Go big or go home
By Mo Hussain, Sports Reporter
The larger the sports venue, the bigger the roar.
Professional sports is one of the best live spectacles in our world today. The hype, adrenaline, and excitement that is part of attending a live sporting matchup can hardly be replicated by anything else in the world. The experience is accelerated even further the more people there are in a sport venue. The larger the sports venue, the bigger the roar. Here are some sporting venues with the largest capacities in the world:
Indianapolis Motor Speedway: 257,325
Motor racing venues make up a majority of the largest venues in the world, but this venue in Indianapolis, Indiana tops the list. To put this into perspective, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway can fit in the entire city of Burnaby, BC plus an extra 20,000 people. This venue hosts a variety of racing events such as the Indianapolis 500, Brickyard 400, and the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. The stadium is currently being used as a venue for individuals receiving their coronavirus vaccine shots.
Michigan Stadium: 107,601
The city of Michigan is home to the largest American football stadium in the world. This venue can nearly fit the entire city of Delta, BC to watch one of its football games. What is interesting to point out is this stadium is primarily used for attending collegiate level sports rather than professional teams. Fans usually fill this stadium up to attend the University of Michigan Wolverines’ football matchups.
Melbourne Cricket Ground: 100,024
All the way across the other side of the world is one of the largest cricket stadiums on the planet. Although cricket is a massive sport in Australia, the stadium is not limited to just that. It has also hosted World Cup qualifying matchups, rugby games, and it is also home to the National Sports Museum, “Australia’s only dedicated multi-sports museum.”
Camp Nou: 99, 354
Located in Barcelona, Spain this stadium is a big deal for soccer fans. In addition to being one of the largest soccer stadiums in the world, Camp Nou is also home to FC Barcelona, one of the most recognized soccer teams in the world. Dozens of memorable matchups have taken place in this stadium, including matchups between FC Barcelona and their long-time rivals Real Madrid.
Although the coronavirus pandemic has almost halted every single venue around the world, let alone these ones, to operate at full capacity. It will be interesting to see when people from around the world will be able to gather and fully attend sporting events of this kind of magnitude.
