Ford Field

Ford Field is a domed American football stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It primarily serves as the home of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), as well as the annual Quick Lane Bowl college football bowl game, state championship football games for the MHSAA, and, as of 2018, the MHSAA State Wrestling Championships. The regular seating capacity is approximately 65,000, though it is expandable up to 70,000 for football and 80,000 for basketball.

The naming rights were purchased by the Ford Motor Company at $40 million over 20 years; the Ford family holds a controlling interest in the company, and a member of the Ford family has controlled ownership of the Lions franchise since 1963.

History

Planning and construction

In 1975, the Lions moved to the Pontiac Silverdome after playing at Tiger Stadium from 1938–1939, 1941–1974. By the mid 1990s, they began exploring the possibility of returning to the city of Detroit in order to build a new stadium. On August 20, 1996, the Lions announced their intention to build a new stadium in Downtown Detroit. On November 5, 1996, voters approved a referendum for the stadium.

Design

The stadium's design incorporates a former Hudson's warehouse, which was constructed in the 1920s. The warehouse was converted to office space and currenly has Campbell Ewald and Bodman as tenants.

The presence of the warehouse allows for a seating arrangement that's unique among professional American football stadiums. The majority of suites are located in the 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 end-lines, 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 domed stadiums, Ford Field allows a large amount of natural light to reach the field, thanks to immense skylights and large glass windows at the open corners. The windows along the ceiling are frosted to mimic the automotive factories that are prevalent in Metro Detroit. The south entrance 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 is 45 feet below street level, similar to the design at adjacent Comerica Park.

Ford Field is one of the few venues in the NFL that has end zones in the east and the west. There is no NFL rule for field construction regarding sunlight distracting players on the field. The east–west end zone design accommodated the Hudson warehouse location. The natural light is not a distraction to the players in a day game, because the light only reaches as far as the sidelines, leaving the field still properly lit with the combination of artificial stadium lighting and sunlight.

In 2017, Ford Field underwent its first major renovation. The $100 million renovation included new video boards, a new sound system, updated suites, and the renovation of multiple restaurants, clubs, and bars on the property.

Text imported from Wikipedia article "Ford Field" and modified on 23 July 2019 under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license.