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Levi's Stadium: The NFL's Latest Venue Built For The Super Bowl

We are merely weeks away from the NFL's 50th Super Bowl, and boy, have the stadiums they're played in changed drastically.

The first ever Super Bowl, played in 1967, was hosted by the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - a building first constructed in 1923. While the coliseum is still being used today by USC's football team, it's hardly a 21st-century stadium.

Fast-forward to today, where the big game will be held at the NFL's most tech-savvy venue ever built: Levi's Stadium.

Home of the San Francisco 49ers, the $1.2 billion Levi's Stadium was built reportedly with the surrounding community in mind. It's in the heart of Silicon Valley, where global technology leaders were born. Google, Apple, Yahoo!, eBay and Adobe to name a few, are all a large part of the market's identity and Levi's Stadium reflects that same feel.

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(Levisstadium.com)

For those lucky 70,000-ish attendees at this year's Super Bowl, they will be experiencing some of the latest and greatest technology ever used in a stadium. From wi-fi being available and speedy at all corners of the building, to a living green roof, the stadium will enhance every fan's game day experience.

Levi's Stadium's app has been another huge development for fans to enjoy. Users can order food and drinks from their seat, watch replays instantly, accurately maneuver around the stadium with a map directory, keep tickets and parking passes readily available and much more. No more long lines at halftime, take a seat and let the game come to you.

The two jumbo screens on the end zone sides of the stadium are both eye-catching and vivid. Instant replays are easy for any fan to see from their seat and the quality is as good as it gets. The Super Bowl doesn't need any more mishaps like there have been in the past.

In 2012 when the 49ers were playing the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl 47, fans remember the lights going out shortly after halftime in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. The 15-minute delay was unprecedented and somewhat of a distraction.

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(Levisstadium.com)

Levi's Stadium won't have that problem, as the building has 9,574 square feet of roofing covered in solar panels, making it the first NFL stadium to have sustainability and LEED certification standards.

According to the installers of the solar panels, NRG, "the solar arrays at Levi's Stadium should have a combined peak capacity of about 375 kW," they said in a press release. "The amount of solar energy generated annually is expected to be enough to offset the power consumed at the stadium during 49ers regular season home games."

Sorry Beyonce, no more blowing the lights out with your dance moves.

The food selection is also a treat. From the typical domestic beer, hot dogs and nachos, to the not-so-ordinary curry chicken dishes, vegan hot links and huge craft beer selection, Levi's has something for everyone's palate. No line is too long with such a wide variety of food being offered throughout the stadium and an app that can order it straight to the fans' seats.

The stadium has thought of everything for the everyday fan: huge tailgate parties out front of the stadium, pre-game concerts and rallies, easy accessibility through the app and tons of social media incorporated into the smart stadium. This will be the first Super Bowl where this kind of technology will be utilized to its fullest, making the overall experience perfectly unique to show off to the world watching.

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