State Farm Stadium

State Farm Stadium sits inside the Westgate Entertainment District — a planned mixed-use complex of restaurants, bars, retail, and a movie theater built around the stadium and the adjacent Desert Diamond Arena (formerly Gila River Arena, home to the now-departed Arizona Coyotes through 2022). The arrangement gives Cardinals game days a walkable pre-game environment that most NFL suburban stadiums lack. Outside Westgate itself, Glendale is suburban Phoenix — surface streets, chain restaurants, and the spring training cluster (Camelback Ranch a short ride south, hosting the Dodgers and White Sox) define the immediate area. The Tanger Outlets sit immediately west of the stadium. Travelers can pair a Cardinals game with a Westgate meal, a spring training game in February or March, or a drive into downtown Phoenix.

Plan to arrive at least 2-3 hours before kickoff for tailgating and to navigate Westgate's parking flow — Cardinals game days fill the entertainment-district lots well before kickoff. The retractable roof is generally closed for indoor climate control during Phoenix's hot months and open in late fall when weather allows; the team announces roof status before kickoff. The roll-out grass tray is the stadium's signature design feature — the natural-grass playing surface sits on a tray that rolls out of the stadium during the week to receive natural sunlight, then rolls back in for game day. The Cardinals publish current bag policy (clear-bag) and gate-open times on their official site — these change season to season, so check before traveling. State Farm Stadium also hosts the annual Fiesta Bowl, multiple College Football Playoff games, NCAA Final Fours, and was the venue for Super Bowls XLII (2008), XLIX (2015), and LVII (2023).

State Farm Stadium opened in August 2006 as University of Phoenix Stadium and was renamed State Farm Stadium in 2018. Two design features define the building. First, the retractable roof — the second NFL stadium to have one when it opened, after NRG in Houston. Second, and more unusually, the entire natural-grass playing field sits on a 234-foot-by-403-foot retractable tray that rolls out of the stadium between games to receive natural sunlight, then rolls back inside for game day. The tray solved the central problem of growing healthy Bermuda grass under a closed roof in the Phoenix sun. The stadium hosts the annual Fiesta Bowl, has hosted College Football Playoff games, multiple NCAA Final Fours, and three Super Bowls (XLII in 2008, XLIX in 2015, LVII in 2023). The Cardinals reached Super Bowl XLIII as a hosting team's near-miss season (2008 season, lost to Pittsburgh). The Arizona Coyotes used the adjacent Desert Diamond Arena until the franchise's 2022 displacement and eventual 2024 relocation to Utah.