Lumen Field
Lumen Field is a multi-purpose stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. Located in the city's SoDo neighborhood, it is the home field for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL), Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer (MLS), and Seattle Reign FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Originally called Seahawks Stadium, it was renamed Qwest Field in June 2004 when telecommunications carrier Qwest acquired the naming rights. The stadium became known as CenturyLink Field following Qwest's June 2011 acquisition by CenturyLink and was nicknamed "The Clink" as a result;[4] it received its current name in November 2020 with CenturyLink's rebrand to Lumen Technologies.[5] It is a modern facility with views of the Downtown Seattle skyline and a seating capacity of 68,740 spectators for NFL games and 37,722 for most MLS matches. The complex also includes the Event Center which is home to the Washington Music Theater (WaMu Theater), a parking garage, and a public plaza. The venue hosts concerts, trade shows, and consumer shows along with sporting events. Located within a mile (1.6 km) of Downtown Seattle, the stadium is accessible by multiple freeways and forms of mass transit.
"Seattle Stadium" redirects here. For other stadiums in Seattle, see Category:Sports venues in Seattle.Former names
Seahawks Stadium (2002–2004)
Qwest Field (2004–2011)
CenturyLink Field (2011–2020)
800 Occidental Avenue South
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
- 2,000 spaces (parking garage)
- 8,400 spaces (in surrounding lots)
Washington State Public Stadium Authority
111
Concert: 77,286 (Ed Sheeran, August 26, 2023)
Soccer: 69,274 (Seattle Sounders FC vs. Toronto FC, November 10, 2019)
American football:
120 yd × 53.3 yd
(109.7 m × 48.8 m)
Soccer:
116 yd × 75 yd
(106.07 m × 68.58 m)
84 ft × 24 ft (26 m × 7.3 m)
44 ft × 50 ft (13 m × 15 m)
September 28, 1998 (complex)
July 28, 2002
$430 million (entire complex)
($728 million in 2023 dollars[1])
Ellerbe Becket[2]
LMN Architects[2]
Streeter & Associates[3]
McKinstry/Cochran[2]
The stadium was built between 2000 and 2002 on the site of the Kingdome after voters approved funding for the construction in a statewide election held in June 1997. This vote created the Washington State Public Stadium Authority to oversee public ownership of the venue. The owner of the Seahawks, Paul Allen, formed First & Goal Inc. to develop and operate the new facilities. Allen was closely involved in the design process and emphasized the importance of an open-air venue with an intimate atmosphere.
Seahawks fans at Lumen Field have twice claimed the Guinness World Record for loudest crowd roar at an outdoor stadium, first at 136.6 decibels in 2013, followed by a measurement of 137.6 decibels in 2014. The crowd's notorious noise has also contributed to the team's home field advantage with an increase in false start (movement by an offensive player prior to the play) and delay of game (failure of the offense to snap the ball prior to the play clock expiring) penalties against visiting teams.[6] The stadium was the first in the NFL to install a FieldTurf artificial surface. Numerous college and high school football games have also been played at the stadium, including the 2011 Apple Cup and all Washington Huskies home games during the renovation of Husky Stadium in 2012. The XFL's Seattle Dragons began playing at Lumen Field in 2020 and returned in 2023 as the Sea Dragons.
Lumen Field is also designed for soccer. The first sporting event held included a United Soccer Leagues (USL) Seattle Sounders match. The USL team began using the stadium regularly for home games in 2003. The MLS expansion team, Seattle Sounders FC, began its inaugural season in 2009 at the stadium. Lumen Field was the site of the MLS Cup in 2009 and 2019; the latter set a new attendance record for the stadium with 69,274 spectators. The venue also hosted the 2010 and 2011 tournament finals for the U.S. Open Cup as well as the second leg of the 2022 tournament final for the CONCACAF Champions League; the Sounders won all three finals, with new tournament attendance records set for each final (or leg) hosted at Lumen Field. The stadium hosted several CONCACAF Gold Cup matches across multiple editions, and the Copa América Centenario in 2016. It will also host matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which was awarded to the United States, Canada, and Mexico.[7]
Funding[edit]
The Seahawks played their home games at the Kingdome from their 1976 inaugural season until 1999, sharing the stadium with Major League Baseball's Seattle Mariners and the National Basketball Association's Seattle SuperSonics.[8] In 1995 a proposal was made to issue county bonds to fund a remodeling project of the facility. The proposal failed, and as a result, Seahawks' owner Ken Behring threatened to sell or move the team (likely to Los Angeles). In 1997 local billionaire Paul Allen pledged to acquire the team if a new stadium could be built and said that the team could not be profitable until they left the Kingdome. He asked the state legislature to hold a special statewide referendum on a proposal to finance a new stadium. Allen also agreed to cover any cost overruns.[9][10] With Allen agreeing to pay the $4 million cost, the legislature agreed. The vote was scheduled to be held in June 1997 but in May a Seattle resident filed a lawsuit that claimed the legislature did not have authority to call for such a vote, since it would be paid for by a private party who could gain from the result. The case was delayed until after the vote.[11] The proposal was pitched to voters as providing both a new home for the Seahawks and a venue for top-level soccer. It passed on June 17, 1997,[12] with 820,364 (51.1%) in favor and 783,584 against.[11][13] The vote was close in Seattle, but it received 60% approval in Seattle's northern and eastern suburbs. The public funding was unpopular farther away in the eastern portion of the state.[14] In October, a Thurston County Superior Court judge ruled that the legislature acted properly and in the public's interest, and he dismissed the pending lawsuit. The Washington Supreme Court upheld the decision that December.[11][15]
Voter approval of the referendum created a public–private partnership.[12] The Washington State Public Stadium Authority was created to oversee public ownership of the stadium, exhibition center, and parking garage complex. Allen purchased the Seahawks and formed First & Goal Inc. to build and operate the facility. The budget for the project was $430 million. Of this cost, $44 million was allotted to build the Event Center, $26 million for the parking garage, and $360 million for the stadium. First & Goal was to cover cost overruns and pay up to $130 million of the project while the contribution from the public was capped at $300 million.[16] The public funding package included new sports-related state lottery games, taxes on the facility's admissions and parking, sales tax credits and deferrals, and an eight-year extension of the 2% tax on hotel rooms in King County.[17] The taxes on admissions and parking were set below the authorized 10% to preserve the tax-exempt status of the project's bonds, which were first issued on May 1, 1999; the percentage was increased to the full amount when the bonds were completely paid on January 1, 2021, with the taxes subsequently serving as dedicated funding sources for maintenance and modernization of the facilities.[16][18] Furthermore, a clause in the referendum requires Allen or his estate to give the Public Stadium Authority 10% of the proceeds from the sale of a majority or all of their interest in the Seahawks if they do so before or on the 25th anniversary of the first bond sale. The proceeds would have been reserved for the state's public schools had a sale of the team occurred before the bonds were fully paid off; any sale in between the bond retirement and the clause expiration would see the proceeds go towards improvements to the stadium instead.[18]
In September 1998, First & Goal signed a 30-year stadium lease that includes options to extend for another 20.[19] Per the agreement, the Public Stadium Authority receives $850,000 a year from First and Goal (adjusted for inflation), and First & Goal keeps all revenue from the stadium and parking garage. The company receives 80% of the revenue from the exhibition center while the other 20 percent is allotted to a state education fund. First & Goal is responsible for all operating and maintenance costs, expected to be $6 million a year, and must keep the facility in "first-class" condition. Other details of the lease include the availability of affordable seats, a coordinated effort with neighboring T-Mobile Park (the Mariners' current ballpark) to prevent gridlock, a provision for naming rights, the investment in public art at the stadium, and the giveaway of a luxury suite to a fan each Seahawks' game.[19]
Seismic experiments[edit]
During a Seahawks football game on January 8, 2011, the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN) recorded what was dubbed a "Beast Quake", for Marshawn "Beast Mode" Lynch, a player whose performance on one running play excited the Qwest Field stadium crowd enough for the resultant shaking to be recorded on PNSN instruments.[228][229] In 2014 and 2015 additional sensors were added in and around the stadium. Motivations for the experiment included conducting a quick-reaction exercise for the seismometer network team to install sensors and interpret results, and to test the ability to handle increased web traffic from interested visitors from the general public.[230][231][232][233] Shaking was detected at the stadium after a 90-yard touchdown run during a January 10, 2015 playoff game, dubbed a "Kam Quake" for the player making the run, Kam Chancellor.[234][235] The PNSN scientists stated that the biggest event of all was the "Dance Quake", which was caused by all the jumping and dancing that followed Marshawn Lynch's touchdown and 2-point conversion during 2014–15 NFC Championship Game on January 18, 2015.[236][237]
PNSN has also recorded seismic activity from Sounders fans; multiple earthquakes were recorded on November 10, 2019, during the MLS Cup final between the Sounders and Toronto FC.[238] Further "RaveQuakes" were recorded on May 4, 2022, during the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League Final between the Sounders and Pumas UNAM.[239] During two Taylor Swift concerts for The Eras Tour in July 2023, PSNS recorded a maximum ground acceleration of 0.011 meters per second (2.2 ft/min) with peaks similar to a magnitude 2.3 earthquake. The readings were attributed to fan noise and dancing as well as the sound system used for the concerts.[240]
