Information about Ford Field

Ford Field
Ford Field
Location	2000 Brush Street Detroit, Michigan 48226
Broke ground	November 16, 1999
Opened	August 24, 2002
Owner	Detroit/Wayne County Stadium Authority
Operator	Detroit Lions
Surface	FieldTurf
Construction cost	$430 million
Architect	SHG, Inc. Rossetti Architects Hamilton Anderson Associates, Inc.
Tenants
Detroit Lions (NFL) (2002-present) Motor City Bowl (NCAA) (2002-present) Super Bowl XL (February 5, 2006) WrestleMania 23 (April 1, 2007) 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
Capacity
65,000 (for football) 78,000 (for basketball)

Ford Field is an indoor football stadium located in Detroit, Michigan that is the home of the Detroit Lions of the NFL. It is across the street from Comerica Park. It regularly seats 65,000, though it is expandable up to 70,000 for football and 80,000 for basketball. The naming rights were paid for by Ford at $40 million over 20 years; the Ford family (including Lions owner William Clay Ford, Sr.) holds a controlling interest in the company.

Design

Ford Field was planned simultaneously with Comerica Park, which opened in April 2000, as part of a public project to replace Tiger Stadium and the Pontiac Silverdome. Ford Field was constructed after Comerica Park, opening in 2002. It cost an estimated $430 million to build, financed largely through public money and the sale of the naming rights.

The stadium's design incorporates a six-story former Hudson's warehouse, which had stood since the 1920s. Architecturally, the stadium shares a likeness with its sister stadium Ford Center, a multipurpose sports/concert arena located in downtown Oklahoma City.

The presence of the warehouse allows for a seating arrangement that was unique among professional American football stadiums at the time of Ford Field's opening. The majority of suites at Ford Field are located in the Hudson Warehouse along the stadium's southern sideline, as are the lounges that serve the premium club seats on that side of the field. The bulk of the grandstand seats are located along the northern sideline and both endlines, with gaps in the stadium's upper half at the southwest and southeast corners. The upper deck on the stadium's northern sideline also contains one level of suites and a smaller section of club seating. A similar design was implemented at the renovated Soldier Field, albeit with the use of a new structure (as opposed to an existing building) to house four levels of suites.

Unlike most indoor stadiums, Ford Field allows a large amount of natural light to reach the playing field, thanks to immense skylights and large glass windows at the open corners. The southwest corner provides the seating bowl and concourse with sunlight year-round and also offers fans a view of downtown Detroit. To prevent the stadium from becoming an overly imposing presence in the Detroit skyline, the playing field and lower bowl (100 level) were set below street level, similar to the design at adjacent Comerica Park.

Major events

Ford Field hosted Super Bowl XL on February 5, 2006 as The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Seattle Seahawks, 21-10 to win their fifth Super Bowl championship.

The stadium is home to the Motor City Bowl featuring a top Mid-American Conference team and a Big Ten Conference team. It has also hosted the annual Mid-American Conference Championship Game since 2004. On December 13, 2003, Ford Field hosted the largest crowd ever to attend a basketball game, as 78,129 people packed the stadium to watch University of Kentucky defeat Michigan State University, 79-74. The MHSAA Football Finals also take place on Thanksgiving weekend, drawing over 60,000 fans.

On April 1, 2007, Ford Field hosted World Wrestling Entertainment's WrestleMania 23. The event set a Ford Field attendance record of 80,103. It was the first WrestleMania held in the Detroit area since 93,173 fans set a world indoor attendance record at the Pontiac Silverdome for WrestleMania III in 1987.

The University of Detroit Mercy and Ford Field is also scheduled to host 2008 NCAA Basketball Tournament regional semifinal and final games (March 28 and 30, 2008), the 2009 Final Four (April 5 and 7, 2009), hosted by University of Detroit Mercy, and the 2010 Frozen Four (April 8 and 10, 2010).

Photo gallery

A Wide Angle View of Ford Field before a Detroit Lions game.	Ford Field allows natural light to penetrate through gray translucent roof panels.	Before 2006 Mid-American Conference Championship game.	Looking from section 111 towards press box and club suites.
Old Hudson's warehouse exterior looking down Brush Street.	Ford Field playing surface.	2006 MAC Championship: Central Michigan University vs. Ohio University.	Aerial view of Ford Field.
Front of Ford Field on December 26, 2006.	Thousands wait to enter Ford Field for WrestleMania 23 on April 1, 2007.	An attendance record setting 80,103 fans at Ford Field for WrestleMania 23.	WrestleMania 23 stage at Ford Field.
Ford Field on Super Bowl XL Sunday, countdown to kickoff on Comerica Park's scoreboard.

External links

• Official site
• Motor City Bowl
• Video Review of Ford Field with on-site footage

Coordinates:

Preceded by Pontiac Silverdome 1975-2001	Home of the Detroit Lions 2002-present	Succeeded by current home
Preceded by Alamodome	Host of NCAA Final Four 2009	Succeeded by Lucas Oil Stadium
Preceded by Allstate Arena	Host of WrestleMania 23 2007	Succeeded by Citrus Bowl

•  • [ e] Current stadiums of the National Football League
American Football Conference	Arrowhead Stadium Cleveland Browns Stadium Dolphin Stadium Giants Stadium Gillette Stadium Heinz Field INVESCO Field at Mile High Jacksonville Municipal Stadium LP Field M&T Bank Stadium McAfee Coliseum Paul Brown Stadium Qualcomm Stadium Ralph Wilson Stadium RCA Dome Reliant Stadium
National Football Conference	Bank of America Stadium Edward Jones Dome FedExField Ford Field Georgia Dome Giants Stadium Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Lambeau Field Lincoln Financial Field Louisiana Superdome Monster Park Qwest Field Raymond James Stadium Soldier Field Texas Stadium University of Phoenix Stadium

•  • [ e] Super Bowl Host Venues

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (I, VII) • Miami Orange Bowl (II, III, V, X, XIII) • Tulane Stadium (IV, VI, IX) • Rice Stadium (VIII) Rose Bowl (XI, XIV, XVII, XXI, XXVII) • Louisiana Superdome (XII, XV, XX, XXIV, XXXI, XXXVI) • Pontiac Silverdome (XVI) • Tampa Stadium (XVIII, XXV) Stanford Stadium (XIX) • Qualcomm Stadium (XXII, XXXII, XXXVII) • Dolphin Stadium (XXIII, XXIX, XXXIII, XLI, XLIV) • Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (XXVI) Georgia Dome (XXVIII, XXXIV) • Sun Devil Stadium (XXX) • Raymond James Stadium (XXXV, XLIII) • Reliant Stadium (XXXVIII) ALLTEL Stadium (XXXIX) • Ford Field (XL) • University of Phoenix Stadium (XLII) • Dallas Cowboys New Stadium (XLV)

•  • [ e] Current NCAA Division I-A college football bowl game stadiums

Alamodome (Alamo) • Aloha Stadium (Hawaiʻi, Hula) • Amon G. Carter Stadium (Armed Forces) • AT&T Park (Emerald) • Bank of America Stadium (Meineke) • Bronco Stadium (MPC Computers) • Cotton Bowl (Cotton) • Dolphin Stadium (Orange) • Florida Citrus Bowl (Champs Sports, Capital One) • Ford Field (Motor City) • Galena Park ISD Stadium (North-South Classic) • Georgia Dome (Chick-fil-A) • Independence Stadium (Independence) • Jacksonville Municipal Stadium (Gator)• LP Field (Music City) • Ladd Peebles Stadium (GMAC, Senior) • Legion Field (Papajohns.com) • Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium (Liberty) • Louisiana Superdome (New Orleans, Sugar) • Qualcomm Stadium (Poinsettia, Holiday) • Raymond James Stadium (Outback) • Reliant Stadium (Texas, East-West Shrine) • Rogers Centre (International) • Rose Bowl (Rose) • Sam Boyd Stadium (Las Vegas, All-American) • Sun Bowl Stadium (Sun, Texas v. Nation) • Sun Devil Stadium (Insight) • University Stadium (New Mexico) • University of Phoenix Stadium (Fiesta, BCS Nat'l Champ.)

•  • [ e] WrestleMania venues
Allstate Arena • Caesars Palace • Citrus Bowl • Ford Field • Hartford Civic Center • Honda Center • Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena • Madison Square Garden • Nassau Coliseum • Pontiac Silverdome • RCA Dome • Reliant Astrodome • Rogers Centre • Safeco Field • Staples Center • TD Banknorth Garden • Trump Plaza • Wachovia Center

•  • [ e] City of Detroit
History • Neighborhoods • Architecture • Tourism • Culture • Music • Theatre District • Sports • Media • Economy • Government • International Riverfront • Metro Detroit