Giants Stadium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
| Giants Stadium | |
 |
|
| Facility statistics | |
|---|---|
| Location | 50 State Hightway 120 East Rutherford, New Jersey 07073 |
| Broke ground | 1972 |
| Opened | 1976 |
| Closed | Open |
| Demolished | N/A |
| Owner | New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority |
| Operator | New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority |
| Surface | Fieldturf (AstroTurf 1976-1997; Grass 1998-2001) |
| Construction cost | $78 million USD |
| Architect | HNTB |
| Former names | |
| N/A | |
| Tenants | |
| New York Giants (NFL) (1976-Present) New York Jets (NFL) (1984-Present) NY/NJ MetroStars (MLS) (1996-Present) New York Cosmos (NASL) (1977-1984) New Jersey Generals (USFL) (1983-1985) New York/New Jersey Knights (WLAF) (1991-1992) New York/New Jersey Hitmen (XFL) (2001) |
|
| Seating capacity | |
| 80,242 | |
Giants Stadium is the home stadium for the New York Giants and New York Jets NFL football teams, and the MetroStars of Major League Soccer. It is located in East Rutherford, New Jersey in the Meadowlands Sports Complex, which also hosts the Meadowlands Racetrack and the Continental Airlines Arena. Official seating capacity as of 2004 is 80,242.
Because the Jets play in a stadium named for another NFL team, the Jets officially refer to the site as simply The Meadowlands; it is used on all official NFL and team game notes regarding Jets' home games.
Giants Stadium opened October 10, 1976, as 76,042 fans witnessed a loss by the Giants to the Dallas Cowboys. College football made its debut at Giants Stadium October 23, 1976, with Rutgers University defeating Columbia University, 47-0.
The New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League moved to Giants Stadium for the 1977 season and remained until the league folded in 1985. Soccer legend Pelé played his last game here October 1, 1977, playing the first half for the Cosmos and the second half for his old Brazilian team, Santos.
In 1984, the New York Jets became co-tenants with the Giants.
Other professional football teams that have called Giants Stadium home over the years include the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League; the New York/New Jersey Knights of the World League of American Football; and the New York/New Jersey Hitmen of the XFL.
The stadium has also hosted numerous college football games, including the Kickoff Classic from 1983 to 2002; the New York Urban League Classic since 1981; and the Army-Navy Game on several occasions, most recently in 2002.
Nine games of the 1994 World Cup soccer tournament were held at Giants Stadium, along with several games of the 1999 Women's World Cup. In 2003, the SuperCoppa Italiana, an annual match pitting the winners of Serie A (Italy's top division) and the Coppa Italia (Italian Cup), was held in Giants Stadium instead of in Italy because both clubs involved (Juventus and AC Milan) were touring the United States late in the summer, when the event is normally scheduled. In 2005, it played host to many matches to the CONCACAF Gold Cup, including the final which saw the USA victorious over Panama in a 3-1 penalty shootout after both sides failed to score goals during regulation and extra time. It has seen many European soccer tours in recent years paying venue to such big clubs as Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, and many others.
The largest crowd to ever attend an event at Giants Stadium was 82,948, as Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass during a rainstorm on October 5, 1995.
Concerts have also been a part of the Giants Stadium experience, as performers ranging from Bruce Springsteen to the Grateful Dead to the Three Tenors have taken the stage before appreciative audiences.
To accommodate these varied events, Giants Stadium has sported various playing surfaces in its history. AstroTurf was the original surface for the playing field. This surface was covered by sod for the World Cup. A system of interchangeable grass trays was implemented from 1999 to 2001, but was replaced by a new artificial surface, FieldTurf, in 2002.
When the New York Jets left Shea Stadium and moved to Giants Stadium in 1984, many predicted the stadium would be renamed. The Jets organization preferred not to reside in a facility named after another team. However, their requests were denied. While the stadium has a decidedly blue atmosphere, matching the Giants' team colors, when the Jets play the, the walls are covered with green banners, matching their colors. The endzones are also repainted green, with Jets logos. In mid-December, traditionally the stadium hosts a Saturday-Sunday NFL doubleheader, with the Giants playing a home game one day and the Jets playing the other. The night between the games is a challenge for the stadium grounds crew, as they have only hours to convert the stadium from one team's colors to the other. As per the NFL schedule, the Giants and the Jets play each other once every four years. In that case, there is a predetermined home team, and a predetermined away team. In those games, the "away" team gets a rare away game in their own home stadium. The Giants and Jets typically play each other every year in the NFL Preseason, and the teams rotate annually home/away.
For some years a rumor circulated that the remains of Jimmy Hoffa had been buried under one of the end zones at Giants Stadium. This led a wag in Sports Illustrated to suggest that "This lends new meaning to the term coffin corner!"
On September 29, 2005, it was announced that Giants Stadium would be replaced with a $800 million stadium that is scheduled to be opened in 2009. The new stadium will be nearby the current stadium, which will be razed and turned into a parking lot. The New York Jets were planning a move to a new domed stadium on Manhattan's West Side sometime near the year 2010. However, with the political defeat in June 2005 of the West Side Stadium plan, the Jets ended up agreeing to share the new Meadowlands stadium with the Giants.
External links
| Current Stadiums in the National Football League |
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| American Football Conference | National Football Conference | |
|---|---|---|
| ALLTEL Stadium | Arrowhead Stadium | Cleveland Browns Stadium | The Coliseum | Dolphins Stadium | Giants Stadium | Gillette Stadium | Heinz Field | INVESCO Field at Mile High | M&T Bank Stadium | McAfee Coliseum | Paul Brown Stadium | Ralph Wilson Stadium | RCA Dome | Reliant Stadium | Qualcomm Stadium | Alamodome | Bank of America Stadium | Candlestick Park | Edward Jones Dome | FedEx Field | Ford Field | Georgia Dome | Giants Stadium | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | Lambeau Field | Lincoln Financial Field | Raymond James Stadium | Soldier Field | Sun Devil Stadium | Texas Stadium | Tiger Stadium | Qwest Field | |
| Current Stadiums in Major League Soccer |
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| Eastern Conference | Western Conference | |
|---|---|---|
| Arrowhead Stadium | Columbus Crew Stadium | Giants Stadium | Gillette Stadium | RFK Stadium | Soldier Field | Home Depot Center | INVESCO Field at Mile High | Pizza Hut Park | Rice-Eccles Stadium | Spartan Stadium | |
