. Mercedes-Benz Stadium is the property of the Georgia state government.
It serves as home to the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL and Atlanta United FC of MLS; this state-of-the-art stadium has redefined the fan experience.
Turner Construction Company constructed it in partnership with HOK and Moody Corporations.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium boasts a retractable roof, the largest of its kind, which allows for natural light and ventilation, creating an unparalleled ambiance.
The stadium's unique design incorporates a circular halo video board, the largest in the world, offering 360-degree immersive viewing experiences.
The Georgia World Congress Center's board of governors covered most of the construction cost, and the city contributed over $200 million.
Before the stadium was completed, German commercial vehicle brand Mercedes-Benz acquired the naming rights and sponsorship until 2027; the naming rights contract alone is valued at $324 million.
3 MetLife Stadium (United States)
$1.7 Billion
Metlife is the first outdoor stadium in a cold-weather city to host the Super Bowl, redefining the boundaries of championship football.
Located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, MetLife Stadium is a multipurpose stadium that serves as the home field for the New York Giants and New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL).
The stadium opened on April 10, 2010, as the successor to Giants Stadium. At the construction cost of $1.7 billion, MetLife Stadium was the most expensive stadium built in North America at the time of its completion.
MetLife hosted Super Bowl XLVIII and is slated to host multiple matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The stadium has an 82,500 seating capacity, making it the largest NFL stadium in total seating.
In 2011, insurance company Metlife signed a 25-year naming contract worth $20 million per year.
2 Allegiant Stadium (United States)
$1.9 Billion
Allegiant Stadium, an architectural jewel in the Nevada desert, has transformed the Las Vegas skyline and set a new standard for sporting and entertainment experiences.
At $1.9 billion, it is the second-most expensive stadium in the world, and home to Las Vegas Raiders of the NFL.
The stadium was opened in 2019 and is owned by the Las Vegas Stadium Authority. The arena boasts a domed structure with ten levels spread across an extensive 62 acres and a retractable natural grass surface.
The construction cost for Allegiant Stadium was estimated at $1.9 billion, primarily funded by the Las Vegas Raiders – after the franchise acquired a $650 million loan from Bank of America.
Public financing also contributed to completing this state-of-the-art arena.
1 SoFi Stadium (United States)
$5.5 Billion
SoFi Stadium is a marvel of modern engineering, a testament to human ingenuity.
At a cost of $5.5 billion, SoFi Stadium is the most expensive stadium ever built, but it is also one of the most technologically advanced event structures in the world.
The 70,240-seat sports and entertainment stadium is situated in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California.
The fixed-roof stadium is the home field for both the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers of the NFL.
SoFi Stadium was constructed by a joint venture of Turner Construction Company and Hunt Construction.
The stadium was privately funded, and the financing was handled by billionaire and Rams owner Stan Kroenke.
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