A History of Stadiums and Arenas: 2,000 Years of Putting On a Show

Where does the history of stadiums and arenas begin?

The Flavian Amphitheatre, better known as the Colosseum, was begun in Rome around 72 CE under the emperor Vespasian and opened in 80 CE under his son Titus, with a programme of games said to have lasted one hundred days.

It held roughly 50,000 people, about 45,000 seated and 5,000 standing, and the Romans had already worked out several things modern venue managers would recognise:

• Numbered entrances. There were around eighty entrances. Seventy-six were numbered for the public, with tickets that matched, so a huge crowd could find its way in quickly.
• Seating by ticket class. The best marble seats went to the wealthy, with zones rising through the social order to wooden seats and standing room at the top.
• A retractable roof, of sorts. A vast canvas awning called the velarium could be stretched over the seats for shade or rain, worked by teams of sailors.
• Backstage machinery. Beneath the arena floor was a maze of rooms, corridors, animal pens and lifts that could deliver performers, scenery or wild animals into the arena as if by magic.

Strip away the gladiators, and the Colosseum is recognisably a stadium: an oval bowl, tiered seating, crowd circulation and a big show in the middle.

Is any Roman arena still used for shows today?

Yes, and spectacularly so. The Arena in Verona, in northern Italy, was built in the first century CE, in the same great age of Roman amphitheatre building as the Colosseum. It could hold about 30,000 spectators, more people than lived in Verona at the time.

Earthquakes in 1117 and 1183 brought down most of its outer ring, leaving just a fragment known as the ala, or wing. But the inner bowl survived, and in August 1913 it was given a new life: a performance of Verdi's Aida, staged to mark the centenary of the composer's birth.

That show started a tradition. Apart from the two world wars, the Arena di Verona has staged a summer opera festival ever since. It may be the world's longest-running proof that a good venue never really goes out of fashion.

When did racecourses become venues?

Long before football grounds, horse racing was drawing big crowds in Britain. Chester's Roodee, beside the River Dee, held its first recorded race in 1539, and Guinness World Records lists it as the oldest horse racecourse still in operation. According to the record, racing there began after the city's rough local football matches were judged too violent, which gives the place a lovely double claim to sporting history.

Racecourses pioneered much of what we now take for granted at big outdoor events: grandstands, members' enclosures, betting halls and a calendar of fixtures planned around the seasons.

Where did music halls come from?

Indoors, a different kind of venue was growing up in the pubs of Victorian Britain. Taverns had long hosted sing-songs, and in 1852 a publican named Charles Morton opened the Canterbury Hall in Lambeth, London, generally seen as the first purpose-built music hall. About 700 people sat at tables, eating and drinking while they watched; entry came with a sixpenny refreshment ticket. It did so well that Morton built a bigger 1,500-capacity hall just four years later.

The format exploded. By 1875 Greater London had some 375 music halls. Audiences talked, sang along and sometimes threw things, and in rougher industrial towns some orchestra pits had steel grilles to protect the musicians.

Most of those halls are gone, but Wilton's Music Hall in east London, opened in 1859, survives and describes itself as the oldest surviving grand music hall in the world. By the early 20th century, purpose-built variety theatres with fixed seats and separate bars had replaced the tables, and the audience was asked, politely, to sit and watch.

When was the first floodlit football match?

On 14 October 1878, Bramall Lane in Sheffield staged the first football match ever played under electric light. Four lamps on wooden towers, powered by generators and advertised as equal to 8,000 candles, lit up a game between two local sides. Almost 20,000 people came, many more interested in the lights than the 0–0 draw.

It took decades for floodlights to become standard, but the idea changed everything. Evening events meant people could come after work, and venues could fit more into a week.

What did the first Wembley teach us about crowds?

The original Wembley, built as the Empire Stadium, opened in 1923 and was immediately overwhelmed. Its first FA Cup final, between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United, had an official attendance of 126,047, but it is estimated that more than 200,000 people got in. Spectators spilled onto the pitch, and mounted police, including a famous white horse called Billy, slowly eased the crowd back to the touchlines.

Nobody died, but it was a warning that would echo through the century: a venue is only as safe as its ticketing, its entrances and its plan for when more people turn up than expected.

Who built the first domed stadium?

In 1965, Houston opened the Astrodome, the world's first domed stadium, promptly nicknamed the "Eighth Wonder of the World". Its roof was studded with clear panels so that real grass could grow inside. Unfortunately, the glare made it almost impossible for baseball players to track the ball, so the panels were painted over, and the grass died. The solution, installed in 1966, was a new synthetic surface that came to be known as AstroTurf.

Toronto took the next step in 1989 with SkyDome (now Rogers Centre), the first major stadium with a fully retractable motorised roof. Three of its four huge steel panels slide on rails, and the whole roof, weighing more than 11,000 tons, can open in about 20 minutes.

What does a modern multi-use venue look like?

Today's big venues are built to be several venues at once. Germany's Veltins-Arena, opened in 2001, rolls its entire pitch outside the building. Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, opened in 2019, hides its grass under a stand so NFL games and concerts can use the floor. And in Las Vegas, Sphere, opened in 2023, seats about 17,600 people inside a ball wrapped in a programmable LED skin of around 580,000 square feet.

The tools have changed beyond recognition, but the Roman checklist still applies: get people in, give them a great view, keep the weather off and fill the calendar.

Big Night Tycoon, a venue management game, includes its own Roman amphitheatre, so you can try running a two-thousand-year-old venue for yourself.

Frequently asked questions

What is the oldest venue still used for shows?

Several Roman theatres and amphitheatres still host performances. Verona's Arena, from the first century CE, is among the most famous, with an opera festival running since 1913.

How many people did the Colosseum hold?

Estimates vary, but a common figure is around 50,000, with about 45,000 seated and 5,000 standing.

What was the first stadium with a retractable roof?

Toronto's SkyDome, opened in 1989, is generally credited as the first major stadium with a fully retractable motorised roof.