When it comes to the major leagues - whether it’s the NFL, NBA, NHL or MLB - every team and their fans take pride in the home stadium or ballpark. That’s why they pay top dollar to build the best space, with a recent example being the Buffalo Bills' new stadium costing over $1.4 billion.
But which are actually the most valuable sports venues when taking size and location into account?
As we’re the type to do some digging, we’ve decided to take a beat from California sports betting to rank major league sports venues based on stadium cost per square footage. To see where your team’s stadium in California ranks or find out the top five in the whole of the U.S., just keep on reading.
Three California Locations Make America’s Top 5
Taking the top spot with an estimated stadium cost of $1.829 billion is Madison Square Garden in New York. First opening in 1879 before moving to its current location in 1968, it’s become an iconic venue in the U.S. for sporting and other events and is the home of two major league teams – the NHL’s New York Rangers and NBA’s New York Knicks.
California’s first appearance in the ranking, SoFi Stadium, is only slightly behind in second costing $1.826 billion. Only opening up in Inglewood in 2020, it’s already held a number of major events, including Super Bowl LVI and Wrestlemania 39, and will also be a venue for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics.
Levi’s Stadium comes in third costing $1.565 billion and is another California venue in Santa Clara that also happens to be the home turf of the San Francisco 49ers. Like SoFi Stadium, Levi’s Stadium is relatively new, opening in 2014, but has already held Super Bowl 50 in 2016 and is down to host multiple matches for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
At $1.098 billion is Barclays Center, which is where New York’s other NBA team, the Brooklyn Nets, plays. Other than being their basketball court, it has also been the location of the NBA Draft since 2013, except for 2020 due to the pandemic.
Rounding out the top five is yet another California location, this time Chase Center in San Francisco ($990 million), which is where you can find the Golden State Warriors shooting hoops. The stadium first opened in 2019 but the Warriors didn’t get to play a full uninterrupted season until 2021-22, which is when they were allowed full capacity again and went on to become the champions.
Where Do Other Venues in California Rank?
While it’s certainly impressive that three stadiums of major league teams in California managed to make the top five in the whole of the U.S., there are more in the area. So, let’s take a look at these other California stadiums and where they rank in our research.
Not quite making it into the top five in 7th is the San Diego Padres’ very own Petco Park, with a stadium cost of $796.4 million. Even though it missed out on overall sporting venues across the different major leagues, when it comes to MLB ballparks specifically, it does actually come out on top.
Crypto.com Arena, formerly known as Staples Center, is further down the rankings at 19th, boasting a stadium cost of $579.5 million. The stadium is actually shared between three different major league teams - the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers along with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings. However, it’s not all sport-related and the space has hosted the Grammy Awards more than any other venue at 20 times.
Right behind in 20th is Dodger Stadium at a slightly lower $565.2 million and is a place synonymous with the professional baseball team. The stadium is also among one of the oldest current MLB stadiums opening back in 1962.
Over in Anaheim is the Angel Stadium, whose stadium cost of $537.9 million sees them into 22nd place.
Yet another ballpark in California, more specifically the SoMa district of San Francisco, is Oracle Park in 27th ($512.2 million) and familiar territory for the San Francisco Giants. Impressively, the stadium features a members-only bar called the Gotham Club behind the manual scoreboard complete with a bowling alley and pool tables.
The next sports venue on the list located in California is the SAP Center, a bit further down in 42nd as stadium cost totals just $365.4 million. Unofficially known as ‘The Shark Tank’, it gained this nickname due to being the place where the NHL’s San Jose Sharks play.
At just under $317.9 million, Honda Center takes the 50th spot in our rankings. This stadium is where you can find the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks, a team originally founded by the Walt Disney Company, who also briefly referred to the stadium as the Pond of Anaheim.
Just a bit lower in 55th is Golden 1 Center ($303.4 million), which is the basketball court used by the Sacramento Kings. Providing fans with a more intimate experience, it has one of the lowest capacities of all the NBA arenas at 17,583.
Ranking the lowest of all the Californian sporting venues is Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum at just under $219.2 million, which will be disappointing but not surprising news for any Athletics supporters. It was also the former home of the NFL’s Oakland Raiders starting in 1966-1981 and again from 1991-2019 before they moved to Las Vegas.
It’s clear that California certainly has made its presence known in the sporting world with some of the most valuable major league stadiums in the U.S. For more expert articles and research related to your favorite sports, check out the latest sports betting news from BetCalifornia.com, also your future home to California sportsbook promos.
Methodology
To create the ranking, firstly, we pulled the square footage of every NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL stadium/arena in America. With these figures, we then multiplied them by the average price-per-square-foot of the surrounding neighborhood to discover each stadium/area price at the median price per square foot.
These were acquired from Redfin.com and Ojohome.com.
