Before Houston: The Last 5 Stadiums To Host The Super Bowl
We all know the New England Patriots will face the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI in Houston's NRG Stadium this Sunday, but what about the stadiums that hosted previous Super Bowls? In anticipation of the coming game day, Bisnow decided to look back at the last five stadiums to host the event. From San Francisco to NYC, check out which stadiums had the honor of hosting the last five championship games.
City: Santa Clara, Calif.
Capacity: 68,500
Most Recent Super Bowl: 2016
Completed in 2014, Levi's Stadium is 40 miles outside San Francisco and serves as the home of the 49ers. It cost $1.3B to construct and hosted Super Bowl 50, in which the Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers 24-10. It is one of the largest buildings registered with the U.S. Green Building Council and is one of the first stadiums to have both a green roof and solar panels.
City: Glendale, Ariz.
Capacity: 63,400
Most Recent Super Bowl: 2015
University of Phoenix Stadium cost $455M to build and opened in August 2006. It features the first fully retractable natural grass field in the U.S., which allows the entire turf to be moved outside and exposed to sunlight for the grass to grow. The Arizona Cardinals call it home and in Super Bowl XLIX the New England Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28-24, marking the second Super Bowl the stadium hosted.
City: East Rutherford, N.J.
Capacity: 82,500
Most Recent Super Bowl: 2014
With a construction cost of $1.6B, MetLife Stadium is the most expensive stadium ever built and the only NFL stadium two clubs — the Giants and Jets — share. Located just outside NYC in the Meadowlands, this stadium hosted Super Bowl XLVIII, the first Super Bowl ever played in the NYC metro area and the first time the game has ever been hosted by a non-domed stadium in a cold-weather city. In that showdown the Seattle Seahawks claimed their first Super Bowl victory, beating the Denver Broncos 43-8.
City: New Orleans
Capacity: 73,208
Most Recent Super Bowl: 2013
Better known as simply the Superdome, this stadium housed thousands of people in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of New Orleans. Built in 1975 for $134M, it underwent massive repairs in 2005 that cost an additional $193M. The Superdome is home to the New Orleans Saints and has hosted seven Super Bowls in its life, most recently Super Bowl XLVII, which the Baltimore Ravens won 34-31 against the San Francisco 49ers.
City: Indianapolis, Ind.
Capacity: 62,421
Most Recent Super Bowl: 2012
Built with reddish-brown bricks to fit into Indianapolis' old downtown, Lucas Oil Stadium first opened in August 2008. Construction costs totaled $720M and the stadium boasted the largest movable glass wall in the world for a year. Home of the Indiana Colts and known locally as "The House That Manning Built," the stadium hosted Super Bowl XLVI, in which the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots 21-17.
