The 2012 Superbowl is played at the Lucas Oil Stadium. The stadium is a retractable roof stadium located in Indianapolis, Indiana which opened in the second half of 2008. The new stadium replacesd the RCA Dome which was the long time home of the Colts. This stadium was constructed in preparation for the Super Bowl XLVI to be held in 2012. Aside from the stadium, a new high-rise JW Marriot Indianapolis was constructed as part of the preparation for the Super Bowl.
The architectural firm behind the design of the new stadium is HKS, Inc. with Walter P. Moore as the structural engineer. Similar to other stadium, the Lucas Oil Stadium has a retractable roof and window wall which allows the Colts to play outdoors. The concept of kinetic architecture was utilized in the design of the stadium for it to be a multi-functional facility with the ease of conversion for an increased return of investment.
The rights to name the stadium was purchased by Lucas Oil for approximately $120 million for 20 years, thus it is fondly nicknamed as The Luke by some commentators. Despite the state-of-the-art facilities of the new home of the Indianapolis Colts, a retro look is inculcated in the design as a result of Indianapolis's liking of a field house appearance of sports venues which were popular a few decades ago. The construction of the stadium costs $720 million which was raised through a cooperative effort from the government of Indiana and the Colts.
The seating capacity of the new stadium for football games is 5,000 more than the old one. Now, 63,000 fans can watch from the sidelines during the game. In the event that Indiana will host the Super Bowl, this seating capacity can be increased to 70,000. For basketball games, the seating capacity of the facility can go beyond 70,000. Features of the new stadium includes two huge Daktronics HD scoreboards each measuring 97 feet wide and 53 feet tall and located in the northwest and southeast corners of the stadium.
The retractable roof of the Lucas Oil Stadium was designed by Uni-Systems. The roof divides lengthwise into two retractable panels, each sliding down the slope of the roof of the stadium when it is open. Each panel weighs 2.7 million pounds each. It takes nine minutes for the roofs to open, twelve minutes for it to close and is fully automated at that. What is unique about these retractable roofs is that it is the first ever roof that divides lengthwise. However, the entire stadium is not waterproof so the roofs remain close for most of the year.
A peculiar addition to the stadium's design is the large moveable window wall that allow additional light while closed and gives a more open environment when open. This is another first for that stadium since it is the largest movable glass wall in the world. The first NBC Sunday Night Football of the 2008 NFL Season was played in the Lucas Oil Stadium. Unfortunately, the home team wasn't able to grab the win.
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