Top Wonders of the Sporting World
Traditionally, the 7 Wonders of the World is a list of spectacular natural wonders and human-built structures. There was no sporting versions of these until we created some. Below is a list of over 30 Wonders of the Sporting World. As with the traditional ancient wonders list, these sporting wonders are buildings, stadiums or other sporting structures and venues.
The sporting wonders are listed below in alphabetical order. Or are there some of these that do not deserve to be on the list? Please send a comment using the form below. Check out our selected Seven Sporting Wonders of the World (Venues) including a few other lists. For top sporting events, see our 7 Wonders of the Sporting World (Events).
| Wonder | location | notes |
|---|---|---|
| Al Khalifa Sports Complex | Doha, Qatar | |
| All England Tennis Club | Wimbledon, England | home of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships |
| Allianz Arena | Munich, Germany | Completed April, 2005, used for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. |
| Augusta National Golf Club | Augusta, Georgia, USA | home of the Masters golf major |
| Bernabeu Stadium | Madrid, Spain | |
| Bird's Nest (National Stadium) | Beijing, China | The main stadium for the Beijing Olympic Games |
| Cardinals Stadium | Glendale, Arizona, USA | Completed in 2006, the stadium includes a removable grass field and a retractable roof. |
| Churchill Downs | Louisville, Kentucky, USA | home of the Kentucky Derby |
| Colosseum | Rome, Italy | The Colosseum is possibly the oldest standing sporting venue in the world, once hosted 'sports' where Gladiators would fight animals and each other to the pleasure of spectators. |
| Fenway Park | Boston, Massachusetts, USA | home to the Boston Red Sox |
| Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Indianapolis, USA | Home to the Indianapolis 500. Opened in 1909 as the largest sporting venue in the world, and is still close to that now, |
| Lambeau Field | Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA | Green Bay Packers home ground. Lambeau Field has been around since 1957 (renovated in 2003) |
| Madison Square Garden (MSG) | New York City, New York, USA | home of the NBA's New York Knicks and the NHL's New York Rangers |
| Maracana stadium | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | |
| Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | home to the AFL grand final and the cricket Boxing Day Test Match |
| Michigan Stadium | Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA | also known as The Big House, Is the fourth largest stadium in the world. |
| Monaco F1 circuit | Monaco | |
| National Swimming Center | Beijing, China | constructed for the swimming events at 2008 Olympic Games and nicknamed the "Water Cube" |
| Notre Dame Stadium | South Bend, Indiana | the home to Notre Dame |
| Nou Camp stadium | Barcelona, Spain | |
| Palazzo a vela | Turin, Italy | Redesigned for the Winter Olympics in Turin |
| Panathinaiko Stadium | Athens, Greece | built about 566 BC |
| Pebble Beach Golf Course | California, USA | |
| Port Hawkesbury Arena | Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada | Ice hockey arena |
| Rogers Centre | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | |
| Rose Bowl | Pasadena, California, USA | home of the Rose Bowl |
| St Andrews Old Course | St Andrews, Fife, Scotland | the Home of Golf, the oldest golf course in the world |
| San Siro stadium | Milan, Italy | |
| Ski Dubai | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | A cavernous 32,290-square-foot indoor ski resort which has five downhill ski runs varying in difficulty (the longest is 1,312 feet with a 196.85 foot fall), a cross-country trail, a 295.2-foot quarter-pipe for snowboarders, and a chairlift. |
| Wembley Stadium (new) | Wembley Park, London, UK | new stadium completed in 1997, costing 798 million pounds. Host of the FA Cup. |
| Werner March Stadium (Berlin Olympic Stadium) | Berlin, Germany | the 1936 Olympic Games held here |
| Wrigley Field | Chicago, Illinois, USA | home to the Chicago Cubs |
| Yankee Stadium (old) | New York City, New York, USA | home to New York Yankees, the old stadium was pulled down in 2008. |
Related Pages
- More about sporting wonders of the world
- More world sports lists
- More sporting stadiums
- More 7 Wonders Lists
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
Old Comments
Commenting is closed on this page, though you can read some previous comments below which may answer some of your questions.
- The Rose Bowl isn't even the most iconic stadium in Los Angeles. There are a few problems with the Rose Bowl. Although the Rose Bowl game itself is iconic in American culture, it has become less so with each year since the introduction of the Bowl Championship Series in NCAA College Football. Basically, the importance of the game that the entire stadium's laurels rest on is no longer "a big deal" quite like it was before. The past games are still legendary, but the modern ones are completely overshadowed by the BCS Championship Game now. And it's status as the home field for UCLA is actually somewhat of a blight on the stadium. UCLA has only played there since 1982, which means that it does not carry a historical tie to its stadium the way elite college football programs in the country do. In addition, UCLA is not even considered an elite college football program. The stadium did however host the FIFA Men's final in 1994 and Women's Final in 1999, one of only two stadiums in the world to hold this honor. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on the other hand has a much greater history. its list of notable events stretches much farther. First off, no other stadium on Earth has hosted the Olympics twice, in 1932 and 1984. It was the site of the first Super Bowl, which is basically as big as Christmas in America. Even though it's a football/track stadium by design, it even hosted the baseball World Series in 1959 (record capacity as a result). This variety of top-level sporting events is unmatched in America. Since it was constructed, it has been the home field of USC, one of the nation's most storied and elite college football programs. It has been the home stadium for about a dozen college or professional teams in American football, soccer, and baseball including some of the most famous teams in American sports (USC, UCLA, Dodgers, Raiders, Rams). And it's of course played host to a variety of other memorable events like mass by Pope John Paul II in 1987, John F. Kennedy's Democratic nomination acceptance speech in 1960, the X Games, concerts by the biggest bands, etc. Since the Coliseum is near downtown Los Angeles, as opposed to the Rose Bowl which is located in the suburbs of Pasadena, it is also more important culturally as it is a focal point for other city events. So while the Rose Bowl retains an allure due to its association with the Rose Bowl Game, in reality the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is actually the historically more important stadium. In fact, it can be argued that only a very few stadiums in America are important as the Coliseum. (from Jeff, Aug 2011)
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