Its looking at the biggest stadiums (or stadia if you like) in the world, specifically those with a capacity of at least 60,000. You can hover and filter to select different sports and regions, and a picture of each stadium should pop up.
1. College football stadiums in America are HUGE. They make the NFL stadiums look tiny. Think about this for a second - these are teams run by institutions of higher education with unpaid players and there are some 46 teams with seating for over 60,000 people. The biggest, Michigan Stadium, is the third biggest stadium in the world. The Premier League by comparison has 2 teams that meet this criteria.
2. I was surprised by the lack of baseball stadiums. I guess it has to do with the shape and size of the field. The biggest baseball stadium is Dodger Stadium with a capacity for 56,000.
3. There are big stadiums really all over the world. There are loads in Africa and Asia, and pretty much everywhere. There are definite regional differences between the sports enjoyed, and these become obvious in the map. The UK is probably the country with the greatest diversity of sporting venues at this level.
4. I'd quite like to go to the 'Mass Games' in North Korea, its probably quite a sight!
Peter
NB - I lumped Rugby Union and League together, sorry if that bothers anyone. Also I tried to pick the 'primary' sport for each venue but may have got this slightly wrong, if you spot a mistake, please let me know.
Someone on Reddit spotted that Dallas was in the wrong place. Changing this later today. (Thurs Jan 13, 7am)
ReplyDeleteI take it you're not also including motor sports arenas because the US has several over 160,000; with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at 250,000+...NASCAR
ReplyDeleteHi, yes that's correct. The table in fact was sourced from wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stadiums_by_capacity . I think motor racing venues don't count as stadiums because they come in many shapes and often contain many disconnected stands. But I could be wrong. You might find this list interesting though, and it would make a good viz http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sporting_venues_with_a_highest_attendance_of_100,000_or_more
Deletebristol motor speedway in Tennessee has a seating capacity of 160,000 plus in an enclosed 1/2 mile track bowl. No detached stands.
ReplyDeleteYour map has South Carolina confused with Missouri I think.
ReplyDeleteThe star that should be Williams-Brice Stadium, home of the South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia, SC says that it is Faurot Field, home of the Missouri Tigers in Columbia, MO.
ReplyDeleteHi Pierce, thanks for spotting that. I've changed the map to put Missouri back in Missouri.
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It looks like the Mineiro Arena in Belo Horizonte is missing it's photo. Is that a fabric-covered arena? It seems like so many of them are these days.
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