Located in San Antonio, the Alamodome was built in
the hopes of one day being the home to a NFL team. However after being
open for more than a decade, the city still does not have a team, yet
this facility still hosts many events including the annual Alamo Bowl
game. In the mid to late 1980s leaders in San Antonio began looking
at the possibility of building a facility that could house a number of
events from football to basketball to trade shows. They chose a
location near downtown and construction on a new dome stadium began in
November 1990. It was named the Alamodome and was completed in three
years. It opened on May 15, 1993. The Alamodome was constructed in
hopes of getting the city a NFL franchise. However the city has been
unsuccessful in this. However, because the Alamodome can host over 20
different events, the San Antonio Spurs (NBA) played ten years at the
stadium.
For football, the Alamodome has a seating capacity
of 66,000. The main three decked grandstand encloses the field on all
sides. For basketball, the upper decks were closed off giving it a
more intimate feeling and a capacity of roughly over 20,000. The
Alamodome has several amenities including 6,000 club seats and 38
suites. The Alamo Bowl has been played at the Alamodome since its
opening in 1993. It usually matches the fourth choice teams from the
Big Ten and Big Twelve Conferences against each other.
There have been
few changes at the facility over the years, with the exception of Fieldturf replacing the Astroturf playing field. The Spurs moved out
of the Alamodome and into the AT&T Center in 2003, and the city has
continued to try to land another main tenant from football to soccer.
In 2005, the stadium was the home of four New Orleans Saints games as
the team was not able to play at the Superdome because of damage
caused by Hurricane Katrina.
Alamodome
