Why Don’t NFL Stadiums Have Any Cover?
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I was just googling a few - Giants Stadium, Soldier Field, Gillette Stadium and the LA Coloseum - and none of them have any significant roofing over their stands whatsoever. I’d never considered why before. Is it simply because of the population bases which means they sell out no matter the weather and therefore cover isn’t worth providing? Obviously not so much in LA but the others all endure harsh winter weather. Of course there are a couple or maybe several fully indoor arenas as well but I’m pretty sure if you read up on NFL stadia on Wikipedia it’ll tell you the vast majority of the stadiums in the northern US states are not fully roofed and it seems not roofed at all.
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OK so eight current full time NFL stadiums have fixed or retractable roofs. Of 31 full time stadiums. Of those, only three are in northern states. And looking at pics the vast majority of these open stadia have little to no roofing whatsoever.
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It is an issue that has come up more recently.
Miami Dolphins recently updated their stadium so that roofs were added (see before and after photos below).
San Francisco 49ers have commissioned a study on shading for their new stadium due to heat/lack of shade problems
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Lambeau Field. It doesn't get any colder than in Green Bay.
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@shark next question would be age. Are the covered ones newer? Also wonder about the cost of putting a roof on something that massive. Rather than a more petite 40k number
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@paekakboyz Yes most of the covered stadiums are newer.
Also you can add some more stadiums soon to be opened will be domes - Las Vegas and LA.
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The first reason is cost - why pay for cover when you can spend it on more seats.
The second is tradition - in places like Green Bay they have just always had vast open stadiums. Standing out in the freezing cold in Green Bay or Chicago is just something you do.
Maybe Christchurch should follow that tradition
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Because Americans aren't massive pussies about turning up to sport in a bit of weather
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Northern stadiums need to have much stronger roofs because of the weight of snow. That vastly increases the cost.
When you read of roofs collapsing it is generally snow.
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@mariner4life said in Why Don’t NFL Stadiums Have Any Cover?:
Because Americans aren't massive pussies about turning up to sport in a bit of weather
I always think that, too.
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Because everyone prefers a rain in champion.
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@chester-draws said in NBA Season 2017/18:
Northern stadiums need to have much stronger roofs because of the weight of snow. That vastly increases the cost.
When you read of roofs collapsing it is generally snow.
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@sneakdefreak said in Why Don’t NFL Stadiums Have Any Cover?:
The first reason is cost - why pay for cover when you can spend it on more seats.
The second is tradition - in places like Green Bay they have just always had vast open stadiums. Standing out in the freezing cold in Green Bay or Chicago is just something you do.
Maybe Christchurch should follow that tradition
Adding to that, most NFL teams own their own stadium, so they need to justify all the spending. Whereas our stadiums tend to be taxpayer or ratepayer funded so the teams demand luxury knowing that they don't have to foot the bill and half of Joe public gets on an ego trip about having a better stadium than city x while the other half of Joe public who don't want to spend any money.
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As a general rule the current slate roofed stadiums all replaced downtown domed venues that had established annual tenants outside NFL that need the roof. Several converted into exhibition space, most host NCAA basketball conference finals, Houston has the rodeo, combine etc.
That changes the equation from simply maximizing for the most seats.
FedEx Field is the worst I’ve seen in terms of pure adding seats at the expense of fan experience.
