Movable Seating - Former Stadiums With Movable Seating

Former Stadiums With Movable Seating

• Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado, USA, added a large movable stand in a 1977 expansion project. A hydraulic process allowed the stadium to change from a football to a baseball configuration in about two hours. The longtime home of the NFL's Denver Broncos and minor league baseball's Denver Bears/Zephyrs, it became the original home of baseball's Colorado Rockies in 1993. The Rockies drew all-time MLB record crowds in their first two seasons before leaving Mile High for their new Coors Field in 1995. Mile High was torn down after its football-only replacement, currently known as Sports Authority Field at Mile High, was opened in 2001.

• Shea Stadium in New York was built to function as both a football and baseball stadium. The New York Mets called Shea Stadium home from 1964 until 2008. The New York Jets played there from 1964 until 1983. Field level seats were arranged in two crescent shaped sections that could be moved on below ground rails. In the football configuration these sections faced each other from opposite sides of the playing field. For baseball, the sections were rotated so that they would come close to meeting in the territory behind home plate. One section would be along the first base side foul line while the other was on the third base side. One consequence of the movable sections was that in the baseball configuration the seats were a larger distance from the foul lines than in most baseball-only parks. The seats also directly faced the foul line regardless of where they were located. Fans seated beyond first or third base would have to turn to face the infield. Another problem was that moving the seats damaged the grass playing surface. Late season Mets games often had sections of dead grass in the corners of the outfield from when the seats were moved for Jets games. After the Jets moved to Giants Stadium in New Jersey following the 1983 NFL season, the seats were left in the baseball configuration. Seats were later added along the baselines reducing the size of foul territory.