LEVI’S STADIUM
Location: Santa Clara, California, US
Capacity: 68,500 (expandable to 75,000)
Tenants: San Francisco 49ers (NFL),
Redbox Bowl (NCAA)
Opened: July 2014
True to its heritage in the heart of Silicon
Valley, the US$1.2bn Levi’s Stadium is one of
the most technologically enabled
entertainment venues in the world. Beneath its
open canopy – modelled on the processional
grandeur of a Roman amphitheater –
consumers can engage with a plethora of
interactive fan experiences via 40Gbps of
available bandwidth of free Wi-Fi. A stadiumspecific
app supported by 1700 low-energy
Bluetooth beacons can guide users to their
seats in addition to recommending the closest
bathrooms and concession stands depending
on those with the shortest queues. The
stadium also has an unparalleled visual
network of HD screens, plus two 96,00ft2
(8,918m²) display towers at opposite ends of
the field capable of 4K resolution.
In addition to technological advances, Levi’s
Stadium is also widely viewed as one of the
greenest stadiums in the US. Most famously, it
was the first to integrate a green roof, which
includes a waterproof membrane covered with
plants – and 1,186 photovoltaic solar panels. It
also reclaims water and utilizes a geothermal
energy saving system, which is designed to
make the venue the first net zero stadium for
electricity of any kind. It was the first NFL
stadium to achieve LEED Gold Certification and
sustainability has always been at the center of
its design, explains San Francisco 49ers
project executive Jack Hill.
“We’ve incorporated a lot of energy saving
measures within the stadium itself and we
incorporated green thinking into everything,
including recycling most of the construction
debris,” he says.
BANC OF CALIFORNIA
Location: Los Angeles, California, US
Capacity: 22,000 (expandable to 35,000)
Tenants: Los Angeles FC (MLS)
Opened: April 2018
The Banc of California stadium is the first
open-air venue built in the city of Los Angeles
since 1962. Constructed in Exposition Park, its
unimposing design honors the heritage and
human scale of its former site, the Los
Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
Consequently, the field of play is sunken
22ft (6.7m) into the ground, which also
facilitates crowd circulation as fans enter the
lower ring of the stands from street level. It
also minimizes the impact of the stadium’s
seating, which at 34-degrees is among the
steepest in Major League Soccer.
The stadium uses renewable energy
sources and rainwater harvesting systems to
reduce its ecological impact and a transport
strategy to support electric cars in the future.
This includes 5% of its parking facilities with
electric car charging stations with a further
20% of the infrastructure already equipped for
electric vehicles.
The stadium was designed to meet the
standards of the Federation Internationale de
Football Association (FIFA) and is also
expected to host a number of other events
including elements of the 2028 Summer
Olympics, Grand Prix Rugby Series, Premier
Lacrosse League All-Star Games, boxing and
esports events.
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