24 Stadiums Torn Down and Forgotten
Every stadium eventually loses the argument with a demolition crew, a bigger television contract, or a city council that wants the land for something newer. Most vanish quietly, leaving behind parking lots, retail developments, or nothing at all.
The venues below hosted championship moments, generational players, and decades of Sunday afternoons before demolition crews erased them completely.
Candlestick Park, San Francisco
Home to the 49ers for four decades, Candlestick hosted six NFC Championship Games and the 1982 game that produced “The Catch,” Dwight Clark’s touchdown grab that sent San Francisco to its first Super Bowl. Despite its cramped concourses and famously brutal wind, the stadium was demolished in 2015 after the team relocated to Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
Texas Stadium, Irving
Built for the Dallas Cowboys in 1971, Texas Stadium was instantly recognizable for the gap in its roof, a design leftover from an abandoned plan for a retractable cover that fans joked existed “so God could watch His favorite team play.” The Cowboys played there for 38 seasons before moving to AT&T Stadium in 2009, and Texas Stadium was imploded the following year.
The Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac
Opened in 1975 as the Detroit Lions’ home, the Silverdome was the first NFL stadium with an air-supported fiberglass roof and briefly ranked as the league’s largest venue by capacity. The Lions left for Ford Field in 2002, and after years of deterioration and a failed attempt to reuse the site for concerts and soccer matches, the Silverdome was demolished in 2017.
Tiger Stadium, Detroit
Though best known as the longtime home of Major League Baseball’s Tigers, Tiger Stadium also hosted the Detroit Lions from 1938 until 1974. The city closed the stadium in 1999, and after a decade of failed preservation efforts, it was demolished in 2009, though a volunteer group still maintains the original playing field.
Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia
Known simply as “the Vet,” this multipurpose concrete bowl hosted the Philadelphia Eagles from 1971 to 2002 and was infamous for its rock-hard artificial turf and a basement holding cell used for unruly fans. The stadium was imploded in 2004, just two years after the Eagles moved to Lincoln Financial Field.
Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh
Home to both the Steelers and the Pirates from 1970 to 2000, Three Rivers Stadium was the site of the “Immaculate Reception,” Franco Harris’s improbable 1972 playoff catch widely considered one of the greatest plays in NFL history. The stadium was imploded in 2001 after both teams moved into separate, sport-specific venues.
Giants Stadium, East Rutherford
Shared by the New York Giants and Jets from 1976 until 2009, Giants Stadium sat in the Meadowlands sports complex and hosted two Super Bowls along with countless division rivalry games. It was demolished in 2010, immediately after MetLife Stadium opened directly next to it.
The Kingdome, Seattle
Home to the Seahawks and Mariners from 1976 to 1999, the Kingdome was one of the earliest domed multipurpose stadiums, with a distinctive gray concrete roof that dominated Seattle’s skyline. The city imploded the Kingdome in 2000 to make way for what became CenturyLink Field, in a demolition so large it was broadcast live and studied for its unusual use of over four thousand explosive charges.
The Astrodome, Houston
Nicknamed the “Eighth Wonder of the World” when it opened in 1965, the Astrodome was the first fully enclosed, air-conditioned domed stadium and hosted the Houston Oilers for decades before the team relocated to Tennessee in 1997. The building was declared non-compliant with modern fire codes in 2008, and while the full structure has never been leveled, large portions of its original interior have been gutted and demolished.
The Orange Bowl, Miami
Serving as the home of the Miami Dolphins from the franchise’s 1966 founding through 1986, the Orange Bowl also hosted numerous Super Bowls and college championship games during its half-century of operation. The stadium was demolished in 2008 to make way for the Miami Marlins’ ballpark, which now occupies the same site.
War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo
Known affectionately as “the Rockpile,” this aging municipal stadium hosted the Buffalo Bills from the team’s 1960 founding through 1972, when the franchise moved to what is now Highmark Stadium. War Memorial Stadium was eventually demolished, its most enduring modern legacy being its later use as a filming location for the baseball movie “The Natural.”
Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta
Shared by the Falcons and the Braves from 1966 until the Falcons moved into the Georgia Dome in 1992, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium was demolished in 1997, just a year after hosting the 1996 Summer Olympics’ baseball events. Its former parking lot now sits beneath what became Turner Field and later Georgia State University’s football stadium.
Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington
Home to the Minnesota Vikings from the team’s 1961 debut season until 1981, “the Met” was an open-air stadium known for brutally cold late-season games. It was demolished in 1985, and the Mall of America now stands on the exact site where the stadium once hosted Vikings football.
Busch Memorial Stadium, St. Louis
The second stadium to carry the Busch name, this circular multipurpose venue hosted the football Cardinals from 1966 until the franchise relocated to Arizona in 1988. The stadium was demolished in 2005 to make room for a new baseball-only ballpark for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland
Home to the Cleveland Browns from 1946 until 1995, this lakefront stadium was the site of the team’s controversial relocation to Baltimore, an event that left the venue empty before its 1996 demolition. A new Cleveland Browns Stadium was later built on the same footprint once the franchise was reconstituted in 1999.
Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati
Shared by the Bengals and the Reds from 1970 to 1999, Riverfront Stadium was one of several circular “cookie-cutter” multipurpose stadiums built across the country in the same era. It was imploded in 2002, two years after the Bengals moved into what is now Paycor Stadium next door.
Mile High Stadium, Denver
Home to the Denver Broncos from 1960 until 2001, Mile High Stadium was famous for its bouncing upper deck, which fans would intentionally shake during big plays. The original stadium was demolished in 2002, and its replacement, built adjacent to the old site, borrowed the beloved nickname for its own name.
Memorial Stadium, Baltimore
Home to the Baltimore Colts from 1953 until the team’s abrupt 1984 relocation to Indianapolis, Memorial Stadium later hosted the expansion Ravens for three seasons in the late 1990s before the team moved into what is now M&T Bank Stadium. The stadium was demolished in 2001 and 2002, with much of the site later redeveloped for housing.
Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego
Originally known as San Diego Stadium and later Jack Murphy Stadium, this multipurpose venue hosted the San Diego Chargers from 1967 until the franchise’s 2017 move to Los Angeles. The stadium was demolished in 2021 after years of debate over the site’s future.
RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.
Home to the Washington football franchise from 1961 until 1996, RFK Stadium also briefly hosted Major League Soccer’s D.C. United after the NFL team departed for a new stadium in Maryland. Decades of deferred maintenance and the loss of every major tenant left the stadium in Washington’s demolition pipeline for years before it was finally torn down.
Busch Stadium, St. Louis (Original)
Long before the circular stadium that replaced it, the original Busch Stadium, formerly known as Sportsman’s Park, hosted the football Cardinals in the early 1960s. The ballpark was demolished in 1966 once the team moved to the newer, larger Busch Memorial Stadium across town.
Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh
While primarily a college venue for the University of Pittsburgh, Pitt Stadium also hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1958 to 1963, filling in while the team searched for a permanent professional home. The stadium was demolished in 1999, decades after the Steelers had already moved on to Three Rivers Stadium.
Soldier Field’s Original Bowl, Chicago
Although the current Soldier Field still bears the same name and sits on the same lakefront site, the historic 1924 bowl that once stood there was effectively demolished during a controversial 2002-to-2003 renovation that gutted the original structure and inserted a modern glass-and-steel stadium inside its remaining colonnades. The change was so dramatic that Soldier Field lost its National Historic Landmark status in 2006.
Aloha Stadium, Halawa
Home to the NFL’s Pro Bowl for over three decades, Aloha Stadium in Hawaii hosted professional football’s all-star exhibition long after most other multipurpose stadiums of its era had already closed. Decades of exposure to the island’s humid, corrosive coastal air ultimately left the stadium structurally unsound, closing it to major events years before its eventual demolition.
Concrete Ghosts
Every one of these stadiums was, for a while, the loudest place in its city on a Sunday afternoon. Fans who grew up in the upper decks of the Kingdome or the bleachers of the Vet can point to an empty lot or a shopping complex today and still describe exactly where their seats used to be.
Stadiums are built to look permanent, poured in concrete and steel that seems built to outlast the teams that play in them. Almost none of them do.
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