Lambeau Field sits in a Midwestern city of roughly 110,000 people, yet every autumn it packs 81,441 screaming fans into one of the most hallowed venues in American sport. Known worldwide as the Frozen Tundra, Green Bay’s cathedral of football opened on September 29, 1957, and has never stopped playing home to the Green Bay Packers — earning the title of the NFL’s oldest continuously operating stadium.
What makes Lambeau different isn’t just age. It’s the combination of a community-owned franchise, a 30-year season-ticket waiting list, one of football’s most iconic touchdown celebrations, and the memory of the coldest championship game ever played. Whether you’re planning a game-day trip or simply want to understand the legend, this guide covers everything.
Quick Answer
Lambeau Field is an 81,441-seat NFL stadium in Green Bay, Wisconsin, home to the Green Bay Packers since 1957. It is the NFL’s oldest continuously operating stadium — known for brutal cold-weather games, the Lambeau Leap touchdown celebration, the 1967 Ice Bowl, and a season-ticket waiting list that stretches roughly 30 years.
Lambeau Field by the Numbers
The stadium opened as City Stadium — nicknamed New City Stadium to distinguish it from the Packers’ earlier home — with a capacity of around 32,500. It was renamed Lambeau Field on August 3, 1965, honoring Packers co-founder and longtime head coach Earl “Curly” Lambeau. Multiple expansions followed: a $295 million renovation completed in 2003 modernized the facilities while preserving the historic bowl, and a 2012–2013 south end zone expansion pushed capacity from roughly 73,000 to its current 81,441, placing Lambeau among the NFL’s largest stadiums by seat count.
The playing surface is a natural-grass hybrid — Kentucky bluegrass reinforced with SISGrass synthetic fibers, installed in 2018 to replace the earlier Desso GrassMaster system. Beneath the turf, an electric radiant-heating system was installed decades ago to keep the field playable through Wisconsin winters. That system famously failed the night before the 1967 Ice Bowl, with consequences that became NFL legend.
The Only Community-Owned Franchise in the NFL
The Green Bay Packers are the only publicly-owned, non-profit franchise in the NFL. Facing bankruptcy in 1923 — just four years after their founding by Earl Lambeau and George Calhoun — the team turned to the community and sold shares to keep operating. The Packers have conducted six stock sales since, in 1923, 1935, 1950, 1997, 2011, and 2021, accumulating more than 360,000 shareholders. No single shareholder may own more than 200,000 shares, dividends are never paid, and shares cannot be resold for profit.
This structure means the franchise can never be relocated. Profits are reinvested in the organization and the city of Green Bay rather than flowing to a private owner. The NFL banned public ownership for new franchises in 1960, but the Packers were grandfathered in — making them a singular institution in American professional sports and binding Lambeau Field to its community in a way that simply cannot exist anywhere else in the league.
The Ice Bowl: The Coldest Game in NFL History
On December 31, 1967, the Green Bay Packers hosted the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL Championship Game under conditions so extreme they have defined Lambeau’s identity ever since. The official game-time temperature was 13 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, with wind chills estimated between -33°F and -37°F — the coldest conditions ever recorded for an NFL game, a record that still stands more than five decades later.
An Arctic front swept through Green Bay the night before kickoff, and the electric heating system beneath the field failed, leaving the surface frozen solid. Referees’ whistles froze to their lips mid-game. Despite it all, more than 50,000 fans filled the stands. With 16 seconds remaining and the Packers trailing 17-14, quarterback Bart Starr sneaked the ball over the goal line on a keeper play decided at the line of scrimmage to win 21-17. The Packers claimed their third consecutive NFL championship, and the game has been known as the Ice Bowl ever since.
The Lambeau Leap: How the Tradition Was Born
The Lambeau Leap — a player vaulting into the front rows of the stands after scoring a touchdown — was born on December 26, 1993. Safety LeRoy Butler improvised the celebration after a chaotic play in which Reggie White scooped up a fumble near midfield and, while being tackled, flipped the ball to Butler, who ran it into the end zone against the Los Angeles Raiders. Butler launched himself into the crowd on spontaneous impulse. The win that day clinched the Packers’ first playoff berth in 11 years.
The term “Lambeau Leap” didn’t enter print until December 28, 1995, when AP sportswriter Arnie Stapleton used it in a wire story. By then, wide receiver Robert Brooks had begun performing the leap after nearly every touchdown catch, cementing it as an official team tradition. Today the celebration is one of the most recognized in professional sports — and visiting players have been known to attempt it after scoring against the Packers on Lambeau’s turf.
Visiting Lambeau Field: Tours, Hall of Fame, and the Atrium
Lambeau Field is a year-round destination, not just a game-day venue. The Lambeau Field Atrium houses the Packers Pro Shop, Curly’s Pub, and the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame — a self-guided museum covering the franchise’s full history, including Super Bowl trophies and memorabilia spanning every era. Plan roughly 90 minutes to explore the Hall of Fame at a comfortable pace; tickets are valid all day, so you can leave and return.
Stadium tours come in three tiers: the Classic Tour (one hour) covers a premium seating area and takes guests down to the field through the team tunnel; the Champions Tour (90 minutes) expands the experience; and the Legendary Tour (two hours) adds exclusive access to the Lee Remmel Press Box and the visiting team locker room. Tours run daily, including during the offseason, and on home game weekends they are offered the day before and after the game. Lambeau’s broader appeal was on full display in April 2025, when the NFL Draft was held here and drew an estimated 205,000 people to the first round alone — nearly twice the population of Green Bay itself.
The Season-Ticket Waiting List
No detail captures Lambeau’s cultural grip quite like its season-ticket waiting list. Approximately 150,000 names sit on the list, and with a renewal rate hovering near 99%, new applicants face a wait of roughly 30 years before being offered seats. Families routinely place newborns on the list, and in Wisconsin, inheriting Packers season tickets is treated with the seriousness of a legal bequest.
The Packers have recently begun declining renewals for account holders who resell the majority of their tickets, freeing up a small number of seats for those waiting — but the list remains one of the longest in all of professional sports, a testament to the demand that community ownership and a legendary stadium generate.
What to Expect on Game Day
Game day at Lambeau begins hours before kickoff. Tailgating fills the stadium parking lots and spills into surrounding neighborhoods, where homeowners routinely open their yards to fans for a fee. The stadium’s open-bowl design exposes fans in the upper deck to the full force of Wisconsin weather — a feature, not a bug, for the devoted faithful who show up in subzero temperatures in team jerseys.
Late-season and playoff games at Lambeau routinely rank among the coldest in NFL history. Beyond the Ice Bowl, notable frigid moments include the 1996 NFC Championship Game played at 3°F and a 2008 NFC divisional playoff in which the New York Giants upset the heavily favored Packers at -4°F — before going on to beat the undefeated New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. The average game-time temperature for Lambeau playoff games has been measured at roughly 21 degrees Fahrenheit, a number that somehow seems temperate by Ice Bowl standards.
Lambeau Field FAQs
How cold was the Ice Bowl at Lambeau Field?
The 1967 NFL Championship Game had a kickoff temperature of -13°F and a wind chill estimated between -33°F and -37°F — the coldest conditions in NFL history. The Packers won 21-17 over the Dallas Cowboys on a last-second quarterback sneak by Bart Starr.
Who invented the Lambeau Leap?
Safety LeRoy Butler performed the first Lambeau Leap on December 26, 1993, after scoring a touchdown against the Los Angeles Raiders. Wide receiver Robert Brooks popularized it throughout the 1995 season, and sportswriter Arnie Stapleton coined the term in an AP wire story on December 28, 1995.
How long is the Lambeau Field season-ticket waiting list?
Around 150,000 names are on the waiting list. With a near-99% renewal rate among existing holders, the average wait is roughly 30 years. Many Wisconsin families place children on the list at birth.
Can you visit Lambeau Field year-round?
Yes. The Lambeau Field Atrium, the Packers Hall of Fame, and the Packers Pro Shop are all open year-round. Daily stadium tours — in Classic (one hour), Champions (90 minutes), and Legendary (two hours) tiers — run every day, including during the offseason.
Why is Lambeau Field called the Frozen Tundra?
The nickname reflects the stadium’s notoriously brutal late-season and playoff conditions in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The 1967 Ice Bowl — played at -13°F — cemented the reputation, but frigid games at Lambeau remain a regular feature of the NFL calendar.
What is the current seating capacity of Lambeau Field?
Lambeau Field’s official capacity is 81,441, the result of multiple expansions over the decades, including a $295 million renovation completed in 2003 and a south end zone expansion finished in 2013.
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