Today’s cutting-edge features might just make tomorrow’s stadiums worth the outrageous price of admission
By Patrick J. SauerPosted 7.16.08 at 11:17 am 0 Comments
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Graham Murdoch
For $100 a ticket, fans shouldn’t suffer vanilla architecture. When the 2009 NFL season kicks off, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will have spent more than a billion dollars on a stadium that covers 30 total acres, seats 80,000, and features a 660,800-square-foot single-span roof structure, the world’s longest. The design, by architectural firm HKS, is an icon of big-stadium ambition. The roof can open in a mere 12 minutes. The luxury suites put well-heeled oilmen directly on the field, a first for NFL stadiums. And 180-by-50-foot center-hung HD scoreboards will show replays from multiple angles.
Once upon a time, players were relatively insulated from heckling. Now British soccer fans are about to enjoy designs that will enhance their powers of harassment. Liverpool F.C.’s new stadium will reproduce the old field’s infamous “Kop” fan section and add a single-piece steel roof that comes up and curves out over the sacred 76 rows (along with 20 added rows). The design ensures that taunts and team fight songs will blast down to the field and deafen opposing players.
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