The NFL attracts a large audience from all over the US. People flock from cities and suburbs to watch their favorite team. So, the stadiums have to be significant.
The large stadiums naturally cost more to build. So the most expensive NFL stadium stirs people’s curiosity.
To watch a match in a stadium is a thrilling experience. If it’s a well-made expensive stadium, then the watching experience also becomes much better. After all, even a 4k television can’t match the stadium experience.
In this article, we’ll talk about the most expensive NFL stadiums. So, keep up with the reading and enjoy!
12 Most Expensive NFL Stadiums
The data from different sites such as Sports Show and Lineups is used in this article.
| S.N. | Name of the Stadiums | Cost |
| 12. | Soldier Field | $850 Million (adjusted for inflation) |
| 11. | Lincoln Financial Field | $940 Million (adjusted for inflation) |
| 10. | Ford Field | $950 Million (adjusted for inflation) |
| 9. | Lucas Oil Stadium | $960 Million (adjusted for inflation) |
| 8. | U.S. Bank Stadium | $1.061 Billion |
| 7. | Levi’s Stadium | $1.3 Billion |
| 6. | AT&T Stadium | $1.48 Billion |
| 5. | Yankee Stadium | $1.5 Billion |
| 4. | Mercedes Benz Stadium | $1.6 Billion |
| 3. | Metlife Stadium | $1.7 Billion |
| 2. | Allegiant Stadium | $1.9 Billion |
| 1. | SoFi Stadium | $4.9 Billion |
12. Soldier Field
- Capacity: 61,500
- Location: Chicago, Illinois
- Tenants Team: Chicago Bears
The Soldier Field stadium was initially built in 1922 which cost about US$13 million. The opening of this stadium to the public happened in 1924.
Later in 2002, it was closed for renovations. The whole stadium and its facilities were modernized during the renovation process, which cost around $852 million. It caused the delisting of the stadium as a historic landmark.
Sadly, this process reduced the number of seats in the stadium. At almost 100 years old, this is the oldest stadium in the NFL. It is also one of the oldest in the world.
Apart from the NFL football, the stadium has also hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup and the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
11. Lincoln Financial Field
- Capacity: 69,796
- Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Local Team: Philadelphia Eagles
Moving on with our no 11, Lincoln Financial Field, which was built in 2001. The construction took place for two years, and it was open to the public in 2003.
The stadium was designed by the NBBJ, a multinational design company, and Agoos Lobera Architects. The stadium was renovated in 2013-2014.
The seating size expanded after the construction. Before Lincoln Stadium, the Veterans Stadium was used by the local team.
The stadium has Panasonic scoreboards with giant LED screens. This makes the viewing experience better for the spectators.
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Apart from that, it also provides much better facilities for differently-abled people. Its total cost, including the renovation costs, is around $940 million. Originally it was built at the expense of $512 million.
10. Ford Field
- Capacity: 65,000
- Location: Detroit Michigan
- Local Team: Detroit Lions
Counting at no 10 is Fort Field, located in Detroit, Michigan. The construction of the stadium started in November 1999. It was finally opened for the public in August 2002.
Its initial construction cost was $500 million. There has not been any major renovation to the stadium since it was made.
The stadium was designed by the architectural team of Rossetti Architects, Hamilton Anderson Associates Inc., and Kaplan. McLaughlin, Diaz Architects.
Since the Ford company acquired its naming rights, they named it after the company. They also run the Detroit Lions team.
Previously, the Tiger Stadium was used by the Detroit Lions as their home stadium. But, they transferred to Pontiac Stadium in the 70s.
9. Lucas Oil Stadium
- Capacity: 70,000
- Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
- Local Team: Indianapolis Colts
Another one of the most expensive stadiums in the NFL is Lucas Oil Stadium. The multipurpose stadium started its construction in September 2005. It was open to the public in August 2008.
The total cost during the construction was $720 million. It is close to a billion dollars now when we adjust it for inflation.
The stadium was designed by HKS Inc., A2s04 Architecture, Browning Day Mullins, and Dierdorf Inc. It has 139 executive suites.
Apart from NFL games, the stadium also hosts basketball games. However, even for basketball games, the seating capacity is 70,000. Previously, the Colts used RCA Dome as their home stadium.
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The stadium has a cool feature. It has a retractable roof and a retractable window. So, the games can be played both indoors as well as outdoors.
8. U.S. Bank Stadium
- Capacity: 73,000
- Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Local Team: Minnesota Vikings
Even though the name of the stadium sounds a bit lame, the U.S. Bank Stadium can host more than 70,000 spectators.
This stadium has the highest record attendance of 72,711 viewers during the 2019 NCAA Men’s Final Four Basketball Tournament.
HKS, Inc. designed the enclosed stadium. It took three years to complete the construction of the indoor stadium fully.
It’s also the first stadium on this list to break the billion figure (precisely, the construction costs $1.061 billion). Since it’s a relatively new stadium, it also looks modern and has new facilities.
Even though the initial plan was to build an outdoor stadium, the local bodies could provide the budget for only an indoor stadium. Plus, they could not build retractable roofs due to the climate.
7. Levi’s Stadium
- Capacity: 68,500
- Location: Santa Clara, California
- Local Team: San Francisco 49ers
The world-famous denim brand Levi’s purchased naming rights to the stadium in 2013 and named it Levi’s Stadium. The initial plan for the stadium started all the way back in 2006.
The San Francisco 49ers wanted to build a stadium at the location of the previous stadium Candlestick Park. But later, they settled for a stadium near their office.
The stadium was designed by one of the top American firms, HNTB. Similarly, the structural engineer was conducted by Magnusson Klemencic Associates. It costs around $1.3 billion for the whole construction.
The stadium can host events like Super Bowl and even the FIFA World Cup. For example, on tour by The Grateful Dead, 85,000 people attended the concert.
Similarly, during Wrestle Mania 31, which happened on 29th March 2015, 76,976 people attended the event.
This stadium also owns an app that fans can use to get food delivered to their seat and use it to navigate within the stadium.
6. AT&T Stadium
- Capacity: 100,000
- Location: Arlington, Texas
- Local Team: Dallas Cowboys
Another most expensive stadium in the NFL is AT&T stadium. The gigantic stadium can host up to 135,000 spectators. The highest number of attendance for a football game is 105,121.
The home fans came to watch the first match played by Dallas Cowboys in the stadium. The construction began in 2005, and the stadium was open to the public in 2009 only.
HKS, Inc. designed the stadium. In terms of seating capacity, it is the largest stadium in the NFL.
The initial cost of the stadium was supposed to be around $600 million only. However, later the cost rose to a billion dollars (somewhere about $1.48 billion). AT&T Stadium has all the modern facilities in the 342 executive suites.
This stadium has hosted some of the major games and events, namely, Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants (Sep 20, 2009), 2010 NBA All-Star Game (Feb 14, 2010), Wrestlemania 32, and many others.
5. Yankee Stadium
- Capacity: 54,251
- Location: The Bronx, New York
- Local Team: New York Yankees
Since the Yankees are among the wealthiest team in the NFL, it’s not a big surprise that they also have one of the most expensive stadiums in the NFL, Yankee Stadium.
In August 2006, the construction of the stadium began. Later, the stadium opened for games in 2009.
Even though it is a relatively new stadium, the seating capacity of the stadium is small. It’s mainly a baseball stadium.
However, it is also used to play football. In terms of the baseball stadiums, it is one of the largest.
The construction of the stadium took a long time due to many controversies. The construction process costs about $1.5 billion.
4. Mercedes Benz Stadium
- Capacity: 71,000 (expandable up to 75000)
- Location: Atlanta, Georgia
- Local Team: Atlanta Falcons
At no 4 the next most expensive stadium in the NFL is the Mercedes Benz Stadium costing about$1.6 billion. Apart from NFL, it also hosts soccer games.
The Georgia World Congress Centre Authority owns this stadium. The construction of the stadium started in May 2014 and ended in August 2017.
Mercedes Benz Stadium is designed by HOK tvs design. Darden & Company was the project manager.
The stadium has a fancy roof that is retractable and has a shape of a pinwheel. There are eight main translucent panels on the roof.
The stadium is also suitable for soccer matches. However, the audience capacity during soccer matches is down to 42,500.
3. Metlife Stadium
- Capacity: 82,500
- Location: East Rutherford, New Jersey
- Local Team: New York Giants, New York Jets
Amongst the most expensive NFL stadiums, the third one is the Metlife Stadium. Metlife replaced the Giants Stadium.
It’s also one of the rare stadiums to have two local NFL teams. All other teams’ stadiums also host two or more than two teams but not within NFL. The only other stadium to host two teams is the SoFi stadium.
Like the Mercedez-Benz Stadium, this stadium is also capable of hosting a soccer match. It is expected that the final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be hosted in this stadium.
360 Architecture, Rockwell Group, and Bruce Mau Design, Inc. designed the stadium. Since it hosts two teams, the design had to satisfy both teams.
It cannot reflect the look of a single stadium. So the architect had to factor in both the team’s suggestions while making the stadium.
The construction of this stadium costs somewhere near $1.7 billion.
2. Allegiant Stadium
- Capacity: 65,000
- Location: Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
- Local Team: Las Vegas Raiders
Most of the stadiums built in the US after 2015 can host both the NFL matches as well as soccer matches. This is because the US is one of the countries to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Allegiant Stadium‘s construction started in 2017, and it was opened for the public in 2020. MANICA Architecture, along with HNTB, designed the stadium.
It’s a 10 level stadium with many modern facilities. There are 128 executive suites within the stadium.
The stadium has a 26 meters tall torch which was 3D printed. It is the largest 3D-printed thing in the world.
The total expense of the construction is estimated at around $1.9 billion.
1. SoFi Stadium
- Capacity: 70,240 (Expandable up to 100,240)
- Location: Inglewood, California, US
- Local Team: Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers
At the top of the most expensive NFL stadiums is SoFi stadium, which StadCo LA, LLC owns. Company. Compared to the SoFi stadium, the costs of the other stadiums seem puny. It costs almost $5 billion.
There are countries whose economy is less than $5 billion. It took four years to complete the construction of the stadium. HKS, inc. designed the stadium.
The stadium is spread across an area of 298 acres or 121 hectares. It also hosts two NFL teams.
SoFi stadium will host the Super Bowl in February 2022. It is also scheduled to host the 2028 Summer Olympics.
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As per the schedule, it will host the opening and closing ceremonies. It can also host soccer matches.
Conclusion
Technology has made the home viewing experience better. But nothing matches the social experience of watching a match. That’s why we go to clubs, pubs to watch matches. But, among the social experience, nothing matches the stadium experience.
Have you watched any matches in the stadiums mentioned above? If yes, then please share your experience in the comment below.
