Giants Stadium

Giants Stadium

The Meadowlands
File:Giantsstadiumlogo.gif New York Giants playing at Giants Stadium, December 2005
Former names	N/A
Location	50 State Highway 120 East Rutherford, New Jersey 07073
Owner	New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority
Operator	New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority
Surface	FieldTurf (2002-Present) Grass (1998-2001) AstroTurf (1976-1997)
Construction
Broke ground	1972
Opened	1976
Closed	Open
Demolished	N/A
Construction cost	$78 million
Architect	HNTB
Tenants
New York Giants (NFL) (1976-Present) New York Jets (NFL) (1984-Present) MetroStars / Red Bull New York (MLS) (1996-Present) New York Cosmos (NASL) (1977-1984) New Jersey Generals (USFL) (1983-1985) NY/NJ Knights (WLAF) (1991-1992) NY/NJ Hitmen (XFL) (2001) seating_capacity = 80,242

Giants Stadium, also called The Meadowlands, is the home stadium for the New York Giants and New York Jets NFL football teams, and Red Bull New York (formerly MetroStars) of Major League Soccer. It is located in East Rutherford, New Jersey in the Meadowlands Sports Complex, which also hosts the Meadowlands Racetrack and the Continental Airlines Arena. Official seating capacity as of 2004 is 80,242, making Giants Stadium the second largest stadium in the NFL behind FedEx Field. It is also the 8th oldest stadium in the NFL, excluding Soldier Field in Chicago, which was rebuilt.

Giants Stadium was the first major league sporting venue in New Jersey (though the Brooklyn Dodgers had played some home games in Jersey City in 1957) and its success, along with the success of the Giants in the 1980's was a major impetus behind increased pride and enthusiasm among New Jersey residents.

Because the Jets play in a stadium named for another NFL team, the Jets officially refer to the site as simply The Meadowlands; it is used on all official NFL and team game notes regarding Jets' home games.

Giants Stadium opened October 10, 1976, as 76,042 fans witnessed a loss by the Giants to the Dallas Cowboys. College football made its debut at Giants Stadium October 23, 1976, with Rutgers University defeating Columbia University, 47-0.

The New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League moved to Giants Stadium for the 1977 season and remained until the league folded in 1985. Soccer legend Pelé played his last game here October 1, 1977, playing the first half for the Cosmos and the second half for his old Brazilian team, Santos.

In 1984, the New York Jets became co-tenants with the Giants.

Other professional football teams that have called Giants Stadium home over the years include the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League; the New York/New Jersey Knights of the World League of American Football; and the New York/New Jersey Hitmen of the XFL.

The stadium has also hosted numerous college football games, including the Garden State Bowl from 1978-1981; Kickoff Classic from 1983 to 2002; the New York Urban League Classic since 1981; a number of Rutgers University homes games; several Notre Dame-Navy and Notre Dame-Army games; and the Army-Navy Game on three occasions, most recently in 2002. Syracuse University also played two home games at Giants Stadium during the 1979 season, against West Virginia and Penn State, while the Carrier Dome was under construction. Columbia also played some home games at Giants Stadium in 1983, due to construction at its home stadium. Temple University, needing a home field due to a schedule conflict with Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia, used Giants Stadium as their home field versus Penn State in September 1996.

Nine games of the 1994 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament were held at Giants Stadium (including one semifinal), along with several games of the 1999 Women's World Cup. In 2003, the SuperCoppa Italiana, an annual match pitting the winners of Serie A (Italy's top division) and the Coppa Italia (Italian Cup), was held in Giants Stadium instead of in Italy because both clubs involved (Juventus and AC Milan) were touring the United States late in the summer, when the event is normally scheduled. In 2005, it played host to many matches to the CONCACAF Gold Cup, including the final which saw the USA victorious over Panama in a 3-1 penalty shootout after both sides failed to score goals during regulation and extra time. It has seen many European soccer tours in recent years paying venue to such big clubs as Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, and many others. In 2006, the Red Bulls set a franchise attendance record in an exhibition game against FC Barcelona, with the stadium fully sold-out for the first time.

New York Jets playing at Giants Stadium, November 2001

The largest crowd to ever attend an event at Giants Stadium was 82,948, as Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass during a rainstorm on October 5, 1995.

Concerts have also been a part of the Giants Stadium experience, as performers ranging from Bruce Springsteen to the Grateful Dead to The Rolling Stones, and rockers Bon Jovi have taken the stage before appreciative audiences. Bruce Springsteen played 10 nights in support of his The Rising tour during the summer of 2003. The majority of the Paradise City music video by Guns N' Roses was filmed at the stadium in 1988. There is also a major ski apparel equipment sale each year at the stadium.

To accommodate these varied events, Giants Stadium has sported various playing surfaces in its history. AstroTurf was the original surface for the playing field. This surface was covered by Bermuda grass sod for the World Cup in 1994, identical to that at the Rose Bowl where the other semifinal and the finals were held (so that both teams in the finals would have played on identical surfaces). The grass was removed after the World Cup, as it would have died in the New Jersey winter. The MetroStars, however, installed a grass field each spring, but was removed prior to the football season, forcing the team to play its final home games each year on AstroTurf. A system of interchangeable grass trays was implemented from 1999 to 2001, but was considered a failure, since the quality of the field worsened as the NFL season progressed. It was replaced by a new artificial surface, FieldTurf, in 2002.

When the New York Jets left Shea Stadium and moved to Giants Stadium in 1984, many predicted the stadium would be renamed. Understandably, the Jets organization preferred not to reside in a facility named after another team. However, under the terms of the stadium lease, changing the name of the stadium requires the Giants approval, and the Giants refused to change the name. The proposed new stadium is expected to bear a sponsor's name as bids for the naming rights are currently being accepted - it is not yet known if such an agreement will include renaming the current stadium if and when it is finalized.

While the stadium has a decidedly blue atmosphere, matching the Giants' team colors, when the Jets play there, the walls are covered with green banners, matching their colors. In addition, the gates outside the stadium are covered with green jets logos to hide the standard blue and red. The endzones also used to be repainted green when the Giants played with blue endzones, but ever since the Giants changed their endzone art to a white GIANTS with a green background, the painting of the entire endzone is not needed. However, Jets logos are still painted on over the Giant logo. In mid-December, traditionally the stadium hosts a Saturday-Sunday NFL doubleheader, with the Giants playing a home game one day and the Jets playing the other. The night between the games is a challenge for the stadium grounds crew, as they have only hours to convert the stadium from one team's colors to the other. As per the NFL schedule, the Giants and the Jets play each other once every four years. In that case, there is a predetermined home team, and a predetermined away team. In those games, the "away" team gets a rare away game in their own home stadium. The Giants and Jets typically play each other every year in the NFL Preseason, and the teams rotate annually home/away.

For some years a rumor circulated that the remains of Jimmy Hoffa had been buried under one of the end zones at Giants Stadium. This led a wag in Sports Illustrated to suggest that "This lends new meaning to the term coffin corner!"

Thanks largely to the dual occupancy of Giants Stadium by two NFL teams since 1984, it has surpassed Wrigley Field (home of the Chicago Bears for fifty seasons) as the venue to have hosted more NFL games than any other in league history.

Notable moments

• October 10th, 1976: 76,042 fans witness the Giants losing to the Cowboys in the first game ever played at Giants Stadium.
• November 19th, 1978: Joe Pisarcik fumbles the handoff to Larry Csonka with just seconds remaining in the game, and allow Herman Edwards to scoop it up and run it back for a touchdown, giving the Philadelphia Eagles an improbable 19-17 win. This play would be known as "The Miracle at the Meadowlands".
• x/x/1984: The New York Jets move into Giants Stadium.
• January 4th, 1987: The New York Giants blow out the San Francisco 49ers 49-3 in the Giants magical 1986 season.
• January 11th, 1987: The New York Giants shut out the Washington Redskins 17-0 in the NFC Championship game. Two weeks later, the Giants would win their first Super Bowl.
• October 23rd, 2000: In what has been called the greatest game on Monday Night Football, the New York Jets come back from a 30-7 defecit by scoring 30 points in the fourth quarter and another 3 in overtime to beat the Miami Dolphins 40-37.
• January 14th, 2001: On a field of painted mud, the New York Giants shut out and blow out the Minnesota Vikings 41-0 in the NFC Championship game to send the Giants to their third Super Bowl.
• September 19, 2005: The New Orleans Saints played as the home team at Giants Stadium versus the Giants. The game was relocated from the Louisiana Superdome due to damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.

New Stadium

On September 29, 2005, it was announced that Giants Stadium would be replaced with an $800 million stadium that is scheduled to be opened in 2010. The New Meadowlands Stadium will be nearby the current stadium. The New York Jets were planning a move to a new domed stadium on Manhattan's West Side sometime near the year 2010. However, with the political defeat in June 2005 of the West Side Stadium plan, the Jets ended up agreeing to share the new Meadowlands stadium with the Giants. The Giants and Jets hope the stadium will be built by 2010.

Although a new stadium has been planned, there are no current plans to demolish Giants Stadium once the new stadium opens, leaving open the possibility that the stadium may remain open, co-existing with its replacement. This would be similar to how the Wachovia Spectrum in Philadelphia remains open and in use, years after its primary tenants moved next door to the Wachovia Center in the same complex.

External links

• Meadowlands Sports Complex
• New York Giants
• New York Jets
• Red Bull New York
• Aerial Views of Giants Stadium, StadiumFind.com

Preceded by Shea Stadium 1975

Home of the New York Giants 1976–present

Succeeded by New Meadowlands Stadium planned for 2010

Preceded by Shea Stadium 1964–1983

Home of the New York Jets 1984–present

Succeeded by New Meadowlands Stadium planned for 2010

Preceded by first stadium

Home of the New York Red Bulls 1996–present

Succeeded by Red Bull Park planned for 2008

40°48′43.90″N 74°04′37.14″W