Despite the popularity of the National Football League (NFL) in the United States, there’s a great appetite for football at the amateur level. College football is a multi-billion-dollar business with many conferences having TV broadcast deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Moreover, tickets for games between top-tier teams in the SEC and other premier conferences carry an average cost of more than $150. Eight college football teams play out of stadiums with more than 100,000 seats, so that’s millions of dollars in potential game day revenue.
These eight stadiums are among the largest in the world. In fact, eight of the world’s 11 stadiums with a seating capacity exceeding 100,000 are used by American college football teams. However, the two largest stadiums in the world are outside of the US and used for other sporting events.
Below is a look at the five largest stadiums in the world based on seating capacity.
Rungrado May Day Stadium (150,000)
While there’s some discrepancies about the actual capacity at Rungrado May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea, most sources cite the stadium as having 150,000 seats. Others suggest it has a capacity of 114,000, which would still put it as the second-largest stadium in the world. However, the stadium also once set an attendance record of 190,000 for a wrestling event in 1995.
North Korea decided to construct the stadium in the mid-1980s in response to the construction of the Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea. Construction took less than three years and the building was inaugurated prior to the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students. Designed to resemble a magnolia flower, the building’s most impressive feature is its 94,000-square-meter roof with 16 petal-shaped segments supported by more than 11,000 steel supports.
The stadium’s interior features more than 200,000 square meters of floor space and has several facilities, including swimming pools and running tracks. It hosts football matches involving the North Korean national team, but is primarily used for military parades.
Narendra Modi Stadium (132,000)
A refurbished stadium once known as the Sardar Patel Stadium, Narendra Modi Stadium in the Motera area of Ahmedabad, India, is the world’s largest cricket stadium. Inaugurated in 2022, the stadium has a capacity of 132,000 spectators and features four dressing rooms, two gyms, a 55-room clubhouse, squash court, and Olympic-sized swimming pool. Other interior game day features include LED lights to allow for day-night matches and a drainage system that can prepare the grounds for action in 30 minutes.
Prior to the inauguration of the new stadium in 2020, the former facility had a capacity of just 49,000. It is named after the Indian prime minister, who attended the inauguration along with former US President Donald Trump. The building is owned by the Gujarat Cricket Association and plays host to Indian Premier League, Test, ODI, and T20I cricket matches.
Michigan Stadium (107,601)
Michigan Stadium, used almost exclusively by the University of Michigan Wolverines football team, holds the distinction of being the largest college football stadium in the world and the largest stadium in the US. Based in Ann Arbor and appropriately known as “The Big House,” Michigan Stadium has an official capacity of 107,601, although it has exceeded that figure in the past.
Its attendance record of 115,109 was set on September 7, 2013, when the Wolverines defeated rival Notre Dame 41-30. Michigan Stadium’s attendance record for a non-football event is 109,318, set during an International Champions Cup soccer tournament match in 2014 between Manchester United and Real Madrid. It also hosted the 2014 National Hockey League Winter Classic between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs, attended by 105,491 people.
Beaver Stadium (106,572)
Located in University Park, Pennsylvania, Beaver Stadium has a capacity of 106,572 and is home to the Pennsylvania State Nittany Lions. Named after James A. Beaver, a prominent Bellefonte lawyer during the outbreak of the Civil War who rose to the rank of Brigadier General in the Union Army and later became president of the school’s Board of Trustees, the stadium was built in 1960 and has been renovated six times since.
Beaver Stadium has hosted nine Penn State games with more than 110,000 spectators since 2002. A record 110,889 people attended the Penn State and Ohio game on September 29, 2018.
Ohio Stadium (102,780)
The oldest stadium on this list, Ohio Stadium celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2022. Based in Columbus, the building opened in 1922 and underwent extensive renovations in 2001. It is the home stadium of the University of Ohio Buckeyes and affectionately known as “The Horseshoe” because of its unique design. Ohio Stadium hosted a record 110,045 spectators in 2016 for a game between the Buckeyes and Michigan Wolverines.
In addition to college football, the venue is also used for concerts and has welcomed iconic acts like the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd.