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Stadium

The Roman word stadium referred to a unit of measure, approximately 200 meters in length. Today, it refers to a sports arena. In early Rome, the length of an arena was 1 stadium, so the name of the unit was also used to name the building. Greek and Roman stadiums have been found in numerous ancient cities, perhaps the most famous being the Stadium of Domitian in Rome.

A modern stadium (pl. stadiums or stadia) is a place, or venue, for outdoor sports, concerts or other events, consisting of a field or stage partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.

Domed stadiums have roofs. They are called stadiums because they are large enough for, and designed for what are generally considered to be outdoor sports. If they are designed for what are usually indoor sports, they are called arenas. Some stadiums have partial roofs. Others have moveable roofs, and a few have even been designed to have moveable fields.

An all-seater stadium has seats for all spectators. Other stadiums are designed so that all or some spectators stand to view the event.

Table of contents
1 Designed use
2 Canada
3 Europe
4 Latin America
5 Oceania
6 US
7 Professional sports
8 College sports

Designed use

Different sports require fields of different size and shape. Some stadiums are designed primarily for a single sport while other stadiums can accommodate different sports. Stadiums built specifically for some form of football are quite common. The most common multiple use design combines a football field with a running track, a combination generally works fairly well, although certain compromises must be made. The major drawback is that the stands are necessarily set back a good distance from the field, especially at the ends of the field. In the case of some smaller stadiums, there aren't stands at the ends. When there are stands all the way around, the stadium takes on an oval shape. When one end is open, the stadium has a horseshoe shape. All three configurations (open, oval and horseshoe) are common, especially in the case of American college football stadiums.

In the United States, where baseball and football are the two most popular outdoor spectator sports, a number of football/baseball multi-use stadiums were built beginning in the 1960, and some of them were successful. However, since the requirements for baseball and football are significantly different, the trend beginning in the 1990s has been toward the construction of single-purpose stadums. In several cases a football stadium has been constructed adjacent to a baseball park.

In recent decades, the owners of sports stadiums in the United States found it worthwhile to subsidize costs by accepting corporate sponsorships. This trend, which began in the 1970s but accelerated greatly in the 1990s, has led to vast numbers of stadium names being changed to that of the sponsor. The sponsorship phenomenon has since spread worldwide.

=The Stadium List= (currently incomplete)

Canada

Europe

Latin America

Oceania

US

Professional sports

College sports
Copyright 2004. All rights reserved.