Such stadiums, they argued, did not bring economic salvation to cities.
The wider dimensions of soccer and Canadian football leave fans in such stadiums far from the rink.
And nobody has refuted the blizzard of studies showing that such stadiums have considerably less economic impact than their supporters suggest.
While domed stadiums have been common in North America, no such stadiums of comparable size of Telenor Arena had previously been built for football in Europe.
The first such stadium was built in 1999 in Columbus, Ohio, by Lamar Hunt, who operates the Columbus Crew along with his son, Clark.
M.L.S. has one such stadium in Columbus, Ohio; a $70 million soccer stadium is under construction in Los Angeles, and there are serious discussions taking place in New Jersey, Dallas, Kansas City and Washington about building similar facilities.
It was a time when the band were billed alongside such stadium fillers as Bon Jovi and White Snake, while simultaneously sucking up praise as the influences of Slayer and Metallica.
I wondered if such stadium-sized antics might make Lamar's set feel shallow a fear that was not abetted when, on Sunday, the rapper Travis Scott opened with wily frenzy, at one point straddling a massive, phoenix-like structure (a reference to his lavishly titled second album, "Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight") suspended in midair above the crowd.
"With respect to any new stadium facility planned for construction within the city limits of the City of New York and designed exclusively for baseball or as a sports complex to include baseball," Article XV of the lease reads, "the City shall use its best efforts to assure that the Mets will have the first option to use and occupy such stadium facility in substitution for Shea Stadium".
Most host countries are acutely aware that breaking even, let alone making a profit from the games, is a tall order, especially if they have to build new infrastructure such as stadiums, roads and railways.
In Tacloban, where many residents live along the coast, the sheer force of the storm was just too much for the buildings to withstand, with evacuation centres such as stadiums and churches later collapsing.
