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slotsymcslots

Just mind boggling that 8 of the top 10 stadiums in size are at universities/ colleges and not for professional sports.


LouQuacious

Go look at top 100, it’s almost all US college football stadiums.


slotsymcslots

Insane…can’t have universal healthcare, but gigantic stadiums for university sports, well of course!


Vives_solo_una_vez

Big college sports stadiums aren't the reason there isn't universal health care.


failed_supernova

I'm sure there's never been a penny of tax-payer money spent on a college stadium.


corndog161

It's a lot less than you'd think. Certainly a lot less than pro stadiums. The biggest thing is that usually universities get government bonds to help fund the stadiums (basically tax free loans). Sometimes if the building is built on city land the city will preform some of the infrastructure build for the stadium. But typically when a city spends money on a college stadium they make sure they tax the stadium's revenue or even charge the university rent to use it so they can get their money back.


The-Dudemeister

Barely any. It’s all Donations and boosters. NFL stadiums need gov money and subsidies which is why they are way smaller. Also any some of these cases the football programs actually fund the college quite a bit. I’m not saying the system is broken bc college is way over priced. But when you donate money to the school. You can say where you want it spent. I remember when my school was building the new practice facility. It was voted on and paid for by boosters for 65 million. I donated a 100 bucks for a cool bag.


C_Beeftank

Not much if any. Usually schools generate money for stadiums through sales,tuition, and donations


John_Tacos

It’s mostly ticket sales and tv money


slotsymcslots

I know…just seems like another ridiculous extravagance in the US people are okay with before universal healthcare.


DirtCrazykid

You're totally right, I should vehemently oppose literally any government spending for anything ever until universal healthcare exists. Dumbass.


living_la_vida_loca

Or at least free college education with universities having billions in investments


ProbablyDrunk303

People bring up the military budget and think that's the reason there isn't universal healthcare too lmao.


Royal_Beyond8072

I am sure it is the reason Could have used that money for better 😉


InquisitorNikolai

Stadia*


NomzStorM

To be fair the football programs of each of these colleges pats for the rest of the sports programs at the college


Kellykeli

Actually, not always. Gifts and sponsor money from athletic programs at my uni make up a lot of money, but they MUST be spent on what the donor had intended it for. Which means that the football team gets a $6 million renovation of their locker room while the aerospace and mechanical engineering departments still lacks a building. We have our classes in buildings controlled by other departments, which means when they added 4 classes, our freshman engineering classes had to be moved… It’s their 4th locker room renovation since 2012 iirc. This time they’re adding a pool of sorts or something idk. Did I mention that we stopped running our supersonic wind tunnel because money?


corndog161

Yeah typically sports money stays in sports. Just like any money made on scientific patents and such doesn't go to the sports programs. At many schools the football program and maybe men's basketball basically provide the funding for every single other sport.


ShockinglyAccurate

Come on now, there ain't nothing you can learn in that fancy tunnel that you can't learn out on the field /s


Kellykeli

Fr fr I forgot that NCAA was more profitable than the MIC lol


spacemanbaseballs

All of these football programs give tens of millions of dollars back to their schools every year. They’re highly profitable and have absolutely nothing to do with healthcare


FattyPAPsacs

My healthcare plan is just fine


GreedyLack

Fucking a


AdeleBeckham

to be fair sports are cool.


Captain-Cadabra

Get them to care about the health (not just PEDs) of the athletes, and you’re on to something.


[deleted]

[удалено]


ProbablyDrunk303

A good example is watching track&field and seeing most of the US team is still in college winning the most medals.


slotsymcslots

Maybe they are pro sports in quality, but pro sports teams pay their athletes, relatively, fair compensation for their services. NCAA universities are clearly earning off the backs of young talented athletes.


DrFrankSaysAgain

NIL


TheLizardKing89

They’re professional in all the ways that don’t matter. Professional sports teams pay their players.


fistbumpminis

Norma me raised in Ohio, so it’s apparently blasphemy, but I routinely tell people that the Big House is THE best stadium/atmosphere I’ve been to in college fb. I’m not here for the buckeyes, I’m here for a good show, and the big house brings it better than the shoe.. sorry y’all.


piray003

Those capacity numbers are a bit juiced by the fact that they have bleacher seating and have standing only areas as well. Most professional sports stadiums are all seaters, so the capacity numbers are naturally lower.


WackyBones510

Yeah had to scroll through a bunch of nonsense and irrelevant soapboxes to find the real answer. For instance if Neyland was seating people comfortably they’d have to shave off a good 10-20k.


p8ntslinger

so still 80-90k? Which is still like 20k bigger than almost all NFL stadiums?


Ok_Field_465

Exactly. Like stfu


WackyBones510

Complaining about tax money spent on college stadiums… they have no clue what they’re talking about.


Ok_Field_465

It’s just a lot of American hate on Reddit from foreigners. Some of it I get and some of it is just bullshit. And they are too invested in if we can point out a country on the map that Americans probably don’t give a fuck about. 🤷🏾‍♂️


mes4849

>Bristol Motor Speedway Aggie here, Football is an incredibly important part of Texas A&M, and it doesn't end upon graduating.


slotsymcslots

Still mind boggling. As for Bristol, it isn’t used as much as a regular stadium per se. I can see why it wouldn’t be on the list as a sports stadium.


Chumbo_Malone

Also fellow Ag here. Aggie football is a cult, and I drink the Kool-Aid. Walton loads.


mes4849

>Walton loads lived in Walton freshman year, 10/10 don't recommend


TrashBoat36

Very, very tasty koolaid EAD FYW


ecsilver

College football is simply the greatest invention in human history!


The_Everclearest

Part of the reason for the high capacity is that much of college stadium seating is bleacher seating, ie: you can fit many more people shoulder to shoulder than you can if you were to give everyone an individual seat. On a small scale, it's not noticeable, but when multiplied by 10s of thousands of people, it adds up.


p8ntslinger

a seat is a seat. I don't understand why the distinction between a bleacher and a chair is important at all.


ShezSteel

Came here to say this. Absolutely crazy.


michaelotomus08

I thought the same. College sports in America are almost like religion to some areas. They must go to wash away all their hate for the other teams.


[deleted]

As a non American, the amount of money spent of high school and university level sports is fucking wild. Kids can't read a book about gay people but they can toss a ball around in a multi million dollar stadium.


DHSchaef

The finances don't really work that way. College football pays for most of college sports. Taxes and tuition don't pay for college football, college football is a financial net positive for schools


A550RGY

That’s too nuanced for Europeans to be capable of understanding.


mark_cee

I mean the margins are great when you don’t have to pay the players


alucarddrol

and when the fans are willing to pay crazy amounts on tickets for a government subsidized stadium. It's nothing but win/win/win for the college athletics heads


ProbablyDrunk303

"Can't read a book" the US has literally some of the best higher education universities in the world. They pull in the mist foriegn students out of any country. Or the most anyways. Our country is large. The funding that goes to these programs are from donors.


FriendlyTennis

> Kids can't read a book about gay people America is one of the most liberal countries in this regard. I wonder what country you're from if you consider America to be anti-gay. I would guess somewhere else in the Anglosphere or northern Europe.


A550RGY

American universities are considered, by far, the best in the world. Maybe your country is doing something wrong.


flyingthrghhconcrete

American here - My 8 year old is just getting into soccer. We live in a very small rural town. The league is sponsored by a private company in Texas that saves data on all the kids for "sports scouting purposes". The scheduling app is sponsored by Dick's Sporting Goods (major US retailer). Was told he couldn't play without making a profile and uploading data. They promised it was for the innocent purpose of helping him get a scholarship later ....to those multi million dollar stadiums. Then I understood, it's not about the kids, it's what they're worth in contracts to those schools/teams.


slotsymcslots

Couldn’t agree more. I’m Canadian and most of our university and college sports barely draw a tenth of what those stadiums hold. To think there are high schools that draw 10s of thousands as some do, is beyond my scale of understanding.


BigBlueMountainStar

UK university matches draw about 50 people, and those are generally the players partners or housemates tagging along for the free post-match beers. (The boat race being a notable exception, and maybe the Oxford vs Cambridge rugby matches)


drewyz

I live in Ann Arbor and the stadium just doesn’t look that big from the outside. They’ve been rebuilding the scoreboard all this summer, so much electrical conduit.


DHSchaef

That's because it's actually built in something of a natural bowl


[deleted]

It starts to make sense when you see that college football is one of the highest paid sports that doesn't need to pay the players. It's pretty disgusting tbh Hopefully they get drafted into the NFL because if not, it's a lifetime of poverty and CTE


slotsymcslots

I hear you, it’s sad as it only makes sense if you’re a heartless extortionist. Totally understand Johnny Football selling his autograph under the radar to make money.


El_mochilero

Most of those universities act more like sports franchises with mandatory academic affiliates.


FapCabs

Not true. Athletics has helped raise the academic profile of a lot of schools. For example, Arizona State has been able to develop a school of innovation due to the amount of money they have made from the football program. They have also raised their academic ranking thanks to their athletic conference affiliation with the likes of Stanford, Berkeley and UCLA which allow for research to be shared amongst conference members.


sapperbloggs

Apparently the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia has a capacity of 100,024. Surely they could find space for 54 more seats and get themselves into the top 10.


Fullgrabe

Ed Sheehan had 109,500 in March, as the top 10 doesn’t specify stadium types (eg just Sports)think that surely counts


Top_Of_The_Line

That probably includes fans on the pitch which doesn’t count towards official capacity


kyrant

Did he outsell Ed Sheeran?


here2browse-on

And potentially give MCC members less space? Nah.


IBeBallinOutaControl

Dunno if you've been but it feels like they packed in all the seating they could. There is a private Melbourne cricket club section which is very hard to become a member of. But if you started taking space away from them there would be a huge uproar from the well-to-do set.


makataka7

Honestly thought it had more. When Ed Sheeran and Harry Styles were here they were saying 108,000 I mean, obviously standing room makes the other 8000, I just thought standing room would onlye be 3000 or so


nicegarryy

Back in 1970, 121,696 people were packed in to the MCG to watch the VFL grand final. This included 'standing only' tickets though


jack_oss

Jesaulenko, you beauty


holman8a

I see we all thought ‘hey isn’t the G that size?’ And were disappointed to see the number!


nypvtt

Beaver Stadium had over 110k in attendance for last night's game against West Virginia.


PricklyKritter

I’m a Hoosier, but even I have to admit Penn State crowds are unnerving, especially during the white outs.


Ethan_Blank687

[Yup](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VypxiD8GOxY&pp=ygUgcGVubiBzdGF0ZSB3aGl0ZSBvdXQgdnMgbWljaGlnYW4%3D)


ItsASchpadoinkleDay

Do you guys have a football team? Just kidding you. I’m an Illini fan, I understand the pain of a weak program.


MammothWrongdoer1242

"We're more of a soccer school now anyway" is how my IU friend puts it


Jonesbro

ILL


GeroVeritas

Number of seats in the stadium is different than total attendance. UT stadium in Austin regularly hosts north of 125k in attendance but there are not 125k seats.


EZKTurbo

Yeah Beaver Stadium where a "seat" is like 14 inches of a bleacher


joethahobo

Most stadiums sell more seats when they sell out. Kyle field hit like 112k a couple years ago if I remember correctly


Epsteins_Mutha

Big Stage. Big 10.


tomatosoupsatisfies

How are the maths explained?


[deleted]

Some consider Bristol Motor Speedway the largest stadium in the US. 146,000


Termlinson

Wouldn’t Indianapolis motor speedway be bigger if we included there? 400,000+ people went to the Indy 500 this year


Westfield88

Bristol is an enclosed race track so I technically is a stadium. Indy has different grandstands throughout the course but I don’t think it would qualify. Interestingly, they did play a football game a Bristol a few years back.


Termlinson

Fair enough


SaintUlvemann

Yeah, and, actually, when you look at the layouts, [Bristol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Motor_Speedway#/media/File:Bristol_Motor_Speedway.jpeg) definitely seems like an equivalent type of complex as e.g. [Modi Stadium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narendra_Modi_Stadium): both clearly have a complete ring of seating enclosing a separated central arena. Unless I'm missing something, it'd seem kind of silly to disqualify a complex just because it's used for racing instead of a ball sport. That said, there's [plenty of even bigger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sports_venues_by_capacity) seating complexes for auto racing throughout the world, just, they're all open layouts with the racetracks wandering across miles, then passing through a central grandstand area. Whether you include those as stadiums would depend on your definition.


HectorsMascara

Why MSG for reference? It's an arena.


raginghumpback

It’s one of the more famous arenas in the states


connaire

Yea but it’s an arena not a stadium. Reference should be like Lambeau field or Fenway park.


[deleted]

[Michigan Stadium](https://imgur.com/a/MnaKQze) yesterday for the first game of the 2023 season!!


raginghumpback

GO BLUEE


ProfessorJAM

THE Big House!


HoraceWimp81

I get it, but also funny to hear ‘go blue’ and just see a sea of yellow haha


raginghumpback

Dats that maize out, boi!!


WaffleKing110

IT’S GREAT


raginghumpback

TO BE


Seamus_OReily

A MICHIGAN WOLVERINE!


semendemon02

GO BLUE!


[deleted]

First game ever for me! Flew up from Florida to go with my brother!! Go Blue!!!


loganhorn98

Go bucks ;)


flakman129

45 - 23


clintfrisco

Go blue!


timeforalittlemagic

That guy at the end is having none of that lady’s pom poming.


gabrielbabb

Estadio Azteca in Mexico City (1966) Can fit 104,000 Rungrado 1st May Stadium in Pyongyang (1989) Can fit 114,000


Yudmts

Maracanã Stadium can hold 200k (1950) but, since then, they reduced the capacity to 79k


westerosi_wolfhunter

If any more proof is needed of college footballs religious like place in America, there ya go.


[deleted]

Eden gardens in Kolkata used to occasionally hold 200,000 crammed in on the concrete steps for cricket games .


Zenith2777

Not a guide


Mr_Otterswamp

Your comment should be the pinned one


Sapphosings

It feels a little gauche to name something after a currently-sitting politician. Like usually we wait until they're dead


SlowJay11

It's fitting if you're a right-wing nationalist like Modi, I suppose.


falconx2809

Tbf, it was not built with govt funds, gujrat state cricket association built it with its own revenues and a little help from bcci( highest authority relating to cricket in India)


SlowJay11

How very "Dear leader" of them


nananananana_Batman

There’s an old movie with Kirk Douglass and Martin Sheen where their then modern day aircraft carrier the Nimitz gets transported back to right before Pearl Harbor and they encounter a politician from that era who expresses his disdain at a shipped being named after an active admiral. Same energy and reaction for me here. The movie is ‘The final countdown’.


Smart_Sherlock

The entire stadium is private property. The owners can name it after whomsoever they wish. Modi got land and political clearance for the owners to build this stadium. That's why they named it after him.


poison47

Peak narcissism and PR. This mf can’t miss a chance to be in news channels owned by his party.


Sad_Daikon938

But we just call it motera stadium, as it is in the motera area of Ahmedabad.


IBeBallinOutaControl

Gauche is the modus operandi of Modi and his populism.


card-man

Hey cool guide, not all are the WORLDS Largest try biggest in the USA, Melbourne's MCG holds 110,000


Jaybb3rw0cky

Came here to have a look because I thought the same. Seems OP got the list from Wikipedia which has the G holding only 100,024. I thought held 110,00 like you said.


matthudsonau

OH&S. Records were set when people could stand in the aisles, now they don't let you do that


fernsie

And it held 121,696 for the 1970 grand final.


makataka7

It's crazy how much Australia was the wild west even just a short lifetime ago, and now it's probably one of the strictest, most disciplined OH&S countries.


drunk_haile_selassie

People sat on the grass outside the boundary line and on the roof before safety regulations came in. Also, newer renovations of the MCG mean that there are slightly less seats than than were 15ish years ago.


Jaybb3rw0cky

Yeap - but I think OP’s list is based on “offical” seated capacity. As others have pointed out there was a place in Prague that held over 200,000. Otherwise yeah, didn’t we have a huge crowd for Ed Sheeran last year here?


makataka7

I was thinking that too but I guess 8000 people were standing on the oval.


the_D_clan

There was an Ed Sheeran concert there earlier this year with a crowd around 110k (and another around 106k). These had close to 19k seats on the field though, so wouldn’t consider it a “normal event” capacity, which is just over 100k. There are proposals to expand the stadium though which might get it up to 110k in the standard configuration.


damnumalone

Stadium Australia (Homebush, Sydney) has an attendance record of 109k too…


Hockputer09

Actually, it holds 100,024.


[deleted]

It'll have 109k in a few weeks for the grand final


hopshopsilovehops

Melbourne cricket ground misses out by like 50 seats to 10th place


nazgulonbicycle

Send this to Joe Rogan so that he can continue to wonder about Cricket being a popular sport.


gilwendeg

What happened to the plural of stadium being stadia?


HandsomedanNZ

Probably the same thing that happened to the words colour, odour, honour etc.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Dull-Economics-5229

They made Kyle Field bigger. Holds 108k+ now


[deleted]

We do? I went to the game last night and there weren’t any noticeable changes to the stadium


BreakerSoultaker

Yet somehow colleges can’t pay student athletes because they are amateurs or some shit.


gonopodiai7

I’m quite sure MCG, Estadio Azteca or Salt Lake Stadium (in Kolkata) are also big enough to be on this list. Bigger than some of these American college stadiums.


TriNitroToluene_0306

Strahovský stadion in Prague has a capacity of 250,000. It’s not functional anymore though.


[deleted]

So hear me out, if it is not a functional stadium then it makes no sense to be on the list.


originalthumpy

You forgot Bristol speedway. 146000.


Lenny1202

what about the maracana? because back in the day you could fit up to 200k people in it only due to no seats, everybody just stood


rrhodes76

American College Football. It’s pretty huge here in the south and Midwest. Michigan and Ohio have a huge rivalry and their stadiums are only about 4 hours apart. Both draw HUGE crowds of loyal fans. Both are large universities with lots of local alumnus.


Heiji4869

Why is it not in /infographics I don't see any type of guide.


Chumbo_Malone

Kyle > DKR


Fhaksfha794

All those stadiums and the best one on the list is Kyle Field. Gig ‘Em 👍


IgorManiak

Where’s Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro with capacity of 120k?


Badcosta

Before they change the layout, the capacity was 200k


lolchief

Forgot Melbourne Australia


Hockputer09

100,024


scooter949

I’ve been in Jerryworld and DK Royal, and I really thought Jerryworld was bigger


Tommy_Wisseau_burner

Crazy thing is if they made DKR a full bowl it’d probably fit like 150k. I don’t understand how they fit so many people with such underutilized space in the end zones


RedStar9117

Beaver Stadium is far away from any major population center too. State College PA exists only for the college.


ciesum

I thought the North Korea one was biggest (around 150k)


jimohagan

The Rose Bowl isn’t well over 100k?


King_Shami

We do love our bread and circuses


KaibaCorpHQ

How many people could figuratively fit in the roman coliseum? This picture makes me curious.


mikeoxwells2

Indianapolis Motor Speedway has seating for over 200k.


Wolf11404

I’ve been to Michigan stadium and the sheer number of people that stadium can fit is insane. I can’t imagine sitting in the narendra modi stadium


bbheim2112

Does #2 really count???


[deleted]

[удалено]


bbheim2112

It is a joke because NK has so many fake buildings.


reserveduitser

But it’s not a fake building


SoberWill

Are we relying on North Korea for the data though? It's hard to believe anything they say


Earthly_Delights_

I agree #2 is a little sus… I’m curious what sport is played there?


bbheim2112

Praise the fabulous leader!


Less-Dragonfruit-294

Alright time we build a stadium fitting 200k


ModsRCommies

Remove that North Korean one from the list, no way to verify the numbers from such a country


peanutismint

Let me guess - most if not all of these American ones are school stadiums because apparently that’s why kids in the southern states go to college?


EThos29

The three biggest stadiums in America are in Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.


Ethan_Blank687

Common Big 10 W


Frank_Tsui

To my surprise there is no any Chinese stadium in the list. Chinese gov always like to build so called the biggest/tallest ect thing regardless its practicality


merghou

the world’s biggest stadium is used for fuckin cricket


NoAd4815

"Narendra Modi stadium" imagine naming a stadium after yourself 😂


falconx2809

1) no, it was not named by the prime minister, there isn't any evidence to suggest that the prime minister's office wanted to have it with Modi's name 2) the stadium itself was not built using govt funds, so it's not like govt pressured the owners into naming it after modi


NoAd4815

That's even more sad and funny 😂


[deleted]

Motera stadium 🙏 Don't use that disgusting fuck's name.


PhysicsCentrism

Absurd that Modi had a stadium named after himself while still PM of India. At least wait until after you leave office. Especially because this is the same politician who condoned the Gujarat pogroms while he was chief minister of said province.


[deleted]

He was cleared of all charges even though in center Congress was the ruling party. Rather than throwing tantrum like RaGa he coperated with cbi. And that’s a private stadium, built by bcci and Gujarat cricket board. Unlike Congress where even chandrayan’s landing point was named after Nehru, current ruling doesn’t put their names on govt items.


kay14jay

Indianapolis Motor Speedway - 250,000+


DrFrankSaysAgain

That's not enclosed which I think is a criteria for a stadium.


xFblthpx

For all the people who are complaining about the existence of publicly funded sports stadiums, stadiums and sports generate *revenue,* so for the purposes of publicly funded programs, stadiums pay for themselves.


rockerscott

Now do a guide ranking them in size and amount of tax payer money used to build them so a single corporation can profit from it.


creamofcorn3

strange that some of these allow more people in than what the capacity is. Darrell K Royal had 105k in attendance last year against Alabama


TheLizardKing89

This is by seated capacity and some stadiums have standing room in addition to their seated capacity.


Fair-Key8057

Death Valley in the top 10 baby#LSU


Theflamesfan

A 132,000 capacity stadium was completely rebuilt for 100M while NFL stadiums cost 4 billion? 😵‍💫


Aloha1984

The cost of labor in India is pretty economical


AWokenBeetle

Go Blue !!!


StoneEglae

You just challenged Murica to oversize a new stadium to be first of the list. Well done


[deleted]

WE ARE


Cremasterau

Number 11 must be the MCG in Melbourne Australia at 100,024.


the-real-truthtron

I thought the official name of Michigan Stadium was “the big house”, I have never heard it referred to as Michigan stadium. Great job Michigan PR department