9 Most Expensive Stadiums in the World

With so many sports franchises worth hundreds of millions or billions of dollars these days, a stadium is a huge but profitable investment. They present opportunities for branding and for establishing decades-long traditions that can define an entire team, even a city.

Continue reading for our list of the 9 most expensive stadiums in the world, the teams that play there, and the building designs that make them so pricey.

9. Singapore National Stadium

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By far the most Eastward stadium on this list, the Singapore National Stadium in Kallang, Singapore opened in 2014 with a construction cost of $1.31 billion. The previous National Stadium was demolished in 2010 for this new stadium, which has a 55,000-seat capacity.

As a domed stadium, the Singapore National Stadium is one of the largest domed structures on earth. Its retractable roof and shifting stadium construction give this stadium the ability to host not only association football but also rugby, cricket, and other competitions.

Did you know?

The Singapore National Stadium hosted matches in the AFF Championship for games in 2014, 2018, and most recently in 2021. It was also the main stadium venue for the Southeast Asian Games in 2015.

8. Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

photo source: Wikimedia Commons

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is an association football stadium in London, one of the biggest and newest. It was completed in 2019 for $1.33 billion (or the English pound equivalent), seats nearly 63,000, and hosts not only association football games but concerts and NFL London games as well.

The stadium is at the center of the rebuilding project in Tottenham, intended to take historic grounds and make them popular again. The land itself has been used for sports matches since 1882, even back when it was the Tottenham Marshes.

Did you know?

“Tottenham Hotspur Stadium” was supposed to be a temporary name, but naming rights have still not been granted to a sponsor at the time of writing. Locals sometimes refer to it as the New White Hart Lane Stadium, owing to its location on the site of the old Premier League Club in North London, which was known as White Hart Lane.

7. AT&T Stadium

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The AT&T Stadium used to be known as the Cowboys Stadium. However, it still serves as the home field of the Dallas Cowboys. It was completed in 2009 for $1.48 billion and can seat a huge number of people, 100,000 plus 38,084 more with expansions. This makes it the largest stadium by seat capacity in the entire NFL.

Due to this capacity, the AT&T Stadium earned the record for the largest attendance of any NFL game when it seated a crowd of 105,121 for a 2009 NFL regular-season game. It also has a 29-meter-tall Panasonic video board that is one of the world’s largest video screens.

Did you know?

Jerry Jones, the businessman-owner of the Dallas Cowboys since 1989, is such a powerful presence at this stadium that it’s frequently called “Jerry World” after him.

6. Yankee Stadium

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Yankee Stadium was finished in 2009 for $1.5 billion. It has a capacity of 54,251, making it the smallest stadium on this list. Yet it’s the sixth-largest stadium in Major League Baseball and also hosts association football games.

It’s only a block from the site of the original Yankee Stadium, which is now the Heritage Field national park. It hosts not only MLB games but also college football, soccer, outdoor concerts, and even two outdoor NHL competitions.

Did you know?

The architectural firm Populous designed the new Yankee stadium using 11,000 chunks of Indiana limestone, granite, and concrete. Inside is an exhibition celebrating Yankees history, with a photograph collection over 2,000 strong called “The Glory of the Yankees,” collected from photos published in the Daily News over the years.

5. Wembley Stadium

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Wembley Stadium in London was built in 2007, making it the oldest stadium on this list. Back then, it cost $1.5 billion to build to replace the first Wembley Stadium and hosts major English football matches in Europe, including the FA Cup Final.

The Football Association owns the stadium through Wembley National Stadium Ltd. It has 90,000 seats, making it the biggest stadium in the UK. In all of Europe, it’s the second-biggest stadium in terms of capacity, standing 440 feet high. It has a partially retractable two-part roof that can be opened to give the games some natural sunlight.

Did you know?

Wembley Stadium hosts a ton of major English football games. These include the League Cup Final, FA Cup semi-final, FA Community Shield, Football League Trophy, the UEFA Champions League Finals, and the UEFA Euro 2020 games.

4. Mercedes-Benz Stadium

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The Mercedes-Benz Stadium was completed in 2017 for $1.6 billion. This multi-purpose stadium houses several different teams in both the NFL and MLS (Major League Soccer), namely the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United FC, respectively. The state of Georgia owns this Atlanta-based stadium.

The stadium houses the SEC football championships and Peach Bowl. In 2018, it also hosted the MLS Cup for Atlanta United and the College Football Playoff National Championship. In 2019, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium was the site of Super Bowl LIII.

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The Mercedes-Benz Stadium is famous for its retractable roof design, which is made from eight see-through panels that unfurl on parallel rails. They were designed by the architect Bill Johnson to be modern metal impressions of the Pantheon in Roman architecture.

3. MetLife Stadium

photo source: Wikimedia Commons

The Mercedes-Benz Stadium was completed in 2017 for $1.6 billion. This multi-purpose stadium houses several different teams in both the NFL and MLS (Major League Soccer), namely the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United FC, respectively. The state of Georgia owns this Atlanta-based stadium.

The stadium houses the SEC football championships and Peach Bowl. In 2018, it also hosted the MLS Cup for Atlanta United and the College Football Playoff National Championship. In 2019, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium was the site of Super Bowl LIII.

Did you know?

The Mercedes-Benz Stadium is famous for its retractable roof design, which is made from eight see-through panels that unfurl on parallel rails. They were designed by the architect Bill Johnson to be modern metal impressions of the Pantheon in Roman architecture.

2. Allegiant Stadium

photo source: Wikimedia Commons

This domed stadium in Paradise, Nevada is nearly the most expensive ever built, costing $1.9 billion to finish in 2020. The stadium is the home of the Las Vegas Bowl as well as the Las Vegas Raiders and the Vegas Kickoff Classic.

MANICA Architecture designed Allegiant Stadium, having previously worked on Carson Stadium. Allegiant features an ethylene tetrafluoroethylene or ETFE roof, with YESCO lights and an 84-meter media mesh screen. The field is natural roll-in Bermuda grass. The stadium has a capacity of 65,000 and can be expanded by an additional 6,835 for big events.

Did you know?

Allegiant Stadium is scheduled to host Super Bowl LVIII in 2024.

1. SoFi Stadium

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The most expensive stadium is the SoFi Stadium. In Los Angeles, this stadium houses two NFL teams, the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams. This makes it only one of two stadiums in the NFL to do so (the other being MetLife earlier on this list). SoFi Stadium also hosts college football’s annual LA Bowl.

SoFi cost $5.5 billion when it was finished in Inglewood, California in 2020, making it the most expensive stadium ever built. It has a capacity of 70,240 but can be expanded by an additional 30,000 seats. It used to be the City of Champion Stadium before it was renovated.

Did you know?

Super Bowl LVI (2022) took place at SoFi Stadium. The stadium is also slated to host the Playoff National Championship in College Football at the start of 2023, as well as the 2028 Summer Olympics.