Alamodome

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Alamodome
Facility statistics
Location 100 Montana Street
San Antonio, Texas 78203
Broke ground 1992
Opened 1993
Closed Open
Demolished N/A
Owner Transit Authority City of San Antonio
Operator City of San Antonio
Surface Artifical
Construction cost $186 million USD
Architect HOK Sport
Former names
N/A
Tenants
New Orleans Saints (2005)
Alamo Bowl (NCAA) (1993-Present)
San Antonio Spurs (NBA) (1993-2002)
San Antonio Texans (CFL) (1995)
Seating capacity
Football 65,000
Basketball 36,500
Hockey 36,000
Boxing 40,000
Arena center-stage 33,000
Arena end-stage 30,000
Stadium end-stage 50,000
Stadium center-stage 77,000

The Alamodome is a football/basketball stadium and convention center in San Antonio, Texas. It hosted the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA from 1993-2002, the San Antonio Texans of the Canadian Football League in 1995 and is the site of the annual Alamo Bowl. The facility also occasionally hosts NCAA Basketball Tournament games, including men's and women's Final Four events in 1998, 2002, 2004, 2008, and 2010. The dome now is one of the hosts for the displaced New Orleans Saints, along with Baton Rouge's Tiger Stadium, during the 2005 NFL season.

Opened on May 15, 1993, the stadium cost $186 million, financed through a city sales tax. The triple-decked stadium curved around the football field, though only the lower two decks at one end were used for basketball games. In this setup, the stadium sat 20,662 for basketball, though opening up the upper decks for popular games expanded the capacity up to 32,000. The stadium seats up to 66,000 for football games. The Alamodome includes 38 luxury suites and 6,000 club seats.

Though the late 1990's saw the Spurs soar to unprecendented popularity, the decision was made to move the team out of the spacious stadium and to build the new, smaller, SBC Center. Using the Alamodome as a convention center and for football is far more profitable, in part because a football stadium provides relatively poor sight lines for basketball. The Spurs moved out after the 2001-2002 season, and the arena continues to be used for other events.

On April 15, 2005, the San Antonio city council voted to spend about $6.5 million in order to try to lure a Major League Soccer franchise to the dome, and to further upgrade the dome. However, with the election of Phil Hardberger as mayor, who opposed the deal to bring in MLS from day one, the deal to bring in MLS is dead. However the upgrades to the dome will continue as voted on. The city and Alamodome now seem focused on trying to lure the NFL to San Antonio.

More recently, the NFL has announced that the Alamodome will be hosting three New Orleans Saints games in 2005, due to the damage that Hurricane Katrina did to the Superdome and the city of New Orleans. The three teams the Saints will play are the Buffalo Bills, the Atlanta Falcons, and the Detroit Lions. This will be the first NFL regular season games the stadium, and the city of San Antonio, has hosted. Many people speculate that this may be a trial run, for an eventual move by the NFL franchise to San Antonio, and to see how the city and Alamodome fare hosting NFL games. The Alamodome will have to undergo further upgrading to NFL standards, if an NFL team relocates there.

During the second of 3 games at the Alamodome, against the Atlanta Falcons on Oct. 16, 2005, the Saints drew a record sell-out crowd which was the most people to ever witness a football game at the Alamodome.

 

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