People don’t understand the size and scale of Michigan Stadium until they step inside and see it for themselves.
While Ann Arbor isn’t even the second or third largest city in the state of Michigan, its University of Michigan football stadium is the largest stadium in the entire western hemisphere.
The current capacity is 115,000 seats, but was once envisioned to surpass 150,000 seats if occupancy demands ever called for it. I just cannot even imagine standing in a space with that many people, as I have never been in places like the Narendra Modi Stadium in India which houses 132,000 occupants at any given time. Still, Michigan Stadium is only two places behind it in the list of the largest sports stadiums in the world. Whenever I go to Wolverines games, I’m typically turned off by the rampant alcohol consumption. Sports fans can get kinda rowdy and UofM fans are no exception, including me personally from time to time! Still, I like my competitiveness with an air of inclusivity, I don’t enjoy tribalism at all. I end up having a better time in Michigan Stadium when I can discreetly sip hits out of my cannabis vape pen that I sneak in my pocket. I often smell people lighting joints despite the no smoking policy inside the stadium. I’m sure they must get busted fairly quickly because of the sheer number of security guards watching out for that kind of behavior. I really don’t mind as long as someone isn’t blowing secondhand smoke into my face, but I realize that others might not agree with that sentiment.