The Largest Baseball Stadiums In The United States

Baseball in the US can be traced back to the1850s in the New York metropolitan area. By 1857, the game was already known as the national game (or national pastime), and there were 16 clubs who formed the first governing body, called the National Association of Baseball Players. By 1919, the game has seeped so far into American culture that philosopher Morris Raphael Cohen is quoted as describing baseball as America’s national religion. Over the last century, the baseball game has grown, leading to a significant increase in the size of the stadiums. Some stadiums such as Yankee Stadium started out small before evolving into huge stadiums. Baseball stadiums across the country vary greatly from the shape of their playing fields, to the style of their architecture, to the comfortability of their seating. The cost of constructing the Yankee Stadium was $2.5 billion, notably the most expensive baseball stadium in history.

The Largest Baseball Stadiums In The US

Dodger Stadium

Located in Los Angeles city in California, Dodger Stadium has a seating capacity of 56,000. and it is the third oldest in the US. The Stadium was the first Major League Baseball Stadium (MLB) to be built with 100% private financing. Groundbreaking for the construction of Dodger Stadium was on September 17, 1959. It was completed in 1962 at the cost of $23 million (equivalent to $182 million dollars in 2017). Dodger Stadium has been designed to allow for future expansion of up to 85,000 seats. However, the seating capacity has remained at 56,000 since the stadium was constructed. Dodger Stadium is still presently the largest baseball stadium in the US.

Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum

Often referred to as the Oakland Coliseum, it is the the last stadium in the US to be used for both professional baseball and football. Built in 1966 in Oakland, California, the stadium is the home of the Oakland Athletics (MLB) and the Oakland Raiders (NFL), as well as the previous home of the San Jose Earthquakes (MLS). Construction was slated to begin in the spring of 1962, but delays pushed the groundbreaking two years to the spring of 1964. The construction cost $25.5 million (equivalent to $192 million in 2017). The stadium opened on September 18, 1966 and the Kansas City Athletics relocated to Oakland as the Oakland Athletics for the 1968 MLB season. The stadium has a baseball capacity of 47,170 expandable to 55,94 placing it second on the list of largest stadiums in the US.

Yankee Stadium

Yankee Stadium is located in the New York City borough of the Bronx, and has a seating capacity of 47,309 making it the six largest stadium in the US. Constructed in 1923, it was originally home of the Bronx Bombers. In 2009, the new Yankee Stadium was built to replace the original stadium. The 52,325-seat replacement came at the cost of $2.3 billion, and sits one block north of the original stadium, which has now been converted to a public park. Construction on the new stadium took several years, originally starting in 2006 and seeing its fair share of controversies throughout its construction. Among these controversies were concerns over superfluous government spending and loss of public green space.

Turner Field

Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia was the home of the Atlanta Braves from 1997 to 2016. With a capacity of 50,095, it was the third largest major league baseball stadium in the US until 2016. Turner was originally constructed for the 1996 Summer Olympics Games. Its initial seating capacity was 85,000. However, upon completion of the Olympics, the field was converted to a baseball stadium and its seating capacity reduced. The stadium has since been redesigned for use by the Georgia State University Panthers football team as Georgia State Stadium.