Qwest Field

Address:800 Occidental Ave S
Seattle, Washington

Qwest Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks, has a definite place among the NFL's great venues, with its design, architecture, location, and fan amenities. The stadium is situated in a prominent downtown location, and is immediately adjacent to Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners. Qwest Field is an architectural jewel. It is a beautiful addition to downtown Seattle, and the view of the Seattle skyline from the seating bowl is magnificent. The downtown setting adds a freat deal to the stadium experience, which is totally different than attending an NFL game in a remote location away from the city. Qwest Field offers some of the best views of any stadium in the NFL.

The Seahawks introduced their new state of the art facility on September 15, 2002. The stadium was originally named Seahawks Stadium, and affectionately called "The Hawk," or "Hawks Nest," till its renaming as Qwest Field in 2004. The first playoff game in the history of Qwest Field was on January 8, 2005, when the St. Louis Rams beat the Seahawks, for the third time that season, 27-20. Qwest Field is also home to the men's and women's minor league Seattle Sounders soccer teams, and is slated to be the home of Seattle's future Major League Soccer team.

Qwest Field is configured in a horse shoe shape, with three tiers of 68,000 seats. The north end of the stadium is open, allowing superb views of the surrounding Seattle area. Qwest Field is the first of its kind to have luxury suites on the field, directly behind the north end zone, to provide an in-your-face experience. One of the most unique features of the stadium is the overhanging roof design and rainbow tri-chord trusses that rise 260 feet above the field. The roof covers 70 percent of the seats, keeping many fans dry during inclement weather. The exterior of the stadium consists of red brick, and brick-accented colored concrete, tan pre-cast concrete, and white painted steel for the roofing supports, thereby blending in with other surrounding facilities.

There are two main entrances to Qwest Field. The first is on the north side, which looks out onto the Pioneer Square District and the skyline. Here you'll find a wide and spacious public plaza, the ticket windows, and a wide grand staircase that takes you into the end zone concourse, under the massive vertical scoreboard, which bears cool circular art renderings on the outside fascia. The second entrance is located on the venue's west side. Here the street is closed to traffic, and vendors of all kinds line the route with their many food choices and souvenir stands. The entire scene is reminiscent of a big street party, similar to those outside Fenway Park. Connected to the stadium, on its southern side, is the Seahawks Exhibition Center. This convention hall is open to the public three hours before game time. Essentially, what you will find here is a large indoor tailgate party featuring live musical entertainment, exhibits to view, games and prizes, seating areas with big screen TVs, and concession stands. One can walk right into the stadium from the Center without having to go outside.

Qwest Field has earned a reputation as one of the loudest stadiums in the NFL. The Seahawksowner, Microsoft tycoon Paul Allen, had the architects design the structure of the stadium, especially the roof, to direct as much crowd noise as possible onto the field, thereby giving the fans the sense of being that much closer to the action. In addition, the north end zone seating, called the "Hawks Nest," was specifically designed for rowdy fans. The seating consists of metal bleachers, which are excellent at refracting sound, and fans often stomp to create even more. A large flagpole installed in the south end zone began a pregame tradition in which a local celebrity, often a former Seahawk, raises a large blue flag numbered "12" on the flagpole to the roars of the crowd. The "12" represents the fans role as the "12th man". The flag-raising is now a regular feature of network television coverage of Seahawks games. Another feature worth mentioning is the "offense" and "defense" stat boards which are found in each corner high above the seating bowl. These boards keep track of in-game team stats in real time. Being arguably the loudest stadium in the NFL, Qwest Field gained national attention during the November 27th, 2005, overtime game against the New York Giants, who committed 11 false start penalties, prompting the Giants to complain before their 2006 game that Qwest Field was artificially pumping in noise in order to distract visiting offenses from running plays. As a result, the NFL has had representatives monitoring the noise levels. Since 2005, the Seahawks have tracked the number of false start penalties in the league, and displayed the totals on the scoreboard, to motivate the fans to make noise when the opposing offense is attempting to run a play.

Qwest Field is open for public tours throughout the year. Experience Qwest Field by sitting in a luxury suite, suiting up in the visitor's locker room, and eventually setting foot right on the same next-generation FieldTurf playing surface.

Driving to the stadium from all points is simple enough. Just take I-5 and follow the signs. But life here is not that simple as, being right downtown, automobile parking is at a real premium, so one needs a strategy before venturing out to the stadium. To the south and west of Qwest Field are industrial areas, and parking ($10-$25) can be found there if you look hard enough. Go north, and you are in historic Pioneer Square, and parking in that neighborhood is a chore even on quiet days. The best bet is to take public transportation. Amtrak's Kings Station is right next door to Qwest Field, and various bus lines, and even a monorail, takes you through downtown.