Seibu Dome
| MetLife Dome | |
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| The MetLife Dome in Tokorozawa | |
| Earlier names | |
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Seibu Lions Stadium (1979–1997) |
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| Data | |
| place |
 Tokorozawa , Saitama Prefecture , Japan
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| Coordinates | 35 ° 46 '6.6 " N , 139 ° 25' 13.8" E |
| owner | Seibu Tetsudō KK |
| operator | Seibu Recreation KK |
| start of building | July 1, 1978 |
| opening | April 14, 1979 |
| Renovations | 2007-2009 |
| Extensions | 1998-1999 |
| surface | artificial grass |
| architect | Yoshiro Ikehara (Stadium) Kajima Construction Corporation, Ltd. (Top, roof) |
| capacity | 33,921 seats (baseball) |
| playing area | Left Field - 100 m (328 ft) Center Field - 122 m (400 ft) Right Field - 100 m (328 ft) |
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The MetLife Dome ( Japanese メ ッ ト ラ イ フ ド ー ム Mettoraifu Dōmu ; better known under the name Seibu Dome , Japanese 西武 ド ー ム Seibu Dōmu ) is a ballpark in the Kami-Yamaguchi district of Tokorozawa , Japan . The stadium, which was opened on April 14, 1979 as the "Seibu Lions baseball stadium" ( 西武 ラ イ オ ン ズ 球場 , seibu raionzu kyūjō ) was roofed over with a dome between the 1998 and 1999 seasons . The sides of the stadium have remained open. It is the home ground of the Saitama Seibu Lions from one of Japan's two professional baseball leagues, the Pacific League .
Usage and history
The MetLife Dome is mainly used for baseball games. The Seibu Lions from the Pacific League have played their home games in the stadium since it opened in 1979. In addition, the stadium was used for several concerts, for example for AKB48 , Big Bang or Queen . For 2005 and 2006 the naming rights were sold to the company Invoice, after which the stadium was renamed Invoice Seibu Dome. From January 2007 to 2008 it was called Goodwill Dome, the contract with the personnel service provider Goodwill Group was subsequently terminated prematurely and since then the dome has been renamed Seibu Dome again until 2015 .
Renovation work was carried out from 2007 to 2009, during which, among other things, parts of the grandstand were redesigned and the scoreboard replaced.
From March 2015 to March 2017, the stadium was named "Seibu Prince Dome" and used it to advertise the Japanese hotel chain Prince Hotels , which is also part of the Seibu Group . The naming rights were then sold to the US company Metropolitan Life Insurance Company ( MetLife for short ) and the stadium was renamed “MetLife Dome”.
gallery
The stadium in front of the roof (October 1993)
Interior view of the Seibu Dome
The Seibu Dome in September 2007
Interior panorama
Web links
- Stadium Official Website (Japanese)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Seibu Group, March 26, 2009: “新” 西武 ド ー ム！ リ ニ ュ ー ア ル 完了。 ( Memento of the original from April 7, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Seibu Group: 西武 ド ー ム 概要 ( Memento of the original from January 6, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
