MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, is the largest stadium in the National Football League and one of the most versatile sporting venues in the world. Opened in 2010 at a cost of $1.6 billion, it is the shared home of the New York Giants and New York Jets — the only NFL stadium co-owned 50/50 by two franchises — and has hosted some of the biggest events in American sporting history.

The stadium’s design resolved a fascinating tension between two franchises with different aesthetic tastes. The Giants preferred exposed steel and stone; the Jets favoured a sleek, modern look. The architects drew inspiration from Manhattan’s skyline, blending both visions into an exterior of limestone-like stone and aluminum louvers. The colour-changing interior lighting — blue for Giants games, green for Jets games — was inspired by the Allianz Arena in Munich.

With a capacity of 82,500 and the shortest front-row-to-sideline distance in the NFL at just 46 feet, the fan experience is intimate despite the stadium’s enormous size. The Solar Ring — 1,350 photovoltaic panels installed in 2012 — generates approximately 350 kilowatts of power. The EPA named MetLife the “Greenest Stadium” in professional football, recognising the 40,000 tonnes of recycled steel incorporated in its construction.

The stadium hosted Super Bowl XLVIII in February 2014 — the first Super Bowl in a cold-weather, open-air city — when the Seattle Seahawks crushed Denver 43–8. WrestleMania 35 set a WWE revenue record here with 82,265 fans. The Copa América Centenario final in 2016 saw Chile defeat Argentina on penalties.

For the 2026 FIFA World Cup, MetLife Stadium will host eight matches including the grand final — making it the centrepiece of the world’s biggest sporting tournament, and cementing its place as one of the great sporting venues of the twenty-first century.