Super Bowl 2014: Do Weather Conditions Affect Football Stadium Designs in America?

In acknowledgement of tomorrow's Super Bowl XLVIII, questions and concerns have been raised regarding "cold weather" stadiums as a venue for the big game. Oddly enough, based on information collected about the 31 National Football League stadiums in the United States, the location of the venue doesn't seem to affect the design or physics of the stadium.

Sunday's Super Bowl will be the first ever played in a cold weather outdoor stadium when the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks kickoff at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Past Super Bowls have been played in stadiums located in warm weather regions or stadiums that have roofs (for example, Sun Life Stadium in Miami and the Mercedes-Benz Super Dome in New Orleans).

This article on the Live Science website compares the designs of the stadiums based on their north and south locations (ones that are above the Mason-Dixon Line are the "north" stadiums and ones that are below are the "south" stadiums). Despite the frequent cold weather in the north during the NFL season, there are 11 open football stadiums above the Mason-Dixon Line compared to 12 in the south. There are only three closed stadiums in the north, which are Detroit's Ford Field, Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium, and Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium. The south also has more "closed" stadiums, with three domed stadiums in New Orleans, Atlanta, and St. Louis and three retractable roof stadiums in Houston, Dallas, and Phoenix.

According to the analysis, weather is not the only factor when building a stadium. Cost and uses other than football also contribute to the decision. Additionally, the installation of a roof is both an engineering and financial challenge. Mark Waggoner, a principal at a Houston-based engineering firm that constructed the retractable roofs of three NFL stadiums, said, "building an unsupported structure that spans some 600 to 800 feet is more like building a bridge than a ceiling, and domes are challenging because they require a lot of temporary support during construction," in the Live Science article. Additionally, a retractable roof adds about $100 million - $150 million to the project's cost.

So why do the north and south have nearly the same amount of open stadiums when the weather of each region is nearly opposite? Well, the heat may be more of a concern for fans and players in the south since it's easier to stay warm in the cold rather than stay cool in the hot. Cost is also a big issue. Labor costs and taxes are typically much more expensive in the north (a big reason why the owner's of the Giants and Jets did not add a retractable roof to MetLife Stadium) than they are in the south. And when the roofs are designed for supporting the snow, costs are driven up. (Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium's roof collapsed a few years ago because heavy snow piled atop the dome.)

However, retractable roofs are becoming more popular and Waggoner believes we will see more in the future as engineers are experimenting with more cost-effective designs.

To read more about the design of NFL stadiums, visit this Live Science article.