NFL venue data
NFL Dome Stadiums: Every Fixed and Retractable Roof, and What Indoors Does to Scoring
By OverUnderWeather Research Desk
Checking the weather for a dome game sounds pointless, and inside a fixed roof it is. But a third of the league's buildings shut the weather out, and some of them only do it on certain days. Here is every roofed NFL stadium, how the retractable ones work, and what twenty seasons say about scoring indoors.
The short answer
10 of the NFL's home stadiums: 5 fixed roofs, 5 retractable.
Indoor games averaged 47.1 points vs 44.1 outdoors (2006–2025, 5,141 games).
385 indoor games (2019–2023) finished +2.2 vs the closing total, 208 Overs to 174 Unders.
The lift is biggest in low-scoring matchups. High-scoring games still fall short of expectations — just less than outdoors.
Every NFL stadium with a roof
| Stadium | Team | City | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allegiant Stadium | Las Vegas Raiders | Las Vegas, NV | Fixed |
| Caesars Superdome | New Orleans Saints | New Orleans, LA | Fixed |
| Ford Field | Detroit Lions | Detroit, MI | Fixed |
| SoFi Stadium | Los Angeles Rams & Chargers | Inglewood, CA | Fixed (open sides) |
| U.S. Bank Stadium | Minnesota Vikings | Minneapolis, MN | Fixed |
| AT&T Stadium | Dallas Cowboys | Arlington, TX | Retractable |
| Lucas Oil Stadium | Indianapolis Colts | Indianapolis, IN | Retractable |
| Mercedes-Benz Stadium | Atlanta Falcons | Atlanta, GA | Retractable |
| NRG Stadium | Houston Texans | Houston, TX | Retractable |
| State Farm Stadium | Arizona Cardinals | Glendale, AZ | Retractable |
The other home stadiums are open to the sky. SoFi is the odd one: its canopy is fixed, but the sides are open, so it plays like a dome for rain and like a breezy building for air movement.
How retractable roofs work on game day
A retractable roof is a choice, not a guarantee. The home club makes the call ahead of kickoff based on the forecast, and policies differ from club to club. We don't assume a default either way. So for a retractable venue, the roof status is the first thing to check — if it is open, the outdoor forecast on the stadium page applies.
Why domes matter in a weather guide
Domes are the control group. You can only say a 15 mph wind costs points in Buffalo if you know what the same kind of game looks like with no wind at all. That is how our kicking guide, windiest stadiums ranking and coldest games guide measure weather: against indoor and calm-weather football.
Do NFL games score more indoors?
Raw averages say yes — 47.1 points per game indoors against 44.1 outdoors. But dome teams have often been good offences, so we also compare each game with what the two teams usually score, and group matchups by that expectation.
| Expected total | Indoor games | Indoor vs expected | Outdoor vs expected | Indoor O–U | Indoor vs close |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 42 | 474 | +6.16 | +3.15 | 42–45 | +1.18 (88) |
| 42–47 | 449 | +1.04 | -1.20 | 62–50 | +2.32 (114) |
| 47–52 | 416 | -0.57 | -3.15 | 60–46 | +2.21 (106) |
| 52+ | 216 | -2.34 | -5.35 | 44–33 | +3.35 (77) |
Read across a row and the pattern is clear: every group does better indoors than the same group outdoors. The biggest lift is in low-expectation matchups (+6.2, t = 10.1). High-scoring matchups still fall short indoors (-2.3) — the domes just soften the fall-off seen outdoors (-5.4). Against the closing total, no single group is significant on its own (largest t = 2.2 in 52+, 77 games); the combined indoor figure of +2.2 over 385 games is the stronger signal, and it comes from one five-season window.
Full method, t-statistics and outdoor results are in the NFL dome scoring study.
Related NFL weather guides
Method and sources
Stadium list and roof types from our NFL stadium records. Scoring from 5,141 regular-season games (2006–2025, 1,555 indoor); retractable-roof games are counted indoor or outdoor by the roof status recorded for that game. Expected total = both teams' season scoring average excluding the game itself. Closing totals from ESPN game data, 2019–2023 only. Groups under 40 games would be labelled directional only; every group here has more. Data queried 14 October 2026. By the OverUnderWeather Research Desk.
Where this is applied
These findings feed the game-time read on every NFL venue page, using the same sample-size and significance rules published here.
OverUnderWeather Research Desk
Independent data analysis on public sports and weather records. Studies match historical game outcomes to archived game-window weather, apply pre-set sample and significance rules, and publish null results when that is what the data show. Editorial policy and corrections log.
Cite this research
Free to republish with a visible credit and a link to this page. Ready-made citations below — click to copy.
Frequently asked
How many NFL stadiums are domes?
Ten NFL home stadiums have a roof. Five are fixed: Allegiant Stadium, Caesars Superdome, Ford Field, SoFi Stadium and U.S. Bank Stadium. Five are retractable: AT&T Stadium, Lucas Oil Stadium, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, NRG Stadium and State Farm Stadium. SoFi's roof is fixed but its sides are open, so ocean air moves through it.
Who decides whether a retractable roof is open?
It is a game-day decision made by the home club ahead of kickoff, based on the forecast. The rules differ by club, so check the roof status for each game rather than assuming it is open or closed.
Do NFL games score more in domes?
Yes on raw averages: from 2006 to 2025 indoor games averaged 47.1 points and outdoor games 44.1. Part of that is which teams play indoors, so we also compare each game with both teams' season scoring. Low-expectation indoor matchups scored 6.2 points above it; the highest-scoring matchups fell 2.3 short indoors and 5.4 short outdoors.
Do dome games go over the total?
In the 385 indoor games we could match to an ESPN closing total (2019–2023), games finished 2.2 points above the number on average and went 208 Overs to 174 Unders. That is one five-season window, it does not cover the vig on its own every year, and markets adjust, so treat it as context rather than a system.
Does weather matter at all for a dome game?
Not inside a fixed dome. For retractable roofs it matters only if the roof is open. Dome games are useful as the no-weather baseline: they show what scoring and kicking look like when wind and cold are taken away.