| Baltimore
Ravens - M & T Bank Stadium |
| Address: |
1101 Russell St.
Baltimore, MD 21230 |
|
| Name: |
M & T Bank Stadium |
| Home Team:
|
Baltimore Ravens |
| Capacity:
|
69,084 |
| Playing
Surface: |
Artificial Turf |
| Year Opened:
|
1997 |
|
Located in downtown Baltimore, M&T
Bank Stadium and Oriole Park at Camden Yards are premier stadiums
in Major League Baseball and in the National Football League.
After the Colts left Baltimore for Indianapolis after the 1984
season, local leaders in Baltimore began talking about building
a new football stadium to lure a team back to Baltimore. However,
that took more than a decade to happen. In the mid 1990’s,
owner of the Cleveland Browns, Art Modell wanted a new stadium
for his team to replace the colossal and deteriorating Cleveland
Municipal Stadium. After not being able to reach an agreement
to build a new stadium in Cleveland, Modell moved his team to
Baltimore after the 1995 season; where local officials promised
to build a new state of the art football facility. Officials
in Baltimore decided to build the new stadium next to Oriole
Park at Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles (MLB). While
the stadium was constructed, the Baltimore Ravens played at
Memorial Stadium for two years, which was home of the Baltimore
Colts prior to moving to Indianapolis. PSINet Inc., originally
purchased the naming rights to the stadium, thus getting the
name PSINet Stadium. However, after the 2001 season, the PSINet
name was dropped and the stadium was renamed Ravens Stadium.
In May 2003, M&T Bank purchased the naming rights for $5
million annually over 15 years.
The Ravens inaugural first game
at their stadium was on September 6, 1998. Over 69,000 purple
and silver seats are located throughout the stadium. M&T
Bank Stadium consists of three main tiers of seats. The lower
level of seats enclose the entire field. The club level of
seats circle the field except beyond the end zones, where
two massive video/scoreboards are located. The upper deck
extends around the entire field, but is broken into four sections,
allowing fan's views of the surrounding Baltimore area. The
exterior of the stadium is built in correspondence with its
neighbor Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The facade consist of
over one million bricks, several thousand pieces of bluff
colored architecture precast, and prominent archways. M&T
Bank Stadium includes over 100 luxury suites in two levels,
8,196 club seats, the Budweiser Backyard Bash, where fans
can mingle and watch the pre and post game shows on big screen
TVs, and a Ravens Team Store.
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