Football is a sport that has created billions of dollars in secondary revenue. Beyond ticket sales and even television broadcasting rights, the business of football has flooded certain markets with money. The sport has had a positive fiscal influence on everything from sports cards and football cards, to rubber fingers, tailgate accessories, beer sales, auto sales and the post halftime careers of overexposed celebrities. Footballs influence is mammoth in terms of the sheer amount of money spent and generated directly and indirectly. Consider the construction of just one stadium at the cost of 1.3 billion, that’s billion with a b. The new Dallas Cowboy Stadium is the worlds most expensive stadium to date and has spread the wealth of design and construction fees across the world.
Think about one aspect of the stadium; the display screen. All stadiums have display screens so the fans can feel right at home and watch the game the way they usually do at home, just in left comfortable seats. In the new stadium used by the Dallas Cowboys the high definition video display is the largest in the world. How large is it? Let’s begin with a little perspective; realtors in the United States refer to anything over 8,000 square feet to be a mansion. At 11,520 square feet the mammoth screen is larger then most homes. It stretches nearly 60 yards filling up the space between the twenty yard lines. The screen consists of 10,584,064 LED lights making for crystal clear resolution. It is the biggest High-definition display in the world. It has four displays; two facing the end zones and the other two pointed to the sidelines. It is 60 tons of deadweight and is center hung 90 feet above the playing field in the Cowboy Stadium. The smaller displays are still a huge 29 feet high and 51 feet wide. As well as the giant center hung screens there are nearly 3,000 smaller displays placed throughout the stadium. Fans can go sit anywhere in the stadium and get a great view of the game without ever having to look down at the field and watch real people playing football. The cost for this display is a mere 40 million dollars.
The stadium itself is an amazing design and has changed the way stadiums will be built in the future, providing the cash is available. One of the nagging problems with most arenas are the columns that keep the stadium up. This stadium is supported by two massive arches giving the fans unhindered views of the field and display screens from any seat. These arches provide support for the retractable roof and the strength to support the heavy display screen. It is a high tech wonder with real time concession sales reporting, excellent cell phone reception, and lots of fiber optic cables to support future gadgets not yet invented.
The Dallas Stadium is the most expensive stadium ever built. While it was designed with many elaborate luxury boxes, the underlying objective of the project was to provide the average fan with the best a stadium can offer. Thousands of people have been able to provide for their families while drawing a paycheck to help create this stadium.
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