A stadium on top of a skyscraper is trending on social media. Although Serbia already has a first division stadium on the roof of a building, the design circulating on the internet raises many questions. Where was it created? And is such a project even possible?

A spectacular project that... never existed

Recently, a short 10-second video showing a stadium located on top of a skyscraper began circulating on social media. Initially, it did not receive much attention, but later on it was picked up by such respected publications as Spain's AS and Canada's TSN.

Saudi Arabia has unveiled plans for a stadium for the 2034 World Cup, proclaimed the headlines. Others even suggested that it had already been built. The facility even had its own social media account created. But there is no such stadium or project. In fact, the project itself borders on the impossible.

Tweet Rainmaker1973 https://x.com/rainmaker1973/status/1983062753058136257

— Rainmaker1973 (@Rainmaker1973) June 10, 2025

Not Arabia, but AI, and not the World Cup, but YouTube

Many publications have suggested that the futuristic structure, with a capacity of 46,000 seats, will stand at a height of 350 metres and will be part of NEOM The Line, a linear city to be built in the middle of the desert in Saudi Arabia. And yes, a stadium with such a capacity and at such a height is to be built there... except that it looks completely different.

A quick glance at The Line project is enough to see that this multi-storey city will be only a few hundred metres wide and tens of kilometres long, hence the name The Line. Meanwhile, the cityscape in the film shows a city with a traditional layout: uniform buildings stretching several kilometres in all directions from the centre.

So where does this recording come from? The Spanish agency EFE managed to determine that it was first published on the Hypora Ultraworks account, which publishes AI-generated videos on YouTube. There are at least a dozen or so designs for stadiums on top of skyscrapers, as well as visualisations of stadiums in the middle of the ocean and arenas connected to castles.

© SAAF | Neom Stadium is the only project of its kind in the world, but its feasibility is in doubt.

Impossible AI dreams

What is more, such a stadium, even if it existed on paper, could not be put into use. Transporting 46,000 spectators to a height of several dozen floors using lifts and stairs is virtually impossible. Added to this are the load-bearing capacity of the structure, vibrations caused by fans jumping, wind... and evacuation.

Legal standards in most countries require that evacuation continue in the event of danger. It should not take more than eight minutes (or in accordance with local regulations) for a spectator to move from their seat, along the stands, passageways and emergency exits to a protected escape route explains FIFA. However, if the stand is considered a high fire risk area, this time is reduced to two and a half minutes.

However, in the event of an emergency – such as a fire or terrorist attack – evacuating 46,000 people from the top of the skyscraper is impossible, especially since lifts cannot be used in such situations.

Interestingly, there is a stadium in the world located on the roof of a building, although it is not a skyscraper. We are talking about the Stadion Voždovac in Serbia, which is the fifth and top floor of a shopping centre. However, access to the stadium is separate from the entrances to the shopping centre. The capacity of this unusual arena, which made it onto the list of the 25 strangest stadiums in the world, is 5,174 seats. The second, albeit less spectacular example is Estadio Nuevo Silvestre Carrillo, located on a Spanish island.

The Voždovac Stadium is trully a unique structure.