Since the beginning of history, architecture and sport have been linked in a surprising way

Leer en español: Fútbol: ¿Cuáles son los 20 estadios más grandes?

As in any type of recreational event, sport is a means of expressing feelings and ideas, and to be shown to the world, they need adequate space. In this sense, the stadiums have welcomed these feelings. It is known that these sports establishments were born in the 8th century BC as a rudimentary athletic track with an elongated "U" shape. The track had two separate entrances for judges and spectators, who could see the efforts of the athletes. Olympia Stadium, the most popular stadium in ancient Greece, could host up to 45,000 spectators.

Then, humanity passed to the amphitheater, a place created in the Roman era from the first century BC. This type of enclosure presented a more urban architecture and had rows overlapping in an elliptical manner so that attendees could focus all their attention on the central area of ​​the sand. The amphitheater of Arles, the Arena of Verona, the Flavian Amphitheater, and the Colosseum are the most important and best preserved examples.

According to Sports Illustrated magazine, the first specific place for football in England was built in 1892, when Everton FC opened Goodison Park in Liverpool. While in the United States, the University of Pennsylvania opened Franklin Field, the oldest stadium that still works for football matches, in 1895.

The new sports complexes

While stadiums were previously built with only one purpose, now their construction has changed. According to sportsadvisor, those who design sports facilities understand that needs must cover more than one purpose. The current architectural trend is a multisensory experience for fanatics. Restaurants, entertainment, shops, and commercial spaces are now common in these establishments and often host other events that do not have to do directly with the sport, such as multitudinous concerts.

In addition, the same seating design has evolved over time. While previously it was normal to find that at some points the visibility of the game was lost, now the comfortable seats and the Premium views are key design elements of sports complexes.

A list around the world

According to the currently required uses, the capacity of the stadiums has grown exponentially. As time passes by, it increases the number of spectators and demand to watch sports; for this reason, it is now normal to see stadiums with capacity for hundreds of thousands of people. According to the English publication The Sun, this is the ranking with the best 20 sports facilities in the world, based on the capacity of the spectators that they house. The stadiums of greater capacity are as much for soccer, as American football:

1. Rungado May Day Stadium, Pyongyang-North Korea, capacity for 114,000 people.
2. Michagan Stadium, in Ohio-USA, capacity for 107601 people.
3. Beaver Stadium, Pennsylvania-USA, capacity 106572 people.
4. Ohio Stadium, Ohio-USA, capacity 104944 people.
5. Kyle Field, Texas-USA, capacity 102733 people.
6. Neyland Stadium, Tennessee-USA, capacity 102455 people.
7. Tiger Stadium, Louisiana-USA, capacity 102321 people.
8. Bryant-Denny Stadium, Alabama-USA, capacity 101821 people.
9. Darrel K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium, Texas-USA, capacity 100119 people.
10. Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne-Australia, capacity 100024 people.
11. Camp Nou, Barcelona-Spain, capacity 99354 people.
12. Soccer City, Johannesburg-South Africa, capacity 94736 people.
13. Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Californa-USA, capacity 93,607 people.
14. Sanford Stadium, Georgia-USA, capacity 92746 people.
15. Rose Bowl, California-USA, capacity 92542 people
16. Cotton Bowl, Texas-USA, capacity 92100 people.
17. Wembley Stadium, Wembley-England, capacity 90000 people.
18. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Florida-USA, capacity 88548 people.
19. Gelora Bung Karno StadiumJakarta -Indonesia, capacity 88306 people.
20. Jordan-Hare Stadium, Alabama-USA, capacity 87451 people.

Latin American Post | Clementine Ramos
Translated from “ ¿Cuáles son los 20 mejores estadios de fútbol?”