A battleship-shaped battlefield complete with towering, swinging doors that open towards downtown, the Minnesota Vikings's forthcoming new football field certainly lives up to the ideal of gridiron toughness. That makes its sustainability features all the more impressive. Designed by HKS, the angular, 65,000-seat multi-use stadium features a steep roof covered in large part by insulating clear plastic, which will allow in copious amounts of sunlight, helping to cut costs and hopefully earn a LEED rating after it opens next August.

An abstract take on the shape of a falcon’s wing that looks more like a camera aperture, the new HOK-designed Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta may be one of the first American football stadiums to measure up to the architectural daring of Europe’s modern football arenas. In addition to the otherworldly oculus that can make relatively minute adjustments to control lighting, the stadium will also offer eye candy in the form of a five-story ribbon of high-definition video screens that encircle the seating area. While the structures will boast the standard VIP clubs and boxes, the Falcon’s owner wanted to create a playing field that leveled the playing field when it comes to fan experiences, with an unorthodox façade and a barrage of video options. A planned 100-yard-long food-and-beverage bar on an upper concourse should also provide a more unifying experience (perhaps waiting in line simultaneously).

Designed by 360 Architecture out of Kansas City (now owned by HOK), the curvaceous arena, a massive quote bubble covering the site of a former rail yard, is aiming to be the first LEED Silver-certified ice hockey stadium in Canada when it opens next fall. The anchor of a billion-dollar, mixed-use downtown development, the building will also boast some high-tech features courtesy of the naming sponsor, a Canadian telecom giant. The flexible, roughly 20,000-seat arena will feature the largest high-definition arena scoreboard in the NHL above center ice and be fully wired for hi-speed WiFi.

You could argue Mexico City isn’t in need of any new iconic stadiums, since Estadio Azteca is already hallowed ground for the world’s football fans. But you’d also have to argue against this new ballpark covered by a massive plastic-and-steel trident, so perhaps there's room for two stadiums. The work of Francisco Gonzalez-Pulido, a Mexico City-born architect and current director of JAHN, and ADG, this new baseball stadium for the Los Diablos Rojos del Mexico, scheduled to open in 2017, incorporates Mexican cultural references throughout, from its plaza-like entrance to structural supports clad in native volcanic rock. Think of it as a zocalo for the baseball set.

As befitting its sponsor, a regional bank, Atlanta’s new baseball stadium offers a traditional approach to design. But that doesn’t mean strictly conservative or retro. The 41,500-seat stadium will fulfill the oft-repeated promise of getting fans closer to the action with a cantilevered seating system that literally pushes the upper levels closer to the field. Set to open in the spring of 2017, the ballpark will be the centerpiece of a larger development, a mixed-use area with a focus on entertainment complexes.

A subtle swoosh of metal capping a series of glass walls—no, not that swoosh—the proposed new arena for the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks is meant to anchor a “live block” complex, its open façade broadcasting the message that the event and entertainment doesn’t end within the stadium walls. Designed by a multinational cadre of architectural firms lead by Populous and set to open in 2017, the new arena comes with promises to reactivate downtown.

A controversial project, to say the least, this long-in-the-works new home for the Golden State Warriors would be built and opened by 2018 without public subsidy, virtually unheard of in pro stadium construction. That fact seems to be one of the few things that hasn't caused disagreement, from the location in Mission Bay to the design, now a nautically inspired curve by MANICA Architecture (who picked up the project after numerous drafts by Snøhetta).

Set to open in 2017, the Detroit Events Center by HOK aims to be one of the more integrated stadiums ever built, as far as joining the arena and its concourse with the surrounding neighborhood. A glass roof covering the 20,000-seat stadium will also serve as a canopy between adjacent buildings, covering an “indoor street” of retail and restaurants that will remain open independent of the event calendar (the structure has ben described as "deconstructed"). The sunken seating bowl, which reduces the overall height of the arena, will add to the intended, village-like atmosphere, a bid to enliven the surrounding area and create an animated main street on game day.

Designed by AECOM and set to open next fall, this new stadium, boasting a set of aircraft hangar-like doors, aims to meet or exceed other arenas when it comes to technology and sustainability. Built with locally sourced materials, the 19,000-seat structure will be carbon neutral and powered in large part by solar power.