NFL Stadiums

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work marketplace. Empower your business and hire the world's most in demand developers, designers, project managers and more at www dot up work dot com. Hey, hey, welcome back, everybody. Let me tell you we have an episode of NFL Explained that is near and dear to my heart. It is about stadiums and as somebody who spends every Sunday at a stadium. Stadiums are really so much more vibrant, so much more fun, so much more energetic when the fans are back in them, and it makes you think

about the buildings where the games are being played. So much history around every single stadium. And look, we're not going to dive into every single nugget, because I think that would be like a ton of different episodes and we could go on for hours about each individual spot. But as I think, it's important to highlight some of the cool features. And sometimes it's not just about having the really cool jumbo monitor in the middle of your field.

Sometimes you know, have a little characters. Okay too, how many stadiums do you think, one hundred and one years of professional football, how many stadiums have been home to NFL teams? I would imagine it is in ridiculous, like over a hundred and fifty would be my guest, just because I think if when we were doing the research on the names of the teams which encourage people to go back, I remember the amount of movement that was happening with a lot of teams that were sharing stadiums

with baseball. So I'm gonna say probably well over X when hundred and one years of professional football and when hundred and eighties six different stadiums. I'll tell you this though, Mike. The Super Bowl this year is at a stadium which is one of the very few stadiums that I've not been to. And it's over on your coast, so Fie Stadium in Los Angeles, right next to NFL h Q on the West coast. You know, it's kind of crazy

about it. Last weekend I was on a flight heading to l A X and one of the really cool things is if anyone's flying to Los Angeles, when you fly over so Fi Stadium, it looks awesome. It feels big and massive in all the things that you want for a Super Bowl site. But it's so big it actually both the Rams and the Chargers, both of those teams relocating to l A from St. Louis and San Diego. But the stadium actually opened up in no fans And you made reference to the cutouts, Yeah, that was a

buzz kill. What I do know is there won't be cutouts for Super Bowl fifty six. Sofi Stadium also passing Allegiance Stadium as the most expensive NFL stadium to be built. Of course I'm the one bringing up the coin, right. It cost over five billion dollars to build b B a billion. That's just insane to me. Not only is it going to host football games, there's a separate six thousand seat theater to host some concerts as well. I think Taylor Swift might have been performing recently, if I'm

not mistaken at SOFI Stadium. I thought I saw that somewhere. But the point is, like, you're gonna be able to go all these concerts. It's just it's really awesome. And one of my really great friends is the radio voice for the Rams, JP Long, and I remember when when things opened up. He was telling me about the circular video board that I think we see on television as we're watching the games. The thing that that that circular video board, it's the first of its kind. Two point

two million pounds is what that thing weighs. It is just really ridiculous to me, and it's really cool too. Yeah, a whole lot of us is really what it comes down to. It's got the indoor outdoor vibe, which is very like property brothers asked, you know, like the living room that's got the sliding doors that leads to the backyard. It's kind of like that for so Fi Stadium. Right the roof, it's got a little that transparent feel. You got the outdoor vibe, the indoor vibe. So to me,

really really cool. And just one other side note here, the stadium is built one hundred feet below ground because, as I made reference to it, the flight pattern near L A X, like the airplanes need to be able to clear, so they actually had to build further down to make sure that the stadium was in line with the flight paths for airplanes. You know, Mike, this gives me multiple segues, so I can talk about another stadium where two teams share a home, and I can also

talk about flight paths and stadiums because it all fits. So, the New York Giants used to play at Shase Stadium, as we have talked about before when we talked about the naming of the Jets. Shase Stadium, of course was in the flight path of LaGuardia, and so that's part of how the Jets got their name. But the Giants moved to New Jersey and eventually their home was the

meadow Lands or Giants Stadium. They said, hey, Jets, come and play with us, except that the Jets had to keep on playing at Giants Stadium, which wasn't so much fun for them. So then together they built a stadium. And what's crazy about this, Mike, is that I was in New York at the Wall Street Journal when this was happening. So I was covering this entire process of building this brand new stadium where two teams were in it all together. They were going to share everything about it.

There would be two different home locker rooms, which there are two different visitors locker rooms. It was the New Meadowlands in two thousand and ten when it first opened. Then it became MetLife Stadium in two thousand eleven. It hosted Super Bowl forty nine between the Seahawks and the Broncos, which, of course I'm sure you remember, didn't start so auspiciously for Peyton Manning. But now, one of the things that I think is most interesting is how you transfer over.

You know, you think about this when let's say a professional team like the Steelers, who WI will get to later, shares the stadium with a college team like the pit Panthers, and you need to change signage. So at MetLife Stadium, you need to change from a Giant's game to a Jets game. That means that you need to change all of the gel packs that light up the venue. You need to change the field wall, you need to change

the ring of honor. You know, the Jets Ring of Honor is not the same as the Giants Ring of Honor, and you can't have the Giants honrees when the Jets are playing a home game. You've got to change the suites, You've got to change all of the press box artwork. So the standard changeover takes a fair amount of time. I will say this, and this may be unbelievably unpopular, but whatever, I feel like this is the time for honesty. I don't really love the look of MetLife Stadium. It

is little sterile, I'll give you that. Yeah, it feels like my favorite stadiums around the country, Mike, have some character to them. There's something that feels very distinct and unique and right next to Zanna Do or whatever that thing is called. Now, MetLife Stadium looks a little bit, to use your words, sterile. Yeah, yeah, no, I mean it's like and look at not that you made reference to Schase Stadium, like I will say City Field on

the baseball front's got that character. And for all my friends who are Yankee fans, sorry, like the New York Stadium little sterile to me. But inside MetLife Stadium, beautiful view. There's not a bad seat. I love the four scoreboards in the for like quote unquote corners. I don't know if you can have corners in around stadium, but I do love that no matter where you're sitting, you can always look down at the field and then immediately look

up and see the scoreboard, no doubt. And look the new sta adiums and we've touched on two of them. Newer stadiums, I should say, the bells and whistles are there. But sometimes you got get a little dirty, right, a little little little gritty and dirty. I mean like in a good way, you know, have a little bit of that that old school flare. And I think there's one field in particular, it's one of the oldest stadiums in

the NFL Soldier Field nineteen twenty four. It was actually named to honor the fallen soldiers from World War One, which is just a really cool aspect and history around that stadium. Their first game. They'll play there in twenty four actually between two high schools, which also speaks to what you mentioned before. Add this idea of the venue being a part of the fabric of of our lives. Yeah,

but the Bears didn't play there initially, did they. I feel like when we talked about our naming episode, we talked about the Bears playing at Wrigley They were at Wrigley Field. But guess what two issues there? Field a little too small and that brick wall in the outfield a little bit of an issue. I think if you're gonna go and lay out just something to throw out there, um small stadium in the league thought, and below the minimum to host a super Bowl, not to mention those winters.

And I'm a little bit of a baby about it. Even though I was in the Northeast, I've been in the state of California. My blood is thinned out a little bit. Give me that warm weather. I'm looking forward to a super Bowl and so FI stadium. But the point is there's some good history around Soldier Field and you can feel it when you watch some of those games. Well, if you don't like talking about the cold, which we will certainly be talking about the cold as we keep going.

Let's then go back out to the desert to the Las Vegas Raiders, who are now playing at Allegiance Stadium. It opened, it hasn't yet hosted a Super Bowl, but it will be hosting our very next Pro Bowl. And as you know, the Raiders have played in Oakland, in l A, in Oakland again. Now they're in Las Vegas and this was a one point nine billion dollar stadium, ten levels. Another one of those clear roofs that you were talking about, is it roofs or roofs? You got

the writing background? You should know roof Like you're asking, Okay, writing is not the same as speaking my okay, ninety three ft Al Davis Memorial torch. So this Al Davis Memorial Torch is ceremoniously lit before each game, which is kind of like the Olympic torch again right. The field is natural grass, which of course I love, love, love the idea of natural grass as opposed to turf for field turf for you know whatever. There is a section in the end zone that mimics and nightclub. There's DJ

boots and televisions and bottle service. Although if you're paying for bottle service. Why not just go to the club instead of allegedly watching a football game. But anyway, um, it has been called the Death Star because Raiders fans are you know, known as being in the black Hole, and since Allegian Stadium has that black exterior, it just

feels like it works perfectly. Yeah, there's an ominous vibe as you look at the pictures of Allegian Stadium, which is really cool and intimidating, just like the black Hole. And their fans certainly are speaking of newer state d m s. And I know we keep throwing out the B word billions, the first stadium construction to surpass one billion. Not surprising here head into Texas, my guy Jerry Jones handling business. Jerry's world, I think is usually how I

refer to it. But I know more formally, a T and T Stadium in Dallas is the official title that you can throw out. Their capacity actually is increased eight thousand to over a hundred and five thousand because of the standing concourse, like the thing is crazy. And I mentioned the video boards before a little bit earlier at Sofi Stadium. I remember when the first video board went in at Jerry's world. Everyone was talking about it, but

the facility is just truly amazing. We saw it on Hard Knocks with the little drone flight that took us through the facility. Just so cool. And to give you some context and perspective, for any of our listeners of the NFL Explained podcasts who are in the Northeast and have not been able to head to Dallas, you probably

have seen the Statue of Liberty. The damn Stadium so big it can hold literally the statue of liberal which takes me back to my Ghostbuster days when I was a kid seeing the Statue of Liberty actually walking that real statue of Liberty from Ghostbusters could have walked all the way to Dallas and ended up inside a Jerry's World and it would have been fine. Another unpopular opinion right here, but I am unafraid to share it. Mike.

I don't like the scoreboard. I feel like when I'm sitting in the press box, the scoreboard distracts me from actually seeing the field. But lest any of our listeners or you think that I am just an old fogy and a curmudgeon, Let's go back to that whole club. Let's go back to that clubbing vibe right, like we talked about it with Las Vegas. So what about Miami.

I have not been to Miami, actually since I had had one child, not too when I went to Miami, and the one thing I did go to the club because hard Rock Stadium, where the Miami Dolphins play, doesn't have a club inside. Okay, I was gonna say this, this doesn't sound like a great trip if you only went to one club, But anyway, go on. It was a good game because the point is that if the game gets boring at hard Rock Stadium, then there is the club that turns into one of Miami's most famous nightclubs.

The thing about hard Rock Stadium that I thought was so insane was that the closest seats to the field, Mike have not only they're not like regular seats, They're not stadium seats. They're sort of armchair like, hang out, very comfortable seats, and everybody's got a TV right there. And I remember initially when I went there, I was like, wait a minute, if the field is I don't know, twenty yards away from you, why are you looking at

the screen. But we have changed as consumers of football so much recently that we do indeed constantly look for the replay, and so many of us are watching television on multiple screens right or we're watching the game and we're also watching it on Twitter or game Pass or whatever it may be. So actually a pretty inventive idea right there. Really quickly though, Mike, there are a tributes outside the stadium, because many of these stadiums do have statues.

Can you guess from me, what are the two statues outside hard Rock Stadium? If you were to think of the two most iconic Miami Dolphins, who would they be? My guy, Damn Marino has got to be one of them, just to be one of them, and coach Coach has got to be sort of in the mix. And you know what, it's not just Coachula, it Coachla being carried off the field by his players. Very cool. That's totally

the way to do it. Okay, since you're old, why don't you go back to one of our old school ones, which is totally I was going to say, like the one place that I'm not worried that TVs are going to make it at the seats just because they would the screens would probably crack relatively quickly because of how cold it can be at lambeau Field, Yes, home of the Packers since nineteen fifty seven. It's the longest continuously

occupied stadium in the NFL by fifteen years. Only the Cubs and the Red Sox have played at their respective fields longer than the Packers, So it's kind of unique in terms of that history. First stadium by the way, to have this goes back to the cold and the heating thing, hydronic heating systems under the field. Remember Steve Stable say it the frozen tundra, just so that it's not frozen tundra anymore. So, look, everyone knows, like when

it comes to lambeau Field, there's it's it's iconic. You think about the lambau Leap, you think about the cold, like when you think about NFL football. In my mind, if I close my eyes, most of the time, those games that I'm envisioning are being played at lambeau Field. And I know I can't be alone in that regard when talking about that place. Yeah, not me, because most of my most unpleasant, bordering on frost bite experiences have been at lambeau Field. And I think of poor Tom

Coughlin he's a red face. Come on, Mike, you you did grow up a Giants fan, so you know exactly what I've done. It's a different deal. Yeah, it is. Uh you know what else is a different deal? The fans in Philadelphia. Yes, since we're talking about Tom Coughlin, the former Giants head coach, and of course we should talk about the fans of Philadelphia. So now, the Eagles used to share Veteran Stadium with the Phillies, and it

is a true story. There was indeed a jail underneath the stadium for the fans that got just a little bit too rowdy. And there was even a judge on game days for the fans that showed up in the Eagles jail. Can you imagine if there was a reality TV episode about that, if you were going to do a reality show. And I know there's hard knocks and all that, but like the fans in Philadelphia, I mean they boot Santa I just like you can't be the

fans of Philly. You're tough. The Eagles now play at the Link, of course, Lincoln Financial Field, and I'll tell you this, there's one holdover from Veteran Stadium. It's not a jail. But there is a required four our Code of Conduct course that fans who have been tossed out of a game at the link are required to take if they ever want to go back to a game. That's like a defensive driving class. Right like you got tossed out once before we let you back in, We're

going to make you take this class. And it happens enough that they had to create this class. Look Philadelphia for giving city. You get back in, you take the course, You're ready to rock. I believe in seces and I think that's the point of all this stuff. And the fans actually in New England more recently a d D, they've had a lot, a lot to cheer four. In fact, the Patriots who play at Gilette Stadium, let's take this back though. Playing at Toilette Stadium is given the Patriots

one of the top five home records in the NFL. Look, I I know, I get it. You could point to Brady, you can point to Belichick in the whole deal. But prior to Gillette opening, Patriots spent thirty years at Foxborough and because the plumbing issues, there no public bathrooms, just poor to potties that had to have smelled really good. Um, in the entire existence of the stadium, Like to me,

you want to talk about like the fan experience. I mean, you've got stadiums that got TVs in front of you, right, and then all of a sudden we're using poor to potties. But besides the point, a couple of fun facts here about Toilette Stadium open two thousand two. Never hosted a Super Bowl, but it does have six Super Bowl champion banners hanging in the stadium, which is tied for the most in the NFL. In that regard, you can serve only thank Brady and Belichick for that in the stadium.

You know, wait, I'm going to interrupt you here we talk about you and I are talking about growing up as kids as Yankee fans and it was the house. Don't insult me like that. Oh my god. That explains so much, explains a lot about you too, so being a Yankees fan. Let's just I think we're all on the same page. I'm fine, I'm fine, and brace saying the fact that we don't win a lot of games like it's cool, Like it's it's fine. It's developed a

nice little character for myself. I don't know how we spent the whole season together, and I am just learning this about you. Okay. Well, anyway, in New York, it was the house that they built, right, So even though officially Gillette Stadium was built before Tom Brady, it really is the house that Tom built. And I will tell you this that in Foxburg around the stadium there's a whole strip of shopping and retail and restaurants and this

tremendous vibe. None of that happens without Tom Brady. Totally agree. So even though that relationship ended, that is the house that Tom built, and that is the strip that top melt. I'm with you. There is still a ton more to get to on this podcast and facts. Can you guess which division has all of its stadiums on the water? Answer? You should know. You should know for a good reason. A little bit of a hints there for everyone. It's coming up on the NFL Explained podcast. Build the team

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results may vary. Not an endorsement speed comparison to media and Verizon, four G LTE speeds downloads very based on network conditions, and five G content optimization. All right, welcome back. I'm a D. D. Kinka Balla. I am here with Mike Yeam. We are talking about NFL Stadium and Mike near and dear to my heart and my Long John's it's a fact that one division has every single stadium sitting on a body of water. You clearly know what

division that is, don't you. I would know that it's one where you have frequented many, many of those places on a very regular basis. And that is indeed the a f C North. Because we looked to the end of this season. By the way, I think the next I don't know, five six weeks, I don't get out of the a f C North. So let's hit that right there. They're actually my eight stadiums that sit on water. The Bears sit on Lake Michigan, and the Jaguars sit on St. John's River, and the Titans, of course are

on the Cumberland River. And Seattle. We can't forget Seattle, of course, right Seattle is on Elliott Bay. But the a f C North has all four of its teams playing on bodies of water. And so what that means for me is that on Sunday mornings, when your weather app tells you that it is twenty two degrees, it's actually about sixteen to reason below that because of whatever the lake effect isscending. The Browns they are on Lake Erie.

The Steelers, they are really at the confluence of the three rivers, but they are officially on the Ohio River. The Ravens sit on the Potapsco River, and of course the Bengals are at the confluence of the Ohio and the Allegheny Rivers. Let's start with hines Field. So part of the Sunday environment, especially early in the fall before it gets brutally cold, is for these boats to really

cross again. In Pittsburgh, there are three rivers. There's the Alleghany River, there's the mononga Hila River, and then there's the Ohio River. They create a point and boats come along all those rivers and they dock right at the base of the stadium. And so you know, you can kind of see a video board, you can certainly feel the energy of the crowd. And this is why before the Steelers played at hines Field, they played at a

stadium that was called three Rivers Stadium. I'll tell you this though, here's a really interesting fun fact about hines Field, and it has nothing to do with Renegade. It has nothing to do with sticks, it has nothing to do at the terrible towel. The very very very first event at hines Field was actually a concert and the concert was in sync. Yes, yes, of trivia that there is nobody who will ever, ever ever guess, so listeners who are welcome rocking out at So here's where I'm headed.

Here's where I'm headed this weekend, actually, and that is the Bengals home which is at Paul Brown Stadium. Now, Paul Brown Stadium is one of only two stadiums that's actually named after a person. And if we're going to talk about Renegade being played at hines Field, which is what they do when you know the Steelers, p a announcer wants a big defensive moment, well, they play an iconic song at Paul Brown Stadium to give me a guest, guns and Roses. Guns and Roses. The only song that

I think of his Welcome to the Jungle. Oh good gas, good gas. Okay, So, if Cincinnati is a city of chili, which, by the way, there's no actual skyline chili served at Paul Brown Stadium. But anyway, if we are going to move from chili, then let's move to crab cakes. And where do you think there is a concession stand that is dedicated to just crap cakes? There's no doubt in my mind it's one of the stadiums that I have been to. My mom lives in Baltimore, M and T

Bank Stadium. I always make it down there to try to grab some crab cakes whenever I'm in town of visit my mom to grab the crab cakes. And do you rub the foot of a very very special statue? No, I don't touch any statues. I don't like touching handrails. I use my elbow on elevators to hit the button, So no, I'm not. I'm not rubbing up against statue. You're a germaphobe. Really, I haven't been. More recently in the COVID era, I've been paying a little more closer

to its into things that I touched. Yes, well, we talked about statues earlier. So there is a Johnny United statue that sits out front of MMT Bank Stadium and fans do rub the foot of Johnny Uniteds as they walk in and that allegedly brings them luck, although that does really kind of beg the question why the foot and not the hand or the arm. You're no, I'm not going just make sure you get the hand sanitizer.

That's all I'm going to say. That's I'm not you just I'm not going where you were just trying to lead me. I'm just saying hand sanitizer. Alright. So, So when I go to MMT Bank Stadium, there is often a live raven there that will, you know, circle the field, and I in fact have some photographs that I can share of me with this raven. When I go to Cleveland,

what is the live animal that I see there? Um? Sorry, I'm on bye bye bye thinking about in sync and like different songs that you can play at random stadium. So I'm gonna let you handle that. I'm thinking about, you know, the dogs and the whole thing. But yes, that's exactly what it is, is a dog because out Yes, and at First Energy Stadium, which opened in nineteen when the Ravens absconded and then the Cleveland Browns had to

be awarded a new franchise and all of that. Of course, the fan fans central zone became known as the dog Pound. And here's a really cool fun fact, right because I love the dog Pound. Even though we talked about Eagles fans earlier, I will tell you this, I have a bias towards Cleveland fans. I think that part of it is because they have suffered, suffered, suffered, and remained so

loyal through all that suffering. In nineteen eighty nine, now this is before First Energy Stadium, of course, this was the first itineration of the Cleveland Browns. Fans were so rowdy at a game versus Denver Broncos that fans in the end zone of the dog Pound were so rowdy. Do you know what? The rest died? They made the team switch end zones. Wow, there's a similar story coming up that I have for you with regard to crowd noise and the whole thing, which is not Yeah, it

just kind of surprised me, that's or surprised me. I didn't realize that, all right, did you since you've gone through the a f C North, is it going to be me? Did you see what I did there? Come on, come on, come on, all right, like the two instinct fans, and I know there's more listening to the NFL Explained podcast, you feel me here, all right? I want to jump to the A t L. You are just exposing yourself. You yes, I do have to appreciate that you just

you just embrace it. Look I like instinct justin Timberlake. I guess it's cool. It's it's fine, very very talented individuals. Can you name the rest of instincts? I definitely can. I will do that on another episode. The only stadium who has hosted an Olympic Games, a Final Four, and a super Bowl. By the way, I've seen basketball played in a NFL stadium down in Arizona. Also a weird sensation while you're trying to take it in. But the

answer to that question, George, don't. In the A t L. Falcons currently play at a shiny new Mercedes Benz Stadium, though opening up in two seventeen. You got a retractable roof that shaped like a camera abatur which only takes about eight minutes or so. It's open and closed. But I think one of the coolest things because d D we were talking a little bit earlier in the podcast about showing up the stadiums and what that's like and

how expensive things can be. How about this for the fans down Atlanta, huge draw When you talk about the cheapest concessions in the league by a wide marchin got a dollar fifty hot dogs? Are you kidding me? Two dollar fountain drinks, free refills? Yo, I am, that's totally That's like triple the price in the Bay Area where I live. And that's not even like going to a game. I just mean, like going to get a hot dog is like eight nine bucks. Normally dollar fifty hot dog.

Like I wouldn't eat for like a week to get ready for that game. I'd be fasting just to get to Sunday at Mercedes ben Stadium. So to me, it's obviously a deal. And I know this because I've been down in Atlanta for a college football playoff game when Alabama beat Washington. I was covering that matchup, and I know Chick fil A is such a big part of the culture down there. Can't get it on a Sunday

because it's actually closed. It's all good though. You got Thursday night game, you got money night games, But who cares? You got a dollar fifty hot dogs, free refills, two dollar fountain drinks that d D sign me up for that. We know that you love the South, so why don't we just go further south to what used to be the old Gator Bowl. What do you know about that? Not a ton about the Gator Ball, But I do know that every time I see m j D on

NFL network, there's always a reference to Duval County. So to the way he says, it's always cool too, and that is because it's Duval County that is the home to t I A A Bank Field, which is the home of the Jacksonville Jaguars, whose mascot Jackson Deville Bungee jumps onto the field prior to kick off. And also ps it is the only stadium with its own swimming pools,

jump in cannonball, ready to rock and roll. I was surprised that a pool was not put into Levi Stadium in because the d D when they were building that sucker, it felt like they thought of everything for it, although depending on where you sit during a game, it could be really really hot or really really cold. Levi's in Santa Clara, about forty miles or so. Actually forty four

point four. I do know that because I used to work at a place that was forty four point four miles away in the middle of San Francisco to get down there. It's actually the furthest stadium from a team's actual home city, because we think about San Francisco with the forty Niners for good reason. Rooftop farm deal with just a ton of food options in the Bay area.

I remember that actually, So when I covered the Super Bowl out there, I do remember because it was called sort of the San Francisco Super Bowl, except that I was stuck out by the stadium covering the Peyton Manning Denver Broncos, and I remember that. That was Something that was specifically very cool about Levi Stadium is that they had this rooftop farm with these rotational crops, and they used to grow crops at the stadium, which felt very very California to me. Forty crops used in the dishes.

The tech company that you can think of is got a building down in Silicon Valley in that area, which is always really cool if you're paying attention to it. I think from like a technical standpoint, it is. But in the meantime, I think if you go a little further north. Add, there's one place in particular when I think about fans and how much they honor their fans, Seattle comes to mind to me. Well, it's the twelfth man, right, The number twelve was retired in order to honor those fans.

It's the you know, the raising of the twelve flag has been a century field tradition forever. It is ridiculously loud there. I mean, I remember, gosh, I went out there with the Giants multiple times. And as I say that, Eli Manning, I remember when he was really young. I think it was maybe two thousand five. The Giants were flagged for eleven false start penalties. Eleven and that is exactly what a twelfth man does, right, Yeah, there's the

loudness there certainly comes to mind. Uh. There's one stadium that's hosted more Super Bowls than any other, the Superdome in New Orleans, which today is obviously Caesar's super Dome. And I get it, like you got the Super Bowls that have appeared there. But for me and add you

probably feel because we're about the same age. I can't think about New Orleans and the Superdome without thinking about two thousand five Hurricane Katrina, and the fact that thirty thousand vacuees from that hurricane were forced to be inside the Superdome at the time. You got the winds that were ripping holes to the roof needed repairs. I mean,

just the sadness around that moment. And for me, even to this day, I can't think about how that facility was used to help people, and I think about that first before I think about the football aspect of it. But it is cool to know that the NFL and specifically that Superdome was able to help people in a really bad situation at a time of need. For sure, and stadiums, especially this year Mike have become community points, especially as vaccination centers, and so it is tremendous to

think about them. Is not only host of football games, which we all love, and of concerts, but also that they can be very very useful, very very vital parts of what a community needs or is trying to do. Yeah, those stadiums, those teams that are part of the community in a big way, and indeed there's one team in particular that um that community can't be thrilled with what they've seen recently on the football fields. Um, the poor Lions, Spike. I just saw them play to a tie. They played

their hearts out and it was still and tie. You know, they just can't catch a break any which way. They moved to Ford Field in two thousand two, and you know, it is a really really lovely stadium. It looks cool. It incorporates the former Hudson's Warehouse. It's one of the few NFL stadiums that actually have end zones that run east west as opposed to north south, which is pretty cool.

You know, it's old stadium was built in nineteen seventy five, that's the Pontiac Silver Don for fifty five point seven million dollars, and then it was sold for just five hundred and eighty three thousand dollars. My memory, my greatest memory of ford Field is let me think back to the year. I think this was the two thousand ten season. The Giants were getting ready to play the Vikings in Minneapolis and the roof collapsed in Minneapolis and everybody had

to go to Detroit to play this game. And it was sort of crazy. They were twenty fans, nobody knew who to cheer for. It was an odd odd odd game. But yes, that is one of those memories. No, I'm

with you there. A little bit earlier here on the podcast d D we had talked about the Giants and the Jets and the fact that they don't actually play in New York, but who cares because New Yorkers are like Yo, we got its NFL stadium, high Mark Stadium home Bill's mafia handling business, the Buffalo Bills, always making

things very interesting for its fans. I think about the tailgaming that happens there in the stadium has actually had a ton of different names, the first rich Stadium believed to be one of the first instances of stadium naming rights. Like to me, it's kind of a cool little side be there. It doesn't always pop up, especially when you think about all the dollars that are going towards naming rights a d D. So here's my story about high

Mark Stadium Week one of this past season. I was covering a game there and fans were so, so so excited because as we talk about amazing fans like the Dog Pound and the Eagles fans, well Bill's mafia, I mean, they take the cake. There were so many fans outside the stadium excited to tailgate at seven am. That it took me an hour and a half to go less than half a mile to the parking lot. I needed

special help to actually get to the stadium. And then you know who was stuck in the same traffic And about two hours later, Josh Allen, I had to go on television and say, Bills, fans, pull over so that your quarterback can actually get to the stadium towards police escort. Let's get it done, folks. Well, you know who had a police escort this past year? Are many, many many times that, of course is the Tampa Bay Bucks. The

defending Super Bowl champions, play at Raymond James Stadium. They hosted the Super Bowl last year, which is sort of insane. It's the only stadium to ever host its home team in the Super Bowl. This was the third time that Raymond James Stadium hosted the Super Bowl. And you know, you can't talk about the ray j without talking about that pirate ship above the end zone? Can you know, just sort of a staple? I think everyone thinks about that forty three ton pirate ship above that end zone.

How can you not just kind of fire in that canon let's roll, because that always just means really good moments. Adity, it's been awesome so far. Kind of rolling through a lot of these stadiums and come of the cool factoids. We got a couple more left. In fact, there's one that's got underground tunnels connecting its stadium to other buildings. The answer to where that is coming up next on the NFL Explained podcast. This podcast is sponsored by Kindrel.

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the NFL Explained Podcast. She's a d D. Kin Kawala, Mike, I am with you and a d D. Like high Mark. Most stadiums multiple names. The Denver Broncos Mile High Stadium before moving to Empower Field that opened in two thousand one. Mile High got its name because yeah, the obvious right, Denver five more than five thousand feet above sea level, one mile above sea level, and if you've run in that area and you're not used to it, it becomes

an issue. Which I am inside that stadium. I do do, indeed know that, and I will admit that I still do call it Mile High Stadium. Some names just stick with us right now, there's no doubt, there's no doubt. And yeah, there's one stadium in particular to add that. I think of um and it's hard for me to think about pro football sometimes when I think about some of my own personal history in the state of Arizona with with a s U football and how well it's

done at times down in the desert. Well, that's fair. So they spent eighteen years. The Cardinals spent eighteen years at Arizona State's home stadium and Tempe, and that was the longest tenure than any We talked about this earlier, right about a pro team and a college team sharing a stadium, when we talked about Hines Field and the Steelers in pit, Well, the Cardinals actually had to play at Arizona State Stadium. They finally moved to State Farm Stadium in two thousand and six, and they had the

first retractable field of its kind. Right now, Las Vegas has this. But part of this is because you know, sometimes you need to catch the desert sun and sometimes you don't want to. And Arizona has hosted two Super Bowls forty two and forty nine. I can get hot in the desert um no breaking news animation needed for something like that, a d D. I should probably handle this next one because I learned on our food episode

for players you do not eat meat. And when I think about the Chiefs and the barbecue down there, I feel like I should handle this. And look, I've been to games down there and it is so loud, and believe it or not, actually the loudest stadium in the Guinness Book of World Records does not belong to Seattle, which we touched on a little bit earlier. In fact, it's Kansas City a game against New England. The fans hit a one forty two point to decibel mark. All

I know is that's really loud. And here's the story that I told you. I would tell you. It was so loud. In the game against the Broncos, a d back in John Elway asked the ref to quiet the crowd. What the ref did it and threatened to charge the Chiefs with the time out if they kept it up. I'm actually surprised that went down. That disappoints me. Yeah, that disappoints me so much because being there and hearing the crowd and feeling your ears ringing and feeling the

stadium shake. That's what it is. It's you're standing there and the stadium shakes. Okay, another place I've been Bank of America Stadium. It's the home of mixed reality mascots. It was opened in nine, shortly after the Carolina Panthers came into existence. There are lots and lots of massive bronze Panthers statues, six of them I believe, around the stadium. Wow, you got to get the bronze going ready to rock and roll DD. There's one team when I think about them,

I kind of only think about one player. That's Peyton Manning. And yes it's the Cults, and yes I'm talking about Lucas Oil Stadium, built in two thousand eight, hosted Super Bowl forty six, one of my favorite super Bowls, one of my absolute favorite super Bowls to cover anything that stands out of Mario Manningham holding onto a ball, I mean Eli making you know what it was? It was. There was so much fear. That was one of the

first Super Bowls in a cold weather climate. And the really cool thing about Indianapolis is that there are all these tunnels. They are underground tunnels, there are over the road tunnels, whatever you call them. There are tunnels so you never actually need to go outside. But it was this unseasonably warm week prior to the Super Bowl, and the volunteers were as friendly as can be. And then it was of course that epic. It was another epic,

the second epic Giants Patriots super Bowl. And I will never forget that pass that Eli Manning made to Mario Manningham and Mario Manningham on the sideline actually holding onto the ball because it felt like all season he didn't necessarily hold on the ball. And then you can't forget a mod Brats show, right, being told not to score and then turning around backwards and falling on his tush

while he scored. Anyway, showtime deliver when it counts. Yes, And of course Lucas Oils Data, we should say, has been home of the NFL Combine and one of my all time favorite events. They're talking about moving the Combine, not this year though, great great, great host for the Combine, for aspiring NFL players for that Super Bowl, and just in general on game day. Yeah, I think about cold weather. I also think about Minnesota a d D where the

roof collapsed. Yeah, it actually collapsed five times. They finally decided to move on, which you can certainly understand. Their current home, US Bank Stadium. It's kind of got a pretty good vibe to it, just in terms of the aesthetics around it. But it did host Super Bowl fifty two while it actually fixed it that roof stadium, but the temperatures that week reached negative twenty five degrees outside. You need the tunnels. You need the tunnels. That's all

I'm saying keep it warm negative twenty five. That's just a different breed of of existence. That was one of my live shots at the Super Bowl in Minneapolis. I was the person tasked with standing outside and talking about how cold it was. And I will tell you what, I've never been so cold in my life. Okay, Onto the team without a mascot, That, of course is the Washington football team. FedEx Field open in ninet It's one of the largest stadiums in the league. Seats eighty two

thousand people. FedEx has a marching band that was formed in nineteen thirty seven. That's the oldest band in the NFL. And there's of course the Hoggets that those are the fans who dress up in dresses and pig faces, which I suppose is supposed to be in homage to the offensive line. But you know the mushroomn handle in business. You know, what's always kind of cool because of all the weather issues that we've talked about is just this

whole idea of like retractable domes. It really is sort of like a marvel from an engineering standpoint, but the Texans actually had the first retractable roof when they built what is now an RG Stadium back in two thousand two. That roof, by the way, seven minutes or so open and close. And r G also hosts Houston Livestock Show and the Rodeo, which I know is a big popular attraction. Shout out to the Bullpen, by the way, those dieheart fans always ready to support their football team in a

big gay and are very very last stadium. And that's an old team from Texas, the Tennessee Titans. They now play at Nissan Stadium. When they played in Houston as the Oilers, they of course played as the Houston Astrodome, which was once known as the Eighth Wonder of the World. But then when they moved to Nashville, first they played at Vanderbilt while they waited for Adelphia Coliseum. At Vandy you couldn't buy a beer on Sundays because of the

college stadium liquor laws. But then when they finally started playing at a Delphia Coliseum, they set an NFL record by winning third team straight home games. Of course, now they're at Nissan Stadium and uh fun, fun, fun place to cover a game. I'll tell you that the dity I know, as we've kind of gone through every single team and some of the cool factoids around every stadium. The one thing that I will say, and I know we've hammered home this point, but just what these places

mean for those local communities. And in fact, I think about the Old Giant Stadium and my high school, Burden Catholic in New Jersey, the Crusaders. We won the state high school championships um that year were the game was played in the Old Giants Stadium, and I whenever I think, I don't even think of and I'm a Giants fan, I always even think about the Giants. When I think about Old Giants Stadium, I think about the memory of being a high school student cheering on our guys and

we won a state championship. And I know that people all across this country and people even internationally probably experienced it in different forms in different sports. But anyone who's listening to this podcast a DD I'm sure has a story and a memory just like that, and share them with us, Tweet us and tell us your favorites memories

from your stadiums. And of course, as always, as we ask every single week, if you have questions, if you have things that you want explained about the National Football League about the game, about the people in the buildings and everything that comprised the game will come at us.

Send us the topics that interest you most. You've got questions, We got answers at A King Kabala at Mike Underscore, Yam A d D. Always fun to do another edition and the NFL Explained podcast with you and that has been Stadiums Explained brought to you by up work, where you can build the team that will build your business. Learn more at upwork dot com. America's most reliable network is going ultra with Verizon five G Ultra wide band and more and more places with up to ten times

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