NY Jets and Giants Fans Have Something to Cheer About: The New Meadowlands

Whether you’re a fan of the Giants or the Jets, or both (as unlikely as that might be), you’ve got to be a fan of the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, the new home to both NFL teams.  Even Jets fans who saw their team lose to the Giants 31-16 in an August 16^th preseason debut of the new arena were winners.  After all, if nothing else, the opening of the new venue marked the end of an era which had them playing in a stadium named for another team.

A $1.6 billion “piece of architectural history” (according to Meadowlands management), the new stadium is one of the most expensive venues ever built, and it’s well equipped to handle the task of hosting any game, including Super Bowl XLVIII, which is slotted to be played there in 2014.  Some highlights of the New Meadowlands include:

• An 82,500 seating capacity
• Over 800 concession stands
• 4 giant (30ft x 118ft) HD video screens
• Over 2,100 HD monitors throughout the stadium
• A 2,200ft ribbon board that circles in the interior bowl
• Over 130,000 square feet of luxury clubs and suites (218 total)

Another great feature of this new venue is that it’s a sustainable facility.  That means that while it’s actually gray in color, it’s green!  According to George Pavlou of the EPA, "The New Meadowlands Stadium [is] one of the greenest stadiums in American professional sports."  What makes it so?

• Clean fuels and low emissions equipment was used during construction
• An aggressive construction recycling program was used, resulting in 82% (over 2,300 tons) of construction waste being recycled
• 22,000 tons of scrap was utilized in the manufacturing of the structural steel for the new stadium
• Over half of all interior finish products are "green" certified
• Use of waterless urinals throughout the men's restrooms will save 2.7 million gallons of water a year
• And many more initiatives to help reduce waste and energy consumption

So when you attend a game at the New Meadowlands, you can feel good, even if the team you’re rooting for doesn’t win. 

As determined by a coin toss by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, the Giants will host the first NFL regular season game in the stadium's history on Sunday, September 12, 2010, opening night.  The following evening, the Jets will hold their home opener, to be shown on Monday Night Football. Want to be at either of these games? Better book through the Golden Sports site now!