| Stadium Name: | Fargodome |
| Address: | 1800 University Dr N |
| Location: | North Dakota State University Fargo, North Dakota, U.S. |
| Pushpin Map: | USA#North Dakota |
| Pushpin Relief: | 1 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in the United States##Location in North Dakota |
| Pushpin Label: | Fargo |
| Owner: | City of Fargo |
| Operator: | Fargo Dome Authority |
| Surface: | Artificial turf |
| Architect: | [1] |
| General Contractor: | Industrial Builders, Inc. |
| Main Contractors: | Meinecke-Johnson |
| Tenants: | Fargo-Moorhead Fever North Dakota State Bison Fargo Freeze |
| Construction Cost: | $48 million ($ in) |
| Seating Capacity: | 18,700 |
| Fullname: | Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome |
Fargodome is an indoor athletic stadium and convention center in the north central United States, located on the campus of North Dakota State University (NDSU) in Fargo, North Dakota. It opened in 1992 and is owned and operated by the city despite being built on the university's campus. The facility is not an actual dome, its seating capacity is 18,700 for football and over 25,000 for full arena concerts. Its approximate elevation at street level is 900feet above sea level.
Fargodome is the home field of the Bison football team, which competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). NDSU is a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, and prior to the 1993 season, the football venue was Dacotah Field, adjacent to the south. The stadium also hosts the university's commencement ceremonies as well as many large concerts, other sporting events, and trade shows.
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.[2]
The Fargodome has held events such as the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, USHRA's Monster Jam, Happy Harry's Ribfest, 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.[9]
The USA Wrestling 16U/Junior National Wrestling Championships (Women’s and Men’s Freestyle, Men’s Greco-Roman) takes place every year in the Fargodome in the month of July.[10]
Many famous acts have played the Fargodome including Elton John, 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, 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, Mötley Crüe and many others. The Fargodome is also capable of hosting events on ice such as Disney on Ice, and traveling broadway.
| width=12% style=";" | Date | width=12% style=";" | Artist(s) | width=10% style=";" | Opening act(s) | width=18% style=";" | Event Name | width=10% style=";" | Attendance | width=10% style=";" | Revenue | width=18% style=";" | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 21, 1993 | Brian May Band[11] | — | — | ||||||||||
| December 8, 1997 | — | — | — | [12] | |||||||||
| September 18, 1998 | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| September 19, 1998 | |||||||||||||
| September 20, 1998 | |||||||||||||
| December 5, 1998 | — | — | |||||||||||
| February 17, 1999 | The Rolling Stones | Jonny Lang | No Security Tour | 21,970 / 21,970 | $1,501,183 | ||||||||
| November 6, 1999 | Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band | — | Reunion Tour | 17,245 / 20,000 | — | ||||||||
| December 3, 1999 | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| September 29, 2002 | Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band | — | The Rising Tour | — | — | ||||||||
| August 17, 2004 | — | — | — | [13] | |||||||||
| September 6, 2013 | 21,073 / 21,073 | $1,661,578 | |||||||||||
| January 11, 2014 | The Kin | 21,879 / 21,879 | $1,613,670 | This 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.[14] | |||||||||
| February 7, 2014 | DJ Freestyle | 15,639 / 15,639 | $1,329,810 | This was his first concert in the state of North Dakota. | |||||||||
| February 14, 2014 | — | Hits Deep Tour | – | – | |||||||||
| July 12, 2014 | — | 18,220 / 18,220 | $2,247,472 | This was his first concert in the state of North Dakota. | |||||||||
| August 23, 2014 | 21,843 / 21,843 | $1,660,459 | |||||||||||
| November 16, 2014 | — | - | - | ||||||||||
| October 12, 2015 | 21,067 / 21,067 | $2,219,188 | This 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.[15] | ||||||||||
| February 11, 2016 | 19,308 / 19,308 | $2,049,080 | [16] | ||||||||||
| May 5, 2016 | — | 73,480 | $5,100,000 | [17] | |||||||||
| May 6, 2016 | |||||||||||||
| May 7, 2016 | |||||||||||||
| May 8, 2016 | |||||||||||||
| June 4, 2016 | James Taylor | – | Before this World Tour | – | – | ||||||||
| June 18, 2016 | 12,451 / 12,451 | $1,177,819 | [18] | ||||||||||
| August 4, 2017 | Bruno Mars | – | – | ||||||||||
| August 24, 2017 | Tim McGraw and Faith Hill | – | – | ||||||||||
| October 17, 2018 | Ed Sheeran | 17,762 / 17,762 | $1,766,790 | ||||||||||
| May 4, 2019 | 22,164 / 22,164 | $2,927,135 | |||||||||||
| September 14, 2019 | - | Roll Me Away: The Final Tour | - | - | |||||||||
| October 30, 2019 | Celine Dion | — | 10,473 / 12,239 | $1,174,539 | |||||||||
| August 11, 2021 | 9,100 / 10,087 | $988,411 | |||||||||||
| July 27, 2022 | 11,908 / 11,908 | $714,355 | |||||||||||
| April 6, 2023 | 19,331 / 19,311 | $2,067,826 | |||||||||||
| August 11, 2023 | - | - | |||||||||||
| August 19, 2023 | Pink | Brandi Carlile Grouplove KidCutUp | Summer Carnival | - | - | ||||||||
| November 5, 2023 | Shania Twain | Lily Rose | Queen of Me Tour | - | - | [19] |
The Fargodome's Gate City Bank Theater is home to theatrical productions, produced locally and touring.
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.[20] 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 (one in each corner), 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.
In the summer of 2022, the stadium replaced its aging AstroTurf with a newer version. It cost the Fargodome $1.1 million, which it paid for using the stadium reserve funds, that also included upgrades to the Magic Carpet system that rolls out the turf onto the stadium floor.
In 2011, the Fargodome was ranked as the 49th best stadium in college football by BleacherReport.com.[21] The article states
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, The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead measured the Fargodome crowd noise from the press box during an FCS playoff semifinal game between North Dakota State and Georgia Southern. According to The Forum, the maximum crowd noise exceeded 111 decibels, and the decibel meter consistently read 102–106 during the game.[22] During a 2013 playoff game between North Dakota State and Furman, the crowd noise was measured at 115 decibels.[23]