Fargodome


Fargodome is an indoor athletic stadium located in Fargo, North Dakota, on the campus of North Dakota State University. Opened in late 1992, the facility is owned by the City of Fargo, built on university land. The arena's seating capacity is 18,700 for football and over 25,000 for full arena concerts.
It is the home field of the North Dakota State Bison football team, which competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I level in the Football Championship Subdivision. The Bison Football team is a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Prior to the 1993 season, the Bison played at Dacotah Field. The stadium also plays host to North Dakota State graduation ceremonies as well as many large concerts, other sporting events, and trade shows.

History

The building was originally planned to be modeled on the Tacoma Dome and have an inflatable roof. However, as the design evolved, it was decided to have a fixed hard roof, although the dome name stuck.
The Fargodome has held events such as the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, USHRA's Monster Jam, Rib Fest, World Wrestling Entertainment, World Championship Wrestling, and other local, regional, and national events. The facility briefly played host to the Fargo Freeze Indoor Football League team in 2000, though the team played just one season.

College wrestling

The Asics/Vaughan Cadet and Junior National Wrestling Championships takes place every year in the Fargodome in the month of July.

Entertainment

Many famous acts have played the Fargodome including Avenged Sevenfold, Katy Perry, Cher, Guns N' Roses, Fleetwood Mac, Journey, The Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam, Garth Brooks, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Shania Twain, Taylor Swift, AC/DC, Paul McCartney, Kenny Chesney, The Dave Matthews Band, Carrie Underwood, Aerosmith, Poison, Nsync, Neil Diamond, Billy Joel, Kiss, Beach Boys, Faith Hill, Bryan Adams, Ozzy Osbourne, Luke Bryan, Pink, Reba McEntire, Dixie Chicks, Lady Antebellum, Bruce Springsteen, Tim McGraw, Def Leppard, Metallica, Prince, Justin Timberlake, and many others. The Fargodome is also capable of hosting events on ice such as Disney on Ice, and traveling broadway.
DateArtistOpening actEvent NameAttendanceRevenueNotes
March 21, 1993Guns N' Roses—Use Your Illusion Tour——
December 8, 1997Prince—Jam of the Year Tour——
September 18, 1998Garth Brooks—The Garth Brooks World Tour——
September 19, 1998Garth Brooks—The Garth Brooks World Tour——
September 20, 1998Garth Brooks—The Garth Brooks World Tour——
December 5, 1998Shania TwainLeahyCome On Over Tour——
December 3, 1999NSYNC—NSYNC in Concert——
August 17, 2004Metallica—Madly in Anger with the World Tour——
September 6, 2013Taylor SwiftEd Sheeran
Casey James		The Red Tour21,073 / 21,073$1,661,578
January 11, 2014PinkThe KinThe Truth About Love Tour21,879 / 21,879$1,613,670This show was originally scheduled to take place on October 27, 2013 but was postponed due to vocal rest. This concert used to hold the record for highest attendance and ticket sells record in the venue's history, until she broke her own record in 2019.
February 7, 2014Justin TimberlakeDJ FreestyleThe 20/20 Experience World Tour15,639 / 15,639$1,329,810This was his first concert in the state of North Dakota.
February 14, 2014 Toby Mac—Hits Deep Tour––
July 12, 2014Paul McCartney—Out There18,220 / 18,220$2,247,472This was his first concert in the state of North Dakota.
August 23, 2014Katy PerryKacey Musgraves
Ferras		Prismatic World Tour21,843 / 21,843$1,660,459
October 12, 2015Taylor SwiftVance JoyThe 1989 World Tour21,067 / 21,067$2,219,188This concert was originally planned to take place on September 9, but was postponed to October 12 to avoid any potential scheduling conflict with the Houston Astros potentially making the 2015 Major League Baseball postseason.
February 11, 2016AC/DCTyler Bryant & The ShakedownRock or Bust World Tour19,308 / 19,308$2,049,080
May 5, 2016Garth Brooks—The Garth Brooks World Tour with Trisha Yearwood73,480$5,100,000
May 6, 2016Garth Brooks—The Garth Brooks World Tour with Trisha Yearwood73,480$5,100,000
May 7, 2016Garth Brooks—The Garth Brooks World Tour with Trisha Yearwood73,480$5,100,000
May 8, 2016Garth Brooks—The Garth Brooks World Tour with Trisha Yearwood73,480$5,100,000
June 4, 2016James Taylor–Before this World Tour––
June 18, 2016Justin BieberPost Malone
Moxie Raia		Purpose World Tour12,451 / 12,451$1,177,819
August 4, 2017Bruno Mars–24K Magic World Tour––
August 24, 2017Tim McGraw and Faith HillNatalie Hemby––
October 17, 2018Ed SheeranSnow Patrol
Lauv		Divide Tour17,762 / 17,762$1,766,790
May 4, 2019PinkJulia MichaelsBeautiful Trauma World Tour22,164 / 22,164$2,927,135
September 14, 2019Bob Seger-Roll Me Away: The Final Tour--
October 30, 2019Celine Dion—Courage World Tour10,473 / 12,239$1,174,539

Gate City Bank Theater

The Fargodome's Gate City Bank Theater is home to theatrical productions, produced locally and touring.

Expansion and renovations

The Fargodome is currently studying an expansion of its permanent seating. The current capacity is 18,700 with an additional 100 seats to be added during the winter 2015. The addition of 5,000 to 7,500 seats has been discussed since 2011, but is now being seriously considered after several straight years of sold out NDSU Bison football games. That would bring the total capacity for football games to around 25,000. The additional seating would require major structural changes to the dome, including moving the press boxes from the east side to the west side. The west side has been reinforced and could handle extra levels, whereas the east side has a lobby that was not designed to bear any extra load.
In summer 2016, the stadium video boards were replaced with 12 new interior displays featuring SMD LED technology including two large 30'x100' High Definition video/scoreboards on each endzone, 12'x24' screens behind those large screens for those seated behind the board, and four large 20'x22' High Definition video boards, the $7.7 million project also provided for four ribbon displays on the seating fascia 3' high and 33' long along with a portable 15' x 25' screen which can be moved around on gameday, the project also renovated the electronics room and provided for new computer and graphics technology. These screens replaced the 6 old boards installed in 2002. In total, the new boards provide for of LED boards in the dome. The contract also provided for an increase from 3 to 5 High Definition cameras for additional angles, one of the cameras has a 55x extra zoom for close up play.

Crowd noise

In 2011, the Fargodome was ranked as the 49th best stadium in college football by BleacherReport.com. The article cites, "There aren't many indoor venues in college football, but the few that do exist at the non-FBS level are very unfriendly to any visiting team. That effect is only amplified in a playoff atmosphere." The Fargodome is routinely ranked as one of the loudest college football stadiums in the country. On December 14, 2012 in an FCS semifinal game against Georgia Southern, the crowd noise exceeded the 111 decibel mark and was known to be one of the loudest games in NDSU history. The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead conducted an informal study of Fargodome crowd noise from the press box during a playoff semifinal game last December. The readings showed a high of 111 decibels following a late touchdown by quarterback Brock Jensen. The decibel meter consistently read 102–106 throughout that game, according to The Forum. During the 2013 Furman playoff game, the crowd noise was measured at 115 decibels.