ALAMODOME

San Antonio, TX

Located in San Antonio, the Alamodome was built in hopes of the city luring a NFL team; though after four decades, it appears that a NFL franchise in San Antonio will never happen. In the mid to late 1980s leaders in San Antonio began looking at the possibility of building a facility that could house a number of events from football to basketball to trade shows. They chose a location near downtown and construction on a new dome stadium began in November 1990. It was named the Alamodome and was completed in three years, opening on May 15, 1993.

For football, the Alamodome has a seating capacity of 66,000. The main three deck grandstand encloses the field on all sides. For basketball, the upper decks were closed off giving it a more intimate feeling and a capacity of 20,000. The Alamodome has several amenities including 6,000 club seats and 38 suites. The Alamo Bowl has been played at the Alamodome since its opening in 1993. It usually matches the fourth choice teams from the Big Ten and Big Twelve Conferences against each other.  There have been few changes at the facility over the years, with the exception of Fieldturf replacing the Astroturf playing field.

The Alamodome has not lacked a professional sports team throughout its history. The NBA’s San Antonio Spurs played here for ten seasons before moving to the AT&T Center in 2003. In 2005 the New Orleans Saints played four home games here due to the damage at the Superdome from Hurricane Katrina. UTSA launched its football program in the late 2000s and played their first game in school history in 2011 at the Alamodome. Today the Alamodome remains the home of the Roadrunners football team and the annual Alamo Bowl game.