11 of the World's Most Expensive Stadiums

By:Patrick J. Kiger|
Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, is impressive to say the least. But is it the most expensive?Mitchell Martin/Brandon Magnus/Atlanta Falcons

The most recently built stadiums aren't just huge, they're also masterpieces of design, filled with art, restaurants, and sophisticated technology that makes events inside more enjoyable. That's no simple feat to construct.

After all, these stadiums must be large enough for tens of thousands of fans to watch their favorite professional teams play games and have to accommodate superstar rock groups perform concerts.

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And all that costs a whole lot of money to build — in some cases, billions of dollars.

So what are theworld's most expensive stadiums? We came up with a list of 11, based on reports of their construction costs, unadjusted for inflation, as well some of the design details that make them so impressive. The list starts with No. 11, home of the Dallas Cowboys.

AT&T Stadium

ATT Stadium
When Cowboys Stadium opened in 2009, it was the largest NFL stadium ever built; it still has the the largest retractable end zone doors anywhere.Manhattan Construction

AT&T Stadiumis home to the NFL's Dallas Cowboys. The 80,000-seat facility is in Arlington, Texas, and cost$1.2 billion to designand build in 2009. It includes one of the world's largest HDTV video boards and still has thelargest retractable endzone doorsin the world. The stadium also includes seating for 80,000 that can expand to 100,000. In December 2022, the NFL approved a plan to spend an additional $295 million on renovations. One thing that sets AT&T Stadium apart is the Dallas Cowboysart collection, which includes 90 large art installations from several artists.

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Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

托特纳姆热刺在伊蒂哈德球场
Tottenham Hotspur stadium is home to the Premier League club and now hosts NFL football games.Tottenham Hotspur FC/Getty Images

Tottenham Hotspur Stadiumin London is considered one of the most technologically advanced in the world. It's home to the Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and was completed in 2019, boasting a reported construction cost of 1 million British pounds, according toBBC NewsandStadiumdb.com(about $1.28 billion at2019 exchange rates). What makes Tottenham Hotspur so impressive is it is the first stadium ever to have a fully retractable grass field. That also made it possible for Tottenham Hotspur to have a 10-year partnership with the NFL.

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Levi's Stadium

Levi's Stadium
Levi's Stadium opened in 2014 and is one of the only on our list that was primarily funded by private money.Bay Area News/MediaNews Group via Getty Images

Levi's Stadiumin Santa Clara, California, is the home of the NFL's San Francisco 49ers and professional soccer's San Jose Earthquakes. The stadium opened in 2014 andconstruction cost of $1.2 billion, though the public only paid for $114 million of that. The rest was financed privately by the NFL and by the 49ers. The stadium seats 68,500 and earned LEED Gold Certification for sustainable design and construction, both as new construction and as an existing building. The stadium contains more than400 miles of data cableto support its advanced technology. TheArt Collection at Levi's Stadiumalso has more than 200 original pieces and 500 photographs from 23 local California artists showcased throughout.

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National Stadium

Singapore National Stadium
Singapore National Stadium is the centerpiece of the Singapore Sports Hub and is the world's largest freestanding dome.Power Sport Images/Getty Images

National Stadiumis the centerpiece of the Singapore Sports Hub, which also includes the Singapore Indoor Stadium and OCBC Arena. Construction coststotaled $1.3 billion.National Stadium opened in 2014 as home to the Singapore national soccer team, but it's also used for rugby, cricket and other events, and can seat up to 55,000 spectators. It features aretractable roofwith innovative lighting system that is embedded with 20,000 LED lights so it can also function as a giant screen, with projection visible from inside and outside. National Stadium holds theGuinness World Recordfor theworld's largest freestanding dome

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UBS Arena

UBS Arena
UBS Arena is the only hockey arena on our list. It opened in November 2021 as home to the New York Islanders.Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

UBS Arenais one of the newest on our list and the only hockey arena. It opened in 2021 in Elmont, New York, as the home of the National Hockey League's New York Islanders at a cost$1.5 billion.The arena features the largest arena scoreboard in New York state and an architectural design inspired by iconic New York City landmarks. But it's not just about hockey. UBS says it's also designed for music, with world-class acoustics and "more restrooms per person than any arena in Metro New York," according to the stadium'swebsite

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Wembley Stadium

Wembley Stadium
London's Wembley Stadium is known for being massive, but it was also very expensive to build; to date it's the most expensive stadium in the history of the U.K.UAV 4/Shutterstock

而美国足球场主导这个lis)t, the Brits made the list, too, with the new iteration ofWembley Stadium.90000个座位的体育场有第二大eating capacity in Europe and is the most expensive ever built in the U.K. at a cost of $1.57 billion in 2007, according to The New York Times. It replaced a landmark of the same name built in 1923, took six years to build and seats 90,000 fans. It's the national stadium of England and the home of English football, er, soccer.

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MetLife Stadium

MetLife Stadium
MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, is one of the largest stadiums in the NFL. It was host of Super Bowl XLVIII Feb. 2, 2014, when the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos 43-8.Jai Agnish/Shutterstock

MetLife Stadiumis home to the NFL's New York Jets and New York Giants. The massive stadium is in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and construction was completed in 2010 at a whoppingcost of $1.6 billion.It seats 82,500 spectators, making it one of thelargest in the NFL.It's hosted many major events since opening, includingSuper Bowl XLVIIIin 2014.

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Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Mercedes-Benz Stadium's massive, aperture-like roof can fully open in eight minutes and close in just seven.Kyle Hess/Atlanta Falcons

Mercedes-Benz Stadiumis the71,000-seatarena that hosts the NFL's Atlanta Falcons and the Atlanta United FC soccer team. It opened in 2017 and is themost expensive structureever built in the city's history. Its construction, which required demolition of the Georgia Dome, cost somewhere between $1.75 and $1.8 billion, according to theAtlanta Journal Constitution.The stadium features numerous design innovations, including anangular roofcomposed of eight 220-foot (67-meter) petals that, with the push of a button, open and close like the aperture of a camera. It includes 4,000 miles of fiber-optic cable to support the 2,000 TVs throughout, and is the first pro sports venue in the U.S. to earnLEED Platinum Certification

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Allegiant Stadium

Allegiant Stadium
Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas is located just off the Strip and is the only one on the list to come in under budget.Enclos

Allegiant Stadiumis home the NFL's Las Vegas Raiders and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Rebels college football team. The stunning 65,000-seat stadium was completed in 2020 on the iconic Las Vegas Strip at a reported cost of $1.99 billion to build, which was under budget, according to theLas Vegas Review-Journal.Fully enclosed and climate-controlled to cope with the Nevada heat, the stadium includes a retractable natural turf field for the NFL, an artificial turf surface for UNLV and, of course, incredible views of the Las Vegas Strip.

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Yankee Stadium

Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium is home to not just the Yankees, but also to Major League Soccer's New York City FC.Brian Logan Photography/Shutterstock

The original Yankee Stadium, built in 1923, cost the then-lavish sum of$2.4 million(about $42.4 million in 2022 dollars, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics'CPI Inflation Calculator). The newYankee Stadium, which seats 52,000, was built in 2009 andpays homage to many of the original's architectural details, but it cost a lot more to build — reportedly more than $2.3 billion, according to bothThe New York TimesandCity & State New York.In addition to the Yankees, Major League Soccer'sNew York City FCalso calls the stadium home.

SoFi Stadium

SoFi Stadium
SoFi Stadium played host to Super Bowl LVI, Feb. 13, 2022, when the Los Angeles Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20. It was just the second time in Super Bowl history that a team played and won in its home stadium.Wikimedia/(CC BY-SA 4.0)

Though the true price ofSoFi Stadiumin Englewood, California, has never been publicly revealed, construction is said to have cost about $5.5 billion, according to multiple sources includingBloombergandYahoo Sports.Home to two NFL teams, the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers, SoFi has 70,000 fixed seats but can be expanded to handle 100,000 spectators. It's also a high-tech architectural marvel so complex that adigital twinis used to monitor its operations, with a clear roof coated with a special film that filters the sunlight shining down into it, as well as aseries of panelsthat open and close like sunroofs on cars to help with ventilation. It's environmentally sophisticated as well, with asurrounding landscapethat includes more than 5,000 trees and native plants, and a complex system for collecting and storing rainwater for irrigation. Possibly the first stadium everdesigned with the Super Bowl in mind, it hostedSuper Bowl LVIin 2022. SoFi also will be the site of theopening and closing ceremoniesof the 2028 Summer Olympics.

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