Giants Stadium Giants Stadium was a multi - purpose stadium , located in East Rutherford , New Jersey , USA , in the Meadowlands Sports Complex . Maximum seating capacity was 80 , 242 . The building itself was 230 . 5 m ( 756 ft ) long , 180 . 5 m ( 592 ft ) wide and 44 m ( 144 ft ) high from service level to the top of the seating bowl and 54 m ( 178 ft ) high to the top of the south tower respectively . The volume of the stadium was 1 , 830 , 000 cubic meters ( 64 , 500 , 000 cubic feet ) . 13 , 500 tons of structural steel were used in the building process and 29 , 200 tons of concrete were poured . It was owned and operated by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority ( NJSEA ) . It primarily served as the home stadium for the New York Giants and New York Jets American football teams of the NFL , but was rented for concerts and many other special events . The stadium was located at State Route 120 and State Route 3 ( which is accessed from Midtown Manhattan via the Lincoln Tunnel ) . The New Jersey Turnpike was also close by . The stadium was closed once it was realized the Jets could not host the AFC Championship Game . ( The Jets ( # 5 seed ) could have hosted Baltimore ( # 6 seed ) , but Baltimore was eliminated by the Colts on January 16 , 2010 . ) It was demolished later that year . It was replaced by MetLife Stadium , located adjacent to the former site of Giants Stadium . History . Giants Stadium was the first major league sporting venue in New Jersey ( though the Brooklyn Dodgers had played seven home games at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City in 1956 & 1957 ) , and its success , along with that of the Giants in the 1980s was a major impetus behind increased pride and enthusiasm among New Jersey residents . First year in business . Giants Stadium opened on October 10 , 1976 , as 76 , 042 fans witnessed a loss by the Giants to the Dallas Cowboys . College football made its debut at Giants Stadium on October 23 , 1976 , with Rutgers University defeating Columbia 47 – 0 and extending their winning streak to 14 games . The New York Giants played their first home opener in the stadium on September 18 of the 1977 season ( a 20 – 17 win over the Washington Redskins ) . Other pro football teams that have used Giants Stadium . Other professional football teams that have called Giants Stadium home over the years include the New Jersey Generals of the USFL ; the New York / New Jersey Knights of the World League of American Football ; and the New York / New Jersey Hitmen of the XFL . The New York Sentinels played one game at the stadium in the United Football League inaugural season . In the second week of the 2005 season , the New Orleans Saints used the stadium for a " home " game against the Giants because of extensive damage to the Louisiana Superdome after Hurricane Katrina . One end zone was painted in Saints colors , Saints banners were hung on the walls around the sidelines , and the Saints wore their home jerseys . The game was rescheduled to a Monday night with a special start time of 7 : 30 PM EDT , preceding the other scheduled game on Monday Night Football . The Giants were normally not visitors at Giants Stadium unless they were playing the Jets ( and vice versa ) . College football games . The stadium hosted college football games , including the Garden State Bowl from 1978 – 1981 ; the Kickoff Classic from 1983 to 2002 ; the New York Urban League Classic since 1981 ; a number of Rutgers homes games ( including all their home games during the 1993 season ) ; several Notre Dame – Navy and Notre Dame – Army games ; and the Army – Navy Game on three occasions , most recently in 2002 . Syracuse also played two home games at Giants Stadium during the 1979 season , against West Virginia and Penn State , while the Carrier Dome was under construction . Columbia also played some home games at Giants Stadium in 1983 , due to construction at its home stadium . Temple , needing a home field due to a schedule conflict with Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia , used Giants Stadium as their home field versus Penn State in September 1996 . Princeton also played one home game at Giants Stadium ( against Yale ) during the construction of Princeton ' s new stadium in 1997 . Soccer at Giants Stadium . The New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League moved to Giants Stadium for the 1977 season and remained until the league folded in 1985 . Seven games of the 1994 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament were held at Giants Stadium ( including the Italy v Bulgaria semi - final ) , along with several games of the 1999 Women ' s World Cup . In 2003 , the SuperCoppa Italiana , an annual match pitting the winners of Serie A ( Italy ' s top division ) and the Coppa Italia ( Italian Cup ) , was held in Giants Stadium instead of in Italy because both clubs involved ( Juventus and AC Milan ) were touring the United States late in the summer , when the event is normally scheduled . In 2005 , the stadium played host to several matches in the CONCACAF Gold Cup , including the final , which saw the USA defeat Panama , 3 – 1 in a penalty shootout after the sides played to a scoreless draw . It again held the final 4 years later for the CONCACAF Gold Cup which saw Mexico defeat the USA 5 - 0 . It has seen many European soccer tours in recent years , hosting games involving such major soccer clubs as Manchester United , Rangers F . C . , Celtic F . C , Chelsea , Liverpool , F . C Barcelona , and many others . It also hosted England ' s 3 - 2 victory over Colombia on May 31 , 2005 . That match saw Peter Crouch and Robert Green make their England debut . The New York Red Bulls ( formerly the New York / New Jersey MetroStars ) of Major League Soccer played at the stadium for their first fourteen seasons . They moved to the soccer - specific Red Bull Arena in nearby Harrison , New Jersey in 2010 . Pope John Paul II at Giants Stadium . The second largest crowd to ever attend an event at Giants Stadium was 82 , 948 , as Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass during a rainstorm on October 5 , 1995 . The record was broken on September 24 , 2009 with an attendance of 84 , 472 at the U2 concert . Concerts . The stadium played host to Amnesty International ' s final A Conspiracy of Hope Benefit Concert on June 15 , 1986 . The show was a sold - out , all - day event , running from noon until 11 p . m . and broadcast on MTV . The show was headlined by U2 and Sting and also featured Bryan Adams , Peter Gabriel , Lou Reed , Joan Baez , The Neville Brothers and The Police . Additional artists that performed include John Eddie , with Max Weinberg , Third World , The Hooters , Peter , Paul and Mary , Steven van Zandt , with Bob Geldof , Stanley Jordan , Joan Armatrading , Jackson Browne , Rubén Blades , with Fela Kuti and Carlos Santana , Yoko Ono , Howard Jones , Miles Davis and Joni Mitchell . Spoken introductions were made by Billy Graham , Bill Bradley , Darryl Hannah , Robert DeNiro , Christopher Reeve , Michael J . Fox and Muhammed Ali . Pete Townshend was scheduled to perform , but cancelled at the last minute , when his father , Cliff Townshend , became gravely ill , which would have been his first US solo appearance . This also marked The Police ' s final full - live performance together , until their 2007 Reunion Tour , 21 years later . The stadium played host to The Tattoo the Earth Tour on July 20 , 2000 . The show featured performances by Slipknot , Slayer , Sevendust , Sepultura , Hed PE , Mudvayne , downset . , Hatebreed , Full Devil Jacket , Famous , Amen , U . P . O . , Nothingface , PPM , Cold , Relative Ash , Systematic , Six Feet Under , Candiria , Lamb of God , God Forbid , Darkest Hour , Unearth , All That Remains , Dropkick Murphys , Sick of It All , Tiger Army , Converge , The Unseen , Reach the Sky , Stretch Arm Strong , Kill Your Idols and Nashville Pussy , including the only appearance by Metallica during the tour and also featured 42 tattoo artists from Australia , Austria , France , Germany , Malaysia , Manitoba , Spain , Switzerland and the US . The stadium has also played host to music festivals , including The Monsters of Rock Festival , Ozzfest and The Bamboozle ( in the parking lot , annually , since 2003 ) . Many locals say it is the home turf of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band , due to the fact that they came from Freehold , New Jersey . Metallica and Guns N ' Roses brought the Guns N ' Roses / Metallica Stadium Tour to the stadium twice on July 18 , 1992 and July 29 , 1992 , with Faith No More as their opening act on both dates . Seating Capacity . The seating capacity over the years went as the following : < br > Demolition . Demolition work on Giants Stadium began at approximately 10 : 00 AM EST on February 4 , 2010 at the Gate B spirals , the closest point to the new stadium . The demolition work was expected to cost more than $ 10 million and took approximately four months to complete . As of May 10 , 2010 approximately 50 % of the Stadium has been demolished . On May 19 , 2010 at 8 : 30pm , demolition crews pulled down the press box , the highest part of the stadium . In the early afternoon of June 28 , 2010 , the last section of stadium grandstand came down , leaving just two later demolished upper level escalators standing . Much of the stadium ' s memorabilia was sold to a sports memorabilia company , such as the framed pictures from the suites , all of the building ' s signage and a good portion of the saved bowl seats . Other property was liquidated to other NJSEA facilities such as the IZOD Center and Monmouth Park Racetrack . Changes and co - tenants . To accommodate these varied events , Giants Stadium has sported various playing surfaces in its history . From its opening until the end of the 1999 NFL season , Giants Stadium sported an AstroTurf playing surface . This surface was covered by Bermuda grass sod for the World Cup in 1994 , identical to that at the Rose Bowl where the other semifinal and the finals were held ( so that both teams in the finals would have played on identical surfaces ) . The grass was removed after the World Cup , as it would have died in the New Jersey winter . The MetroStars installed a grass field with interchangeable trays each spring that was removed prior to football season , forcing the team to play the remainder of its season on the AstroTurf field used by the football teams . ( It should be noted that when the New York Cosmos called Giants Stadium home , they played on the stadium ' s artificial surface and never used a grass field . ) The AstroTurf was replaced in 2000 by a system of interchangeable grass trays similar to those put in place for soccer , but was kept in place under the trays to aid in draining the field when it got wet . Over the three seasons Giants Stadium used a grass surface , the conditions would worsen as the season went on and the field quality was typically rated just as low as the old , hard AstroTurf had been . Giants Stadium finally scrapped the grass in favor of FieldTurf for the 2003 season , and the surface remained in place until the stadium closed . When the New York Jets left Shea Stadium and moved to Giants Stadium in 1984 , many predicted the stadium would be renamed . Understandably , the Jets organization preferred not to reside in a facility named after another team . However , under the terms of the stadium lease , changing the name of the stadium required the approval of the Giants and they were unwilling to do so . As such , for years afterward the Jets referred to Giants Stadium as " The Meadowlands " whenever they played there . Eventually the Jets began referring to the stadium by its name . Thanks largely to the dual occupancy of Giants Stadium by two NFL teams since 1984 , it surpassed Wrigley Field ( home of the Chicago Bears for fifty seasons ) as the venue to have hosted more NFL games than any other in league history . The game played between the Jets and Miami Dolphins on September 14 , 2003 was the 366th regular season NFL game at Giants Stadium breaking Wrigley ' s regular season record . Since the stadium was originally built for the Giants , the stadium ' s lower walls were blue and the seats and the stadium ' s four gates were red and blue to reflect that . When the Jets moved in , green banners were hung over the walls and eventually over the outer gates of the stadium anytime the team hosted a game . In mid - December , traditionally the stadium hosted a Saturday - Sunday NFL doubleheader , with the Giants playing a home game one day and the Jets playing the other . The night between the games was a challenge for the stadium grounds crew , as they only had hours to convert the stadium from one team ' s colors to the other . As per the NFL schedule , the Giants and the Jets play each other once every four years . In that case , there was a predetermined home team , and a predetermined away team . In those games , the away team gets a rare away game in their own home stadium . The Giants and Jets typically play each other every year in the third week of the NFL Preseason , and the teams annually rotated the home and away teams . The Jimmy Hoffa urban legend . For some years , a popular urban legend purported that the remains of Jimmy Hoffa , whose disappearance coincided with construction of the stadium , had been buried under one of the end zones at the field . This led " Sports Illustrated " to suggest that this " takes on special meaning when a punter goes for the ' coffin corner . ' " In a similar vein , sportscaster Marv Albert once said that a team was " kicking towards the Hoffa end of the field . " This was tested by the Discovery Channel show " Mythbusters " , and they were unable to find any sign of a body .