State Farm Stadium

The field normally resides outdoors, on the south side of the facility where conditions for maintaining its natural grass playing surface are optimal. Inside the stadium, a clean, flat, well-positioned floor is exposed, ready for trade shows, concerts, and other events. On game days, the grass field is driven approximately 500 feet into the stadium in approximately on hour, and it’s ready for action. The 234-foot wide by 403-foot long field is 40 inches tall, weights 19 million pounds, and supports 2.2 acres of grass. The field has 542 wheel assemblies that roll along 13 steel rails embedded in the concrete floor. Seventy six of the wheels are driven by 1-horsepower electric motors, and the 42 wheels on the center rail are equipped with guide rollers to maintain the retractable field’s position during movement.

The State Farm Stadium retractable roof was the first in North America to operate on an incline, providing a 100,000-square-foot opening in the dome-shape facility. Two retractable roof panels move along an arched travel path, which is 14 degrees in the open position above the end zones and becomes nearly flat as the panels meet above the 50-yard line in the closed position. Cable drives are mounted to the roof panels and spool cable that is anchored near the 50-yard line of the fixed building structure to move the retractable roof panels 182 feet between the open and closed positions in approximately 11 minutes