All eyes will be focused on Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium in the days and hours leading up to Super Bowl 58.
Here are five facts about the stadium where the Kansas City Chiefs will take on the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 11.
1. New city
Each year the location of the Super Bowl is already set even before everyone knows who is playing. Allegiant Stadium is no different. It was selected in 2021, the year following its 2020 opening. Super Bowl 58 will be the first time that a NFL championship game will be played not only in Las Vegas but also in Nevada, USA Today reported.
Nevada is the 11th state to host a Super Bowl and Las Vegas is the 19th city, while the stadium will be the 27th venue.
While the location itself is new, the game is no stranger to the West Coast, as this will be the third consecutive year that the Super Bowl has been on that side of the country following games at Arizona’s State Farm Stadium in 2023 and California’s SoFi Stadium in 2022.
In 2023, the Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35. In 2022, the Los Angeles Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20.
The next three years have their locations set:
- Super Bowl 59: Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, Feb. 9, 2025.
- Super Bowl 60: Levi’s Stadium, Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California, Feb. 8, 2026.
- Super Bowl 61: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California, Feb. 14, 2027.
2. “Death Star”
To take a page from “Star Wars,” that’s no space station, it’s a stadium. Allegiant Stadium is known as the “Death Star,” CNN reported. The nickname stuck after Mark Davis, owners of the Raiders, opened the stadium for the team’s first scrimmage in Sin City, saying, “Welcome to the Death Star, where our opponents’ dreams come to die.”
“Welcome to the Death Star, where our opponents' dreams come to die,” Las Vegas @RAIDERS owner Mark Davis said as he addressed the team before they broke in their new home w/ a scrimmage for which they donned full game uniforms and pads. #RaiderNation
— FOX5 Las Vegas (@FOX5Vegas) August 22, 2020
MORE:https://t.co/ketaGneb4m pic.twitter.com/rb1P4Afhxw
The domed stadium doesn’t look like a “fully armed and operational battle station,” but the name has stuck around. Still others compared the stadium to a Roomba vacuum, CNN reported.
3. On the smaller size
Las Vegas may be larger than life. But Allegiant Stadium is on the smaller size compared to other NFL stadiums, USA Today reported.
It seats only 65,000 people. It is only tied or larger than three other NFL stadiums: Ford Field (65,000), State Farm Stadium (63,400) and Soldier Field (61,500).
4. Unique feature
The field itself is unique. The stadium has natural grass grown on a large tray that can slide outside to grow, then slide back in place under the dome for a game, USA Today reported.
The tray weighs 19 million pounds and is moved by 72 motors.
State Farm Stadium also has a natural grass playing field that can be rolled in and out 740 feet in 70 minutes.
5. By the numbers
Allegiant Stadium has:
- 105,000 cubic yards of concrete.
- 28,000 tons of structural steel.
- 75,000 square feet of video boards.
- 2,300 televisions.
- 44 escalators.
- 425 trees.
- A 92-foot Al Davis Memorial Torch.
- 6,000 permanent jobs.
Bonus:
If Taylor Swift makes it to the Super Bowl while in the middle of her international portion of her Eras Tour, this won’t be the first time she’s been at Allegiant Stadium. She performed there last March, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
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