Right next to Oriole Park in Camden Yards, which hosts the Baltimore Orioles, M&T Bank Stadium is located in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, and is home to the Baltimore Ravens. Opened on September 6th, 1998 at a cost of $220 million, this stadium replaced the first home of the Ravens, Memorial Stadium, which was demolished shortly after the Ravens were created as an expansion franchise born from the ashes of the old Cleveland Browns.
It didn't take long for M&T Bank Stadium to host a Superbowl winning team. Two years after opening, the Ravens became the 2000 champs when they crushed the Giants by a score of 34-7. A couple of years later, Johnny Unitas passed away, which lead many to demand the stadium be named in honor of the legendary quarterback who won Super Bowl V with the Baltimore Colts, as well as three previous NFL championships before the Super Bowl was conceived. They sold the rights to M&T Bank and instead named the area in the front entrance Unitas Plaza.
In 2013, this facility earned a Gold designation in terms of being a LEED-certified, green building, becoming the first outdoor pro sports stadium to earn this lofty rating.
Baltimore Ravens Stadium
According to Greg Garber of EPSN, M&T Stadium provides the best home field advantage of any NFL team in the league. Cold weather conditions, along with the over-the-top fans who attend all Raven games, make this an extremely difficult place for opposing team to gut out a win. In fact, the Ravens have been one of the best home teams of the past five years, with a fantastic record of 33-7 since 2010 for an .825 winning percentage. The 2011 Ravens swept all home games in a perfect defense of their turf.
The NFLPA player survey of fields returned a mixed response from players, with some listing M&T Bank as a terrible surface to play on and other responding that the field is fine. IT ended up being listed as the eight best artificial turf and the 11th worst in the survey.
After trying to maintain a grass field through cold Baltimore winters, the owner replaced the natural turf with Shaw Sports Turf. This stadium is owned by the Maryland Stadium Authority, under operation of the Baltimore Ravens.
Stadium Vitals
Date Opened: September 6th, 1998
Construction Cost: $220 million
Architect: Populous
Capacity Attendance: 71,008
Playing Surface: Shaw Sports Turf Momentum 51
Previous Baltimore Ravens Stadiums
Memorial Stadium
Other Major Events
College Football
This stadium has hosted a few big games for the Maryland Terrapins, including their first Crab Bowl Classic match against the Navy team in four decades. Their annual grudge match against the West Virginia Mountaineers took place here in 2013 and a huge matchup against Big Ten rival Penn State will take place at M&T Bank Stadium in October 2015.
International Soccer
The first World Football Challenge took place between A.C. Milan and Chelsea F.C. on July 24, 2009, welcoming 71,203 fans. Another international match, this time between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, drew 42,723 fans on July 28th, 2012. The USMNT played against El Salvador during the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup and against Cuba for the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup.