Jets and Giants build a new stadium

Only months before winning Super Bowl XLII, the New York Giants helped to break ground on a brand new, $1.3 billion stadium that will house both them and the New York Jets. The new stadium is located next the two team’s current home, Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ.

Opening for the 2010 National Football League season, the new Meadowlands Stadium will seat 82,500, an increase of more than two thousand seats from the current stadium. The challenge that was presented to the design team of 360 Architects and builders Skanska AB was to create a state of the art stadium with new features while keeping some of the old elements of the current stadium.

“The design of the stadium and the seating bowl allows our fans the continued intimate feel of the current Giants Stadium, a characteristic that our players and fans love,” Giants president and CEO John Mara said in a press release. “Just like it is now for our fans, the open sightlines throughout will be enhanced by the four spectacular video screens in each corner. In addition, cutting edge sound systems, digital boards and electronic signage will work together to form an experience where everything has its place. The live experience will be unmatched anywhere in the NFL.”

With the current name of the stadium being Giants Stadium and is covered in blue and white, the Jets and their fans have naturally felt like outcasts in their home stadium. The new stadium will have the ability to change its look overnight due to its unique exterior. Covered in louvers, or angled aluminum panels, interior lighting will be able to reflect the colors of whichever team is playing on that Sunday, appearing green for the Jets and blue for the Giants.

The stadium will not carry over the Giants Stadium moniker, creating the possibility for a bidding war for the naming rights. The combination of the NFL’s marketing power and the stadium being just outside of New York could make naming rights the costliest ever. Marc Ganis, president of the Chicago sports marketing firm SportsCorp Ltd., told the Associated Press that he expects the deal to be around $25 to $30 million yearly.

The cost of the stadium is estimated to be around $1.3 billion and is being privately financed by the Jets and the Giants.

“This partnership between the Jets and Giants is unique not only for the NFL but in all of sports. A 100% privately financed stadium by two teams is unprecedented,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said at the groundbreaking. “Given the attention to detail that the ownership and their front office teams are putting into this stadium, it promises to be a first-class facility for Giants and Jets fans and a showcase for the NFL.”

It has yet to be announced whether the teams will use personal seat licenses, or PSLs, for their season tickets. But with the Dallas Cowboys using record-setting PSLs for their new $1 billion stadium, that team’s success could have an impact on the Giants and Jets decision.

(The image accompanying this story is from JetsKingdom.com and the New York Times)