The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, commonly refereed to as the Metrodome is the home stadium for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). The Metrodome opened nearly 30 years ago and since then has established itself as one of the more unique football stadiums found in the NFL.
The Metrodome first opened for business on April 3, 1982 just in time for the Minnesota twins to begin the 1982 Major League Baseball season. This stadium was built on the concept to be a utilitarian sports facility. That means it was designed to host a variety of sporting events. Over the years the Metrodome was home of the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB), Minnesota Vikings of the NFL, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball & football teams, Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association and the Minnesota Strikers of the North Amercian Soccer League. The Metrodome is the only sports facility in the world to host a Super Bowl (1992), MLB All-Star game (1985), NCAA Final Four (1992, 2001) and a World Series (1987, 1991).
Today the Metrodome is the home to only one team and that is the Minnesota Vikings. This domed stadium has one rather unique characteristic that is a fiberglass fabric roof which is support by air pressure. This roof concept was a popular engineering concept 30 years ago however today’s modern stadiums now have a retractable roof design.
This white fiberglass roof has been very controversial throughout the life of the Metrodome. When the Minnesota Twins played in the Metrodome their opponents would constantly complain how the baseball was nearly impossible to see during a pop fly against the white roof. This made the Metrodome one of the toughest places for a road team to get a win. The roof controversy does not end there as this white fiberglass fabric roof is prone to severe weather damage. Heavy snow accumulation has cause the roof to tear and collapse on 3 separate occasions. The most severe was just back in December 2010 when a blizzard caused the roof to collapse and fully deflate forcing the Vikings to play the remainder of their home games at nearby university of Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium.
Over the years the Metrodome has gone through many renovations. The playing field has seen many artificial turf changes from the initial SuperTurf to the present highly advanced synthetic turf. Concession stands have been upgraded and now include a wide range of foods and non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages. Throughout this facility you will now find ATM’s, restroom facilities with changing stations and first aid stations.
One of the greatest advantages for the home team playing at the Metrodome is that is gets really loud. Out of all 32 NFL stadiums this facility is commonly ranked within the top 5 loudest stadiums. Presently the seating capacity is rather small seating just over 64,000, this rank 27th in the league. The Metrodome is centrally located right in the heart of downtown Minneapolis. Although there is great interest in building a new state of the art stadium to replace the Metrodome, for now this is the home of the Minnesota Vikings
