Ford Field

Opened in 2002

About Ford Field

Ford Field is an NFL stadium in Detroit, Michigan. It opened in 2002. It was designed by Rossetti Architects. It seats 65,000. Its current tenant is Detroit Lions (NFL), since 2002. By capacity it ranks 25th of 30 current NFL venues, counting only venues with a known capacity. On our ranked lists it ranks 269th oldest of 354 stadiums and arenas still in use.

Appears in

Photo of Ford Field — Photo by Unknown author. License: CC BY 2.5. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Venue Information

Capacity

65,000

#25 in NFL of 30

Year Opened

2002

#17 oldest in NFL of 30

Address

2000 Brush Street, Detroit, Michigan 48226

Elevation

603 ft

184 m above sea level

#12 highest in NFL of 30

Architect

Rossetti Architects

Operator

Detroit Lions

Address derived from the venue's coordinates using data © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database Licence (ODbL).

Elevation of the venue's coordinates from USGS and NASA SRTM elevation data, via Open Topo Data.

Architect and operator credits from Wikidata.

Capacity by layout

Layout	Seats	Source
General	65,000
Basketball	78,000	Wikipedia
Football	65,000	Wikipedia

Seating capacity depends on how the building is laid out for each event. Figures are the best sourced claim per layout.

Teams

Home seasons at Ford Field by team, 2002–2026. Bars use each team's colors at the time; the table below lists every season.

Team	League	Years
Detroit Lions While based here: 25 seasons · 159-233-2 regular season · 5 postseason trips · 2026 in progress NFL · 2002–present Territory map on ImperialismMap Universal Stadium 1930–1933 University of Detroit Stadium 1934–1937 Tiger Stadium 1938–1974 Pontiac Silverdome 1975–2001 Ford Field 2002–present	NFL	2002–present

Records are each team's full-season results while it was based here, home and away games alike, from final scores. They are not records of games played at this venue.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the capacity of Ford Field?

The capacity of Ford Field is 65,000.

When was Ford Field built?

Ford Field opened in 2002.

Who designed Ford Field?

Ford Field was designed by Rossetti Architects.

Who operates Ford Field?

Ford Field is operated by Detroit Lions.

Who plays at Ford Field?

Ford Field is the home venue of Detroit Lions.

Where did the Detroit Lions play before Ford Field?

Before moving to Ford Field in 2002, the Detroit Lions played at Pontiac Silverdome from 1975 to 2001.

Sources

Where the facts on this page were read from. How VenueStats compiles them.

Open Topo Data (Public domain): Elevation.
OpenStreetMap Nominatim (ODbL): Address.
VenueStats compilation: Opening and closing years, name history and teams (compiled by VenueStats from Sports Reference and Wikipedia).
Wikidata (CC0): Coordinates (Wikidata places the building within 7 m of this point), Architect and operator.
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY): Photograph.
Wikipedia (CC BY-SA): Capacity, basketball layout, Capacity, football layout.

Location

Coordinates: 42.3400, -83.0456

View on Google Maps

Nearby Venues

Venue	Years	Distance
Comerica Park	2000–	0.2 mi
Little Caesars Arena	2017–	0.5 mi
Recreation Park	1881–1894	0.9 mi
Huntington Place	1960–	1.0 mi
Joe Louis Arena	1979–2019	1.1 mi
Bennett Park	1896–1911	1.3 mi

Straight-line distance between the venues' coordinates.

References

Teams on Wikipedia

Detroit Lions

Every source for the facts on this page is listed under Sources.