Red Bull Arena is the benchmark in North American soccer landscape and sets the standard for other soccer venues across the continent. The state-of-the-art soccer-specific facility, located in Harrison, New Jersey, is the new home of the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer (MLS).
Red Bull Arena has a number of unique elements that makes it the premiere North American soccer venue. Key to the design is the way the arena is structured to create atmosphere, as fans in the front row will be just 21 feet from the touchlines. In addition, the main concourse is 26-feet high, eliminating the majority of field-level entryways. This gives Red Bull Arena's seating bowl a very compact, close-to-the-action feeling.
Also key to the design is its dynamic form roof—a curving structure that wraps the entire arena in an elegant tension-fabric shell. The unique stadium roof design, which creates a distinguished identity and unique atmosphere for Red Bulls fans, extends from its leading edge over the entire seating bowl and then curves down to the concourse, creating the dominate architectural statement of power and elegance. The roof extends 120 feet from the last seat to just over the field's touchlines, with the front 60 feet of the roof being translucent, letting in natural light.
Red Bull Arena also has unique media seating. Members of the media are up close to capture the atmosphere and action as they are seated in the lower bowl, directly behind the player benches. Accommodating 100 media members, the seating is at midfield with access to the main media workroom, located adjacent to media seating and near team locker rooms. An additional media area is located on the 5th level, which includes television broadcast booths and radio booths.
The overall seating capacity for soccer matches at Red Bull Arena is 25,000, including 30 Skyboxes (20 lower level and 10 upper level) and 1,000 club seats. Other amenities include arena clubs and retail outlets. The skybox and club seating areas are located on the west side of the field and each location has access to their own private club areas.
Status: Built
Location: Harrison, NJ, US
My Role: Owner's Representative Construction Project Manager
Additional Credits: Rossetti Architects, Hunter Roberts Construction Group, The Louis Berger Group Inc,