Ford Field

Lore & Background

The naming rights were purchased by the Ford Motor Company for $40 million over 20 years; the Ford family holds a controlling interest in the company, and they have controlled ownership of the Lions franchise since 1964. In 1975, the Lions moved to the Pontiac Silverdome after playing at Tiger Stadium from 1938 to 1974, with a brief period at the University of Detroit Stadium in 1940 and 1941. By the mid-1990s, they began exploring the possibility of returning to the city of Detroit in order to build a new stadium. On August 20, 1996, the Lions announced their intention to build a new stadium in Downtown Detroit. On November 5, 1996, voters approved a referendum for public funding via a hotel and rental car tax. Groundbreaking for the stadium occurred on November 16, 1999, as part of a downtown revitalization plan for the city of Detroit, which included Comerica Park. The stadium's design incorporates a former Hudson's warehouse, which was constructed in the 1920s. The warehouse was converted to office space and currently has Campbell Ewald and Bodman as tenants. The presence of the warehouse allows for a seating arrangement that is unique among professional American football stadiums. The majority of suites are located in the warehouse along the stadium's southern sideline, as are the lounges that serve the premium club seats on that side of the field. The bulk of the grandstand seats are located along the northern sideline and both end-lines, with gaps in the stadium's upper half at the southwest and southeast corners. The upper deck on the stadium's northern sideline also contains one level of suites and a smaller section of club seating. A similar design was implemented at the renovated Soldier Field, albeit with the use of a new structure (as opposed to an existing building) to house four levels of suites. Unlike most prior domed stadiums, Ford Field allows a large amount of natural light to reach the field, thanks to immense skylights and large glass windows at the open corners. The windows along the ceiling are frosted to mimic the automotive factories that are prevalent in Metro Detroit. The south entrance provides the seating bowl and concourse with sunlight year-round and also offers fans a view of downtown Detroit. To prevent the stadium from becoming an overly imposing presence in the Detroit skyline, the playing field is below street level, simi

In Their Own Story

The sky above Ford Field was the color of a bruised apple, the late-October clouds pressing low over the downtown skyline. Inside, the roof was sealed tight, and the air hummed with the particular electricity of a Lions home game in the cold months. Sixty-five thousand voices layered into a single, low growl as the tunnel lights flickered on. A kid in a worn green jersey, maybe nine years old, pressed his face against the glass partition separating the concourse from the field level, watching the players emerge in their silver helmets and shoulder pads, the lion's mane crest catching the stadium lights. His father had brought him to every game since he could walk. The Silverdome was a memory now, a story told over chili at a bar on Woodward Avenue. This was the Den. The roof was closed, the city was dark beyond the glass, and the roar was coming. He could feel it in his chest before the first snap, that deep, resonant thrum of a whole city deciding, for three hours, that it mattered where the Lions stood. The ball was kicked. The Den exhaled. Then it roared.

Reader's Guide

Ford Field hosted Super Bowl XL on February 5, 2006, as the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Seattle Seahawks, 21–10 to win their fifth Super Bowl championship in front of 68,206 in attendance. It also marked the final game in the 13-year career for Steelers running back, and Detroit native, Jerome Bettis. The stadium was home to the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl sponsored by Detroit-based Little Caesars (previously known as the Motor City Bowl and jointly sponsored by the Big Three automakers headquartered in Detroit – Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors) from 2002 until 2013. It featured a top Mid-American Conference (MAC) team and a Big Ten Conference team. The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl was replaced by the Quick Lane Bowl (later known as the GameAbove Sports Bowl), running from 2014 to 2025. It has also hosted the annual MAC Football Championship Game since 2004. Ford Field has been the site of several neutral site regular season college football games, including Western Michigan vs. Illinois in 2008 and Michigan State vs. Florida Atlantic in 2010. Central Michigan was set to play Western Michigan at Ford Field on October 17, 2020, before the football season for the conference were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Penn State and Michigan State played a neutral field regular season game on November 24, 2023, a Black Friday game televised by NBC in primetime. Penn State won the game 42–0. Michigan State played another game at Ford Field against Maryland on November 29, 2025. On December 13, 2010, the Minnesota Vikings played a home game at Ford Field against the New York Giants after the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome's inflatable roof collapsed due to a rip in the roofing material caused by heavy snow accumulation. The roof failure forced the already postponed game to be moved elsewhere, and after deliberations, the NFL chose Ford Field. It was the first ever regular season Monday night game played at Ford Field, and one of the few instances where a team played an unofficial home game at another (rival) team's home field. The Lions hosted their first ever Monday Night Football game in Ford Field on October 10, 2011, against the Chicago Bears. A Buffalo Bills home game against the New York Jets was played at Ford Field on November 24, 2014, after a major lake effect snowstorm hit western New York, causing the game to be moved from Ralph Wilson Stadium. The

Did You Know?

• Ford Field is an indoor domed stadium with a fixed roof and skylights, not a retractable roof venue.