NFL stadiums are what most NFL football teams call home considering it is where the players are going to spend roughly eighty percent of their time at. The stadium is where it all starts, the games are held there along with a number of other events, and the players practice there. Most NFL teams today are stuck with the same stadium from the early days of football, but there are a few teams that were forced to change stadiums for various reasons. For some teams it was about relocation the owner of the team simply decided it was best to move the team to another state forcing a change. For others it was the stadium that was the problem. Sometimes the structure is just too old and can no longer be maintained. Sometimes the NFL just wants a newer and fancier NFL stadium after having to share with other sports teams for so long. All of the stadiums on the list fell to one of those reasons and as of today they no longer exist.
Busch Memorial Stadium
The name of this long and gone stadium might make some people think of the current Busch Stadium located in St.Louis Missouri right now, but despite sharing the same name. These are two completely different stadiums from 1966 to 1987 the Busch Memorial Stadium was the home for St.Louis Cardinals before the NFL team made the move to Arizona. At the end of the day the owner of the Cardinals Bill Bidwill decided to move his team, because of all the failed attempts on expanding the capacity of the stadium. It could only hold up to 55,000 people just barely meeting the NFL capacity rules, but the Busch Memorial Stadium wasn’t just used for football games. Like other stadiums it was a multi-purpose sports facility and was used by the MLB. It was the home of the baseball team that went by the same name St.Louis Cardinals, even after the NFL team moved on. The MLB team stuck around until 2005 and during that time. The stadium would go on to host the St.Louis Rams during the 1995 NFL season for just four games. That would be the last time a NFL team would use the stadium, and eventually it would become for baseball use only. The owner of tht St.Louis Cardinals decided that a new stadium needed to be built leading to Busch Memorial Stadium being closed down on October 19, 2005 and the demolish would begin on November 7, 2005 and last until December 8, 2005. Today the Busch Stadium is now in its place.
Astrodome
Out of all the stadiums on this list the Astrodome is the one of the few stadiums still standing till this day. It was the first domed stadium to exist and was the home to the Houston Oilers from 1968 to 1996. The Astrodome had a pretty successful run even though there were regular complaints from the Oilers’s owner Bud Adams for a new stadium, all because of the condition the field was kept in. Even the Houston Astros who shared the stadium with the Houston Oilers had issues with the overall condition of the stadium. Bud Adams did make good on some of his threats and would move his NFL team to Tennessee where they would go on to become the Tennessee Titans. The stadium would be kept alive by serving as a venue for other events and concerts, but when the NRG stadium was built and made its debut on August 24, 2002, the Astrodome became even more obsolete as a lot of event holders moved over to the newer stadium with a retractable roof. The NRG stadium would also serve as the home for a new NFL franchise, the Houston Texans. The Astrodome was still used to host an event every once in a while during the early 2000s, until the city citied for numerous code violations. After that the stadium was shut down for good in 2008 and it stills in the same spot abandoned after all these years. There have been many attempts at reviving the stadium and turning it into something useful like a hotel in the past years, but the city always voted against the ideas.
Pontiac Silverdome
The Pontiac Silverdome opened in 1975 and was the largest NFL stadium at the time until 2000 when Fedexfield was expanded upon. It was the home of the Detroit Lions and would sometimes be used by the NBA team the Detroit Pistons. The stadium would host a number of famous events like the 1994 FIFA World Cup and Wrestlemania III drawing in some of the biggest crowds in history. Although nothing could really save the stadium from just becoming another afterthought when the Detroit Lions moved from the Silverdome to Ford Field after the 2001 NFL season. The Pontiac Silverdome was just one big financial problem after losing the Lions, and no one wanted to pay to maintain the stadium. The city tried to sell the stadium but were unsuccessful, and eventually the Pontiac Silverdome would be auctioned off to a real estate developer. Andreas Apostolopoulos who would attempt to revive the stadium reopened it to become a multi-purpose venue. The main plan was for the Silverdome to become the home for Major League Soccer, but it would fall through. After the 2013 roof collapse the real estate company would give up trying to use the stadium and it was left to rot. The city would start demolishing the Pontiac Silverdome on December 4, 2017 and would finish in March 2018.
San Diego Stadium
Some people might remember this stadium as the Jack Murphy Stadium, the name of it from 1981 to 1997. The naming rights to this stadium would change ownership a lot throughout the years, but most people just know it as the San Diego Stadium. Which was a pretty fitting name for the home of the San Diego Chargers. This stadium had one of the longest and most successful runs in history being the home of three Super Bowls and other major events. The San Diego Stadium is the stadium to host a Super Bowl and the World Series in the same year. The stadium served as the home for the MLB team the San Diego Padres as well, and interestingly enough. That might be the very thing that led to its downfall after the Padres moved on in 2003. The NFL wanted a more modern and football-only stadium especially if San Diego was going to host another Super Bowl, but just like with so many other cities. San Diego couldn’t or maybe wouldn’t pay for a new stadium. The San Diego Chargers would move on to Los Angeles after the 2016 NFL season leaving the stadium without a purpose. Just like all the other stadiums who lost their NFL teams the San Diego Stadium would be sold to a new owner. The San Diego State University would take over and the stadium would host one last college football game on December 27, 2019 and was demolished a year later in December 2020. In its place now is a whole new stadium called the SnapDragon Stadium.
Candlestick Park
Candlestick Park wasn’t originally supposed to be a NFL stadium; instead , it was built for the Giants, and no not the New York Giants. The San Francisco Giants a major league baseball team, and in the beginning it was the home to the baseball team. But they had to share with NFL team the San Francisco 49ers until 1999 when the Giants would move on to another stadium. After that the stadium truly did belong to the 49ers, and to show it the stadium went through a huge makeover to become more football friendly. But even with all the accommodations made for the NFL team the San Francisco 49ers would still choose to move on from the stadium after the 2013 NFL season. The last game played in Candlestick Park was a Monday Night Football game between the 49ers and the Atlanta Falcons on December 23, 2013. The 49ers would win the game and the stadium would hold the record for number of Monday Night Football games. After the San Francisco 49ers moved on for a newer stadium in a different location, MLB fans rallied to encourage the Giants to play one more game at the stadium. Unfortunately though the cost was a bit too steep and the MLB team would pass on the opportunity. The Candlestick Park hosted one last ionic event where Paul McCartney would perform there on August 14, 2014. The demolition of Candlestick Park started in November of 2014, but was halted for a long period of time and was finally completed on September 24, 2015.
John F. Kennedy Stadium
John F. Kennedy Stadium was named after the 35th President himself in honor after his assassinaton just a year earlier. It was first the home of the Philadelphia Quakers, an AFL football team in the early days, but when the league folded. Then it became the home for the NFL team Frankford Yellow Jackets until the team went out of business in 1931. For a while John F. Kennedy Stadium wouldn’t have another football team call it home until finally the Philadelphia Eagles came along in 1936, but for some reason this stadium just struggled to hold onto a team. The Eagles would only use the stadium for just four years before moving on to another stadium. John F. Kennedy managed to stay afloat by becoming the venue for the Army-Navy football games from 1936 to 1979, and other smaller football events. The NFL wouldn’t return to the stadium until September 16, 1950 where the Cleveland Browns would play the Philadelphia Eagles, the two-time defending Champions at the time. In their debut as a NFL team for the first time the game was originally supposed to be held at Shibe Park, but the stadium lacked enough space for the crowd. The Philadelphia Eagles would lose that game, and although it would be the last NFL game John F. Kennedy would host. The stadium would become the venue for many other events throughout the years until the mayor would have the city inspect the stadium, and it would be deemed a potential fire hazard. John F. Kennedy was demolished on September 23, 1992.
Tulane Stadium
Tulane Stadium was built to be a football stadium for the college Tulane University and was built on the campus. In the beginning it was used for college football games for the Tulane Green Wave, and was nicknamed the Sugar Bowl for hosting the famous college football game. The stadium was the home of the NFL team the New Orleans Saints during their first seven years in the league. From 1967 to 1974 the New Orleans Saints played there and the Tulane Stadium hosted three Super Bowls. But when the Louisiana Superdome was built there was no more use for the Tulane Stadium and it was condemned in 1975. The last football game played in the stadium was a high school football game between Chalmette High School and Jesuit High School on November 3, 1979. Not too long after that game demolition began on the stadium on November 18, 1979 and finished June 1980.
Miami Orange Bowl
Miami Orange Bowl was originally named the Burdine Stadium when it was built back in 1937. The name change probably came after the stadium went on to host the Orange Bowl for college football. The first major bowl event to be televised as a prime time event in the league. The stadium was used mainly by the Miami Hurricanes until it became the home for the Miami Dolphins for their first 21 seasons. For a couple of years a live action dolphin show would be held at the stadium with a real dolphin in a tank positioned at the end of the stadium. The dolphin would jump and do flips to celebrate touchdowns, but eventually the cost of the trick was too much and led to the dolphin tank being removed. The Miami Orange Bowl seemed to be a lucky place for the Miami Dolphins because the team went on to enjoy a number of winning streaks during their stint at the stadium. Including going undefeated against the New England Patriots and accomplishing that no other NFL football team has managed since then. A perfect NFL season in 1972, and the Miami Dolphins were never able to find the same success at the Hard Rock Stadium. The Dolphins moved to the newer stadium in 1987 and never achieved the same level of success as they did. In the Miami Orange Bowl and the reason is the Orange Bowl was one of the loudest stadiums, and made it difficult for visiting teams to play. In 2005 the stadium suffered massive damage from Hurricane Wilma and was nearly torn down then, but repairs were made. The Miami Orange Bowl would be demolished three years later in May 2008.
Giants Stadium
The Giants Stadium opened in 1976 and was primarily used for both NFL teams the New York Giants, and the New York Jets. Most people would think the stadium belongs entirely to the New York Giants from the name, but no they had to share. The two NFL teams also had to share the stadium with various other sports teams like the Yankees, but still it was mainly a NFL stadium and even held a record for hosting the most NFL games at one point. The Giants Stadium lasted from 1976 to 2009 until after the Metlife Stadium was built. Then both the Giants and the Jets moved over to the new stadium which is the most expensive stadium to date to be built. The Giants Stadium was closed down after that and demolition started on February 4, 2010 and ended on June 28, 2010.
Georgia Dome
The Georgia Dome stadium was the home to mainly the NFL Atlanta Falcons, but also the college football team the Georgia State Panthers for a while. The Georgia Dome has hosted a number of football events including the Peach Bowl and the SEC Championship for college football multiple times. There were times where even the NBA team Atlanta Hawks would use the stadium. The Georgia Dome went through major renovations at one point to improve the interior of the stadium, and while it might’ve made the interior look better. It didn’t help out the roof at all. In August of 1995 there was an incident where the roof was rained on, and part of the roof gave in. No one was injured during this event and the roof was repaired. There was nothing significantly wrong with the stadium but still in 2010 it was announced that Georgia was working on building a new stadium for the Atlanta Falcons. It was stated that one of reasons for building a new stadium was to make the Falcons more competitive, because with the new stadium the team would have full control over profits. Unlike with the Georgia Dome not to mention the sports team owner had the money. The Falcons last game in the Georgia Dome was on January 22, 2017 which they won against the Green Bay Packers and went on to the playoffs. After the new stadium called Mercedes-Benz Stadium became the Atlanta Falcons new home. Even though a group of people fought to keep the Georgia Dome open it was decided that the stadium would require too much money and maintenance. Leading to the decision to demolish the stadium as soon as possible, and after getting over a number of obstacles. The Georgia Dome was finally demolished on November 20, 2017.
