A Small East Coast City Is Home To The NFL Stadium With The Largest Capacity

Here's a trivia night question. What is the smallest American town to host the Super Bowl? No doubt NFL buffs would be fighting over the pen to write down the answer, but the location may come as a surprise to non-sports fans. East Rutherford, a New Jersey borough with a population of around 10,000, played host to the 2014 event thanks to its 82,500-capacity MetLife Stadium. Home to the New York Giants and the New York Jets, the enormous venue is the largest in the league, edging out Lambeau Field of the Green Bay Packers by over 1,000 spectators. Not only has it welcomed America's largest sporting event, the eyes of the planet will be on East Rutherford in 2026 when the FIFA World Cup final comes to town. But how did this modest part of New Jersey become such a premier sporting mecca?

First formed in 1894, East Rutherford spent much of its early life as an unassuming blue-collar borough with only a few thousand residents. A different future emerged in the 1960s when plans were drawn up for a New Jersey stadium capable of attracting an NFL team from New York. The ambitious scheme worked, luring both the Giants and the Jets to Meadowlands after the original Giants Stadium was completed in 1976. Over the next few decades, further expansion would also provide home facilities for the New Jersey Nets (NBA), New Jersey Devils (NHL), and the starry New York Cosmos soccer team of Pelé and Franz Beckenbauer.

The venerable old Giants Stadium, which also hosted matches during the 1994 FIFA World Cup, was demolished in 2010. It didn't cause much inconvenience for the Jets and the Giants as the brand-new MetLife Stadium was ready to go, built right next door at a cost of $1.6 billion. That price tag made it the most expensive sports venue in the world, since knocked off the top spot by the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas ($1.9 billion) and the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California ($5.5 billion).

The stadium remains the centerpiece of the Meadowlands Sports Complex, which benefits from its convenient location. It is just a 30-minute drive from downtown Manhattan and sits within easy reach of New Jersey's hundreds of boroughs. Not only is the MetLife a world-class venue that has hosted the 2013 Super Bowl (the first outdoor cold-weather final), it has also welcomed the Copa América soccer final in 2016, the 2021 Army-Navy football game, and two WrestleMania events.

Aside from sports, the MetLife also doubles as a 50,000-capacity concert venue that has attracted artists, including local boy Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Bon Jovi, Guns N' Roses, and Taylor Swift. Gate receipts from these huge music events have made it one of the highest-grossing stadiums (excluding ticket sales from home games) in the world. Also nearby is the Meadowlands Racetrack, known as the "Big M," the site of thoroughbred horse racing and harness racing events.

East Rutherford may attract sports fans from all over the world, but that's not all it has to offer. Just across the expanse of parking lots and the highway is the equally epic American Dream, 3 million square feet of retail outlets, entertainment, dining options, and attractions. The vast project began in 1996 and finally opened its doors to eager families and shoppers in 2019. Its original name was Xanadu, referring to another huge mall in Madrid. Yet Xanadu was also Charles Foster Kane's hubristic monument to his own ego in "Citizen Kane," and critics latched onto the association as construction repeatedly stalled and cost around $5 billion to complete.

American Dream has overcome its troubled origins, and is now regarded as one of the best indoor attractions in the state. Beyond the obvious retail therapy, there is plenty to keep visitors busy without ever setting foot inside one of its myriad stores. Indeed, an unforgettable day out will be top of the agenda for many visitors, and its huge array of attractions is arguably the major draw. Family fun ranges from Angry Birds mini golf and the Sea Life Aquarium to larger amusements you absolutely need to visit, like Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park, DreamWorks Water Park, and Big Snow, America's only indoor ski resort with real snow. To top things off, you can board a gondola on the landmark Dream Wheel for spectacular views of the iconic Manhattan skyline.