5 Largest Stadiums In The World

The following list includes stadiums that are mainly used for a single type of sport, with the capacity being defined as the number of seats it officially holds.

Estadio Azteca is the largest association football specific stadium in the world. Situated in Santa Ursula, Mexico City, Mexico it is the official home stadium of the Mexican national football team and of the Mexican football club Club America.

This gigantic arena was opened on the 29^th of May, 1966 and has a capacity of 105 000 seats. In its opening game it hosted 107 494 spectators.

Since its opening Estadio Azteca hosted events in international competitions such as the Summer Olympics, FIFA World Cup, Pan American Games, FIFA World Youth Championship, FIFA Confederations Cup and FIFA U-17 World Cup, being currently the only stadium in the world to have hosted the FIFA World Cup Final twice.

Honorable mentions:

• Rungnado May Day Stadium, North Korea – 150 000
• Salt Lake Stadium, India – 120 000

Even though the above mentioned stadiums have a larger capacity than Estadio Azteca they were not chosen as the largest due to their multipurpose orientation, having hosted a significant number of non-football related events both in the sports world and outside of it.

With a capacity of 257 325 spectators the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is currently the largest facility in the world to host sport related events. Besides its seating capacity it also offers the possibility of infield seating, which boots its capacity to a whooping 400 000 spectators.

Located in Speedway, Indiana, United States the first ever called Speedway was opened on the 12^th of August, 1909. The idea of building the facility came to Carl G. Fisher, a businessman from Indianapolis that wanted to offer car manufacturers a better mean of testing their cars before delivering them to their customers.

The first car racing event held on the speedway started on the 19^th of August, 1909, ending up with a bittersweet taste. During the event two land speed records were set but due to the poor quality of the track several people died following crashes, including pilots, mechanics and spectators.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway held over the years events in racing competitions such as NASCAR Sprint Cup, Formula One and Moto GP.

Nicknamed "The Big House" this monster stadium is situated in Ann Arbor, Michigan and is the football stadium of the University of Michigan. Opened on the 1^st of October, 1927 it initially offered 82 000 seats, its capacity increasing over the years with a current number of 109 901.

Due to financial reasons the initial desired capacity of the stadium could not be reached, but Fielding Yost, that envisioned a necessity of hosting over 150 000 spectators in the future, the decision to build a smaller stadium but to keep the foundation system for a possible expansion was made.

The Michigan Stadium is currently the home stadium of American football team Michigan Wolverines football.

Twickenham Stadium is the largest stadium in the world devoted to the sport of rugby and is situated in Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Opened on the 2^nd of October, 1909 it has a capacity of 82 000, growing exponentially over its existence with a start of 12 000 seats.

The stadium is the home ground for the English national rugby team and also the home of the Rugby Football Union. It currently hosts matches in the Middlesex Sevens, Aviva Premiership, LV Cup and Heineken Cup.

Aside rugby matches the arena hosted many non sport related events such as concerts, the Jehovah’s Witnesses annual convention or the Top Gear Car Rugby match.

Located in Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan The Tokyo Racecourse is considered the racecourse of racecourses. Opened in 1993 it now has a capacity of 223 000 spectators.

The stadium host a 2 038m grass course with two chutes of 1 800m and 2 000m respectively, a 1 899 dirt course with a 1 600m chute and a jump course measuring 1 675m. Also a 3 200m chute was available but due to the shortening of the Tenno Sho Autumn races to 2 000m it is was due unusable.

During its 2007 renovation a HD video screen was added measuring 66m by 11m, being at that time the largest screen in the world.

Notable races hosted by the Tokyo Racecourse are the Japan Cup, Tokyo Yushun, Yushun Himba, Yasuda Kinen, Tenno Sho, February Stakes, NHK Mile Cup and Victoria Mile.