Who Owns NFL Stadiums?

If you’re a football fan, you’ve probably wondered who owns NFL stadiums. The answer may surprise you.

The Teams

The following is a list of National Football League stadiums, sorted by capacity, their locations, hosts, and tenants:

Arizona Cardinals- University of Phoenix Stadium

The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football franchise based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Cardinals were founded as the Morgan Athletic Club in 1898, and are the oldest continuously run professional football team in the United States. The team was established in Chicago in 1899 and was a charter member of the NFL in 1920. Along with the Chicago Bears, the club is one of two NFL charter member franchises still in operation since the league’s founding. (The other is the Green Bay Packers.)

The team has played their home games at State Farm Stadium since 2006. The stadium, located in Glendale, Arizona west of Phoenix, was constructed between 2003 and 2006 on the site of the former home of the Cardinals, Sun Devil Stadium. Opened on August 1, 2006, inverse to Sun Devil Stadium’s dedication date of November 4, 1958, it is one of the newest stadiums among all 32 NFL teams as well as one of only a few stadiums that is not retractable. It cost approximately $455 million to build and sits on an area measuring just over 17 acres (69,000 m2).

Atlanta Falcons- Mercedes-Benz Stadium

The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined the NFL in 1965 as an expansion team, after the NFL offered then-owner Rankin Smith a franchise to keep him from joining the rival American Football League (AFL).
In their 51 years of existence, the Falcons have compiled a record of 368–450–6 (.451), winning division championships in 1980, 1998, 2004, 2010, 2012, and 2016. The Falcons have appeared in two Super Bowls during their history, the first during the 1998 season when they lost to John Elway’s Denver Broncos 34–19 and the second was eighteen years later when they defeated Tom Brady’s New England Patriots by a score of 28–3 for their first ever Lombardi Trophy.

Baltimore Ravens- M&T Bank Stadium

The Ravens-M&T Bank Stadium is located in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). The stadium opened in 1998 and has a capacity of 71,008. The Ravens-M&T Bank Stadium is owned by the Maryland Stadium Authority and is operated by the Baltimore Ravens.

The Stadiums

The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league. It was founded in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association (APFA) before renaming itself the National Football League for the 1922 season. The NFL Stadiums have all been privately owned since the league’s inception.

University of Phoenix Stadium

The University of Phoenix Stadium is a multi-purpose facility located in Glendale, Arizona. It is the home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals and the annual Fiesta Bowl. The University of Phoenix Stadium was built at a cost of $455 million and opened in 2006. It is owned by the City of Glendale and managed by the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority.

Location

Most of the NFL stadiums are located in the southern and eastern United States. However, there are a few located in the midwest and western United States as well. The Dallas Cowboys play their home games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Green Bay Packers play their home games at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Kansas City Chiefs play their home games at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. The New England Patriots play their home games at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Capacity

Capacity: The number of fans a stadium can seat. Stadiums increase in size over time to keep up with the fans’ demand for tickets.

The average stadium capacity in the NFL is around 70,000 people, give or take a few thousand. The New York Giants’ and New York Jets’ home, MetLife Stadium, holds the record for the largest capacity at 82,566 people. The smallest capacity in the NFL belongs to the Los Angeles Rams, who share the Los Angeles Coliseum with USC. The Coliseum only holds about 80,000 people.

There are a few teams who have waiting lists for season tickets. The Green Bay Packers have had a waiting list for season tickets since 1960! If you want to get your name on the waiting list, you have to put down a $500 deposit. As of 2018, there are about 130,000 people on the waiting list.

Field

The playing field at an NFL stadium typically measures between 110 and 120 yards long and 53.3 to 58.3 yards wide. Most NFL fields are made of natural grass, though a few (notably New England’s Gillette Stadium and Seattle’s CenturyLink Field) have artificial turf. The goal posts at either end of the field are 18 feet, 6 inches wide, with an upright that extends 35 feet above the crossbar.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Mercedes-Benz Stadium is a multipurpose stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It serves as the home stadium of the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL) and Atlanta United FC of Major League Soccer (MLS). It opened in August 2017. The stadium is owned by the state government of Georgia through the Georgia World Congress Center Authority, and operated by AMB Group, the parent organization of the Falcons and Atlanta United.

Location

While most of the teams in the NFL play in urban areas, a few of them have their stadiums in larger metropolitan suburbs. In some cases, the stadium might even be located in a different state than where the team plays the majority of its games. The following is a list of NFL teams and where their stadiums are located.

-Arizona Cardinals: Glendale, Arizona
-Atlanta Falcons: Atlanta, Georgia
-Baltimore Ravens: Baltimore, Maryland
-Buffalo Bills: Orchard Park, New York
-Carolina Panthers: Charlotte, North Carolina
-Chicago Bears: Chicago, Illinois
-Cincinnati Bengals: Cincinnati, Ohio
-Cleveland Browns: Cleveland, Ohio
-Dallas Cowboys: Arlington, Texas

Capacity

In the United States, the average NFL stadium capacity is over 67,000 people. But there are a few outliers. MetLife Stadium, home to both the New York Giants and New York Jets, has a capacity of 82,500. And FedExField, home of the Washington Redskins, has a capacity of 83,000. The largest stadium in the NFL is Michigan Stadium, home of the University of Michigan Wolverines, which has a capacity of over 107,000 people.

Field

Most of the NFL stadiums are privately owned. The Green Bay Packers are the only publicly-owned, non-profit organization in the league. With privately-owned stadiums, the team usually owns the land and building, and sometimes both. In some cases, the stadium is owned by the city or municipality in which it is located and leased to the team.

M&T Bank Stadium

M&T Bank Stadium is a multi-purpose football stadium located in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). The stadium is named for M&T Bank, which purchased naming rights in 2003. It has a seating capacity of 71,008 and is the largest sports venue in Maryland.

The stadium is located in downtown Baltimore, about a mile from Inner Harbor and Camden Yards. It sits on 33 acres (13 ha) of land, and features a natural grass field. The stadium is owned by the Maryland Stadium Authority, and operated by the Ravens.

Location

There are currently 31 stadiums used by the National Football League (NFL). Most of these stadiums are located in the southern or eastern portions of the United States. Only two stadiums are located west of the Mississippi River, which is in Glendale, Arizona (University of Phoenix Stadium) and Santa Clara, California (Levi’s Stadium). The most northerly stadium is Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Seven states (California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas) each have three NFL stadiums.

Capacity

What is now known as Hard Rock Stadium has a long and storied history. Originally built in 1987, it was first named Joe Robbie Stadium after the owner of the Miami Dolphins. In 1996, it was renamed Pro Player Stadium after a clothing company. In 2006, the stadium underwent a $450 million renovation and was once again renamed, this time to Land Shark Stadium. In 2010, the name changed again to Sun Life Stadium. And finally, in 2016, the name became Hard Rock Stadium.

The stadium has a capacity of 65,326 for Dolphins games and can be expanded to 75,000 for special events such as the Super Bowl and concerts.

Field

Each NFL team has their own home stadium where they play their home games. Some teams share stadiums with other teams or host their games in neutral locations, but most have a designated home field. Below is a list of all 32 NFL teams and their home stadiums.

-Arizona Cardinals: State Farm Stadium
-Atlanta Falcons: Mercedes-Benz Stadium
-Baltimore Ravens: M&T Bank Stadium
-Buffalo Bills: New Era Field
-Carolina Panthers: Bank of America Stadium
-Chicago Bears: Soldier Field
-Cincinnati Bengals: Paul Brown Stadium
-Cleveland Browns: FirstEnergy Stadium
-Dallas Cowboys: AT&T Stadium
-Denver Broncos: Empower Field at Mile High
-Detroit Lions: Ford Field
-Green Bay Packers: Lambeau Field