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MetLife Stadium

Coordinates: 40°48′48.50″N 74°04′27.33″W / 40.8134722°N 74.0742583°W / 40.8134722; -74.0742583
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Meadowlands Stadium
Map
Location50 State Highway 120
East Rutherford, New Jersey 07073
OwnerNew Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority
OperatorNew Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority
Capacity82,500
SurfaceFieldTurf
Construction
Broke groundSeptember 5, 2007
Construction cost$1.4 billion (estimated)[1]
ArchitectEwing Cole
Skanska AB
360 Architecture
Tenants
New York Giants (NFL; 2010)
New York Jets (NFL; 2010)

Meadowlands Stadium is an American football stadium currently under construction in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It will replace Giants Stadium in the parking lot of the current structure at the Meadowlands Sports Complex. As with the current stadium, both the New York Giants and New York Jets will play their home games there. However, unlike Giants Stadium, the new stadium will be a 50/50 partnership between both NFL teams. The stadium will be administered by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which also operates the current stadium (and owned it until selling it to the Giants as part of the stadium plan). The Stadium is currently the most expensive stadium in the NFL ahead of the Dallas Cowboys New Stadium.

Capacity

The new stadium will have seating for 82,500 fans, including 10,000 club seats and approximately 200 luxury suites. It will be the second-largest or third largest stadium in the NFL, after The New Cowboys Stadium in Arlington (estimated up to 100,000 seats) and FedExField outside Washington, D.C., currently the largest stadium in the league with a capacity of 91,704

Design

Construction of the New Meadowlands Stadium as seen from Giants Stadium (December 9, 2007)

The new stadium the Jets and the Giants are scheduled to occupy in 2010 will be distinguished by an outer skin of aluminum louvers and by interior lighting that will switch colors depending on which team is playing at home — a technique originated at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, which is shared between two soccer clubs. The special louvers and the associated hanging system have been custom designed by Overgaard Ltd., Hong Kong. Architectural Wall Systems co. of Des Moines, Iowa is supplying all materials for this project. The total linear amount of louvers is roughly 50,000 meters (50 kilometers) or 163,680 feet (31 miles).

There will be numerous tailgating zones, and myriad options to buy food and merchandise in the plaza that will ring the stadium.

The changing colors — blue for the Giants, green for the Jets, and red for a concert — reflect each team’s desire to individualize the look of the 82,500-seat stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The teams’ current home, Giants Stadium, opened in 1976, but the Jets have long felt like a second-class tenant there since arriving in 1984. The louvers in the new stadium, which are arranged in various densities, may also reflect the teams’ colors.

According to renderings of the Jets-Giants stadium obtained by The New York Times, giant red pylons at the north and east entrances will display videos of each team, depending on which one is playing.

A signature feature of the stadium — which will be built in the shape of a rounded rectangle — will be the massive "Great Wall" that will be partly visible through the louvers at the main entrance.

The wall will be 400 feet (120 m) long and 40 feet (12 m) high, showing panels of images that will rotate between photographic murals of the Jets and Giants on game days and different pictures for concerts and other events.

Inside, four 40-by-130-foot scoreboards will hang from each corner of the upper deck.

The sight lines will be similar to those at Giants Stadium, which seats a little over 80,000, but in some cases seats will be farther away because the new facility will have more than double the square footage. The stadium complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and it will have four restaurants, nearly double the current 117 luxury suites, and 9,200 club seats, two club lounges, wider concourses and at least one hall of fame.[3] The Giants team offices will be located in the stadium, as they have been in Giants Stadium.

Unlike a number of other new NFL venues including the new Cowboys Stadium, Lucas Oil Stadium, University of Phoenix Stadium, Ford Field and Reliant Stadium, the new Meadowlands stadium will not have a roof. Proposals to include a roof failed due to a dispute over funding.[4] Therefore, it is unlikely the Super Bowl could be held in this venue due to northern New Jersey's winter climate. Also, indoor events such as the Final Four will not be held at the facility, which runs counter to the original aims for a new stadium in northern New Jersey.[5]

Lease terms

The lease for the new stadium is for 25 years, with options to extend it that could eventually reach 97 years. After the 15th year of the lease, every five years, one of the two teams may opt out of the lease, giving the state 12 months notice. However, if one team leaves for a new stadium, the other team would have to remain for the remainder of the lease.[6] Based on the teams' histories, this clause presumably allows the Jets to eventually decide that they want to play in their own stadium and leave if they can find a way to finance it, although the high cost of the stadium and relocation of team facilities to New Jersey makes this unlikely. It is unknown if the lease starts upon construction or upon the stadium's opening. The teams also get parking revenue from the Meadowlands' western parking lots year round, even when there are no events at the stadium (this would occur when other parts of the Meadowlands host events)[7].

Transportation

A rail spur will be constructed by New Jersey Transit from the Pascack Valley Line to provide rail service to Hoboken Terminal (and, via the Secaucus Junction, to Pennsylvania Station).[8] [9]

Naming rights

Allianz, a financial services company based in Germany, expressed interest in purchasing naming rights to the stadium. The proposal was for a period of up to 30 years[10], and is valued at anywhere from $20 million to $30 million USD. However, the proposal sparked protests from New York's Jewish community and the Anti-Defamation League, which protested the move due to close ties in the past between Allianz and the government of Nazi Germany during World War II.[11] Allianz already sponsors the venue that inspired the color-change technology for Meadowlands Stadium: Allianz Arena in Munich.

Talks between Allianz and the teams ended on September 12, 2008 with no deal.[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ USA Today
  2. ^ Langan: Landscape Architecture + Planning
  3. ^ Kaleidoscope of Colors Coming to New Stadium
  4. ^ ESPN - Giants, Jets revise billion-dollar stadium plan - NFL
  5. ^ NJSEA About Us
  6. ^ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/football/nfl/12/20/lease.ap/
  7. ^ Story not found - NJ.com
  8. ^ NJ TRANSIT RAMPS UP PROJECT TO PROVIDE BI-DIRECTIONAL, OFF-PEAK SERVICE ON PASCACK VALLEY LINE: Project also makes way for rail service to the Meadowlands, press release dated May 11, 2005
  9. ^ http://www.njtransit.com/tm/tm_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=Project077To
  10. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/01/sports/football/01nfl.html?_r=1&ref=sports&oref=slogin
  11. ^ Orin Yaniv (2008-09-11). "Giants and Jets fans join uproar over stadium naming rights bid by firm with Holocaust ties". Retrieved 2008-09-11. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |source= ignored (help)
  12. ^ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/football/nfl/09/12/giants.jets.ap/index.html
Preceded by Home of the
New York Giants
Schedule to open in 2010 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by Home of the
New York Jets
Schedule to open in 2010 		Succeeded by
Incumbent

40°48′48.50″N 74°04′27.33″W / 40.8134722°N 74.0742583°W / 40.8134722; -74.0742583

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