Dallas Cowboys Stadium – A Complete Photo and Video Review

Thanks to my brother-in-law Jason, I had the opportunity to go over to the new Cowboy’s Stadium in Arlington, TX for the season ticket holder’s open house.

For those of you who don’t know, the 3 million-square-foot stadium has an approximate capacity of up to 100,000 fans. As the largest NFL venue ever built, the new stadium boasts the most spectacular column-free room in the world, stretching a quarter-mile in length.

While I was there, I took the opportunity to take a whole boatload of photographs, and even some video – which they would never let you get away with normally. In addition, Cali and Neal came with me and put together the following show on GeekBrief.TV with some of the video segments.

The Video

The Photos

Full resolution versions of all of these photos are available in my Cowboys Stadium Flickr set as well.

Building Facts and Features

Designed to be open or closed, depending on weather conditions, the expansive retractable roof is the largest of its kind in the world and measures approximately 660,800 square feet. When closed, the roof encompasses 104 million cubic feet of volume, making it the largest enclosed NFL stadium in the world. The retractable roof is designed specifically to emulate the
current Texas Stadium opening which is recognized around the world and allow views inward and outward. Each panel can open or close in 12 minutes. From directly above, the entire playing field can be seen and the opening itself is visible from an elevation of five miles.

The stadium features two monumental arches, soaring 292 feet above the playing field, which support a retract- able roof. As the longest single span roof structure in the world, each boxed arch is 35 feet deep by 17 feet wide. Weighing 3,255 tons each, these impressive structures span 1,225 feet in length. The arches form a striking silhouette on the Arlington landscape as sunlight reflects against the metallic surface during the day and a tailored lighting system reflects the form at night.

The stadium features the largest retractable end zone doors in the world. Each has a five- leaf, clear, retractable opening measuring 120 feet high by 180 feet wide. The five 38-foot panels take only 18 minutes to open or close. By using clear glass for the door panels, spectators experience panoramic views from within the seating bowl and when circulating
through the stadium concourses. Moreover, the operability provides air circulation during game-day and non-game-day events.

One of the most compelling architectural features of the stadium design is the canted glass exterior wall. The 86-foot-high glass, curtain-wall surface slopes outwardly at a 14-degree angle to create a luminescent glow, day or night. A fritted glass system transitions up the elevation to create a dynamic, ever-changing aesthetic depending on the time of day. At night,
a series of internal lights gently wash the glass wall to create a glow across the façade.

Within the seating bowl, Cowboys fans will be provided with a one-of-a-kind feature, a center-hung video board. Hanging approximately 90 feet above the field from the roof structure, the innovative video center spans between the 20-yard lines and features four individual boards – two facing the sidelines and two facing the end zones. The sideline boards measure 72 feet tall by 160 feet wide, while those facing the end zones measure 27 feet tall by 48 feet wide. All four boards are angled toward the stands for optimal viewing. The stunning combination of these boards will immerse spectators with video imagery, creating a premium on upper level seats and presenting the game in a way never before experienced. Streaming across the interior seating facade is a vivid 360 degree matrix board, which offer advertisers “moments in time” during the game.

Quick Facts:

• The Cowboys Stadium site covers 73 total acres; the overall site encompasses 140 total acres
• The stadium is 3 million square feet containing 104 million cubic feet of volume
• Stadium length – 900 feet from one end zone retractable wall to the opposite end zone retractable wall
• Top of steel at the highpoint of the main arched trusses is 292 feet above the playing field, and each is fabricated from special high-strength grade 65 steel imported from Luxembourg and are the heaviest shape rolled in the world.
• The 180-foot-wide by 120-foot-high operable glass doors, located at each end of the stadium, are the largest operable glass doors in the world and take 18 minutes to open or close
• At 660,800 square feet, the stadium’s roof is one of the largest domed sports structures in the world , opening 410 feet long by 256 feet wide with each panel weighing 1.68 million pounds
• Each roof panel is 215 feet long consists of 14,100 tons of structural steel and opens or closes in 12 minutes

The Map

Zoom in and look at the satellite image via Google Maps.