The construction of the Minnesota Vikings new U.S. Bank Stadium, a $1 billion endeavor, is nearing completion. Located at the site of the old Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, which was home to the Vikings for over 31 years, the new stadium will hold over 73,000 fans and feature some of the closest seats to the field in the entire NFL.
The stadium will be equipped with a transparent roof, the world’s largest pivoting glass doors, and a massive glass wall overlooking the Minneapolis skyline. All this should give fans an “outdoor feel in a climate-controlled environment”.
One of the most high-tech buildings in the world, U.S. Bank Stadium will feature the highest quality HD video boards in the NFL and a roof will be made of see-through ethylene tetrafluoroethylene–the largest roof of it’s type in the world.
The Vikings have been sharing TCF Bank Stadium, which seats 52,000 people, with the University of Minnesota over the past two years as the new stadium has been under construction. This temporary home is the smallest stadium in the NFL.
The new stadium has drawn the attention of many sports fans outside the U.S, as well. “It’s really a statement stadium,” EarthCo Strategic Sales Director Lisa Kelly says. “The Vikings have used this as a great PR opportunity in showing the commitment to making an amazing venue that everyone is going to be able to be a part of for a long time.”
Kelly and her team at EarthCo have set up multiple cameras around the stadium from different vantage points, allowing fans to live-view the construction progress, as well as view a timeline with pictures from each day. Since the EarthCo cameras were installed in 2014, 11.2 million viewers have visited the page, making U.S. Bank stadium an internet sensation all around the world; views came in countries including New Zealand, the Czech Republic, and Mexico.
U.S. Bank Stadium is set to be the venue for Super Bowl LII in 2018.