The Giants struck a deal with the fledgling New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority in 1971 and broke ground on the construction of the new facility in 1972.

Since their new stadium would take a significant amount of time to finish, and they could not use their home facility due to the construction, the Giants moved out of state and played in New Haven, Connecticut at the Yale Bowl from October 1973 through 1974, but won just once in twelve games there.

They returned to New York for one final season in 1975 and shared Shea Stadium in Flushing, Queens, with the Yankees, Mets, and Jets.

The city of New York was unwilling to agree to his terms and Hess decided to move the Jets to the Meadowlands permanently (the team previously played a regular season game there in 1977).

The sharing of the stadium by both the Giants and Jets enabled it to break a record that had long been held by Chicago's Wrigley Field.

The stadium's final event was the January 3, 2010, game featuring the Jets hosting the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday Night Football.

College football made its debut at Giants Stadium on October 23, 1976, with Rutgers University defeating Columbia 47–0 and extending their winning streak to 14 games.

In the second week of the 2005 season, the New Orleans Saints used the stadium for a "home" game against the Giants because of extensive damage to the Louisiana Superdome after Hurricane Katrina.

Syracuse also played two home games at Giants Stadium during the 1979 season, against West Virginia and Penn State, while the Carrier Dome was under construction.

The New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League moved to Giants Stadium for the 1977 season, hosting the final game of Brazilian star Pelé on October 1, 1977.

In 2003, the SuperCoppa Italiana, an annual match pitting the winners of Serie A (Italy's top division) and the Coppa Italia (Italian Cup), was held in Giants Stadium instead of in Italy because both clubs involved (Juventus and Milan) were touring the United States late in the summer, when the event is normally scheduled.

On October 5, 1995, Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass during a rainstorm, before a crowd of 82,948, the second-largest to ever attend an event at Giants Stadium.

The first concert at Giants Stadium occurred on June 25, 1978, with the Beach Boys as the headliners, with the Steve Miller Band, Pablo Cruise, and Stanky Brown also performing.

The stadium played host to Amnesty International's final A Conspiracy of Hope Benefit Concert on June 15, 1986.

The show was headlined by U2 and Sting and also featured Bryan Adams, Peter Gabriel, Joan Baez, the Neville Brothers, and the Police.

Additional artists that performed included John Eddie, with Max Weinberg; Third World; the Hooters; Peter, Paul and Mary; Steven van Zandt, with Bob Geldof, Stanley Jordan, Joan Armatrading, Jackson Browne, Rubén Blades, with Fela Kuti and Carlos Santana, Yoko Ono, Howard Jones, Miles Davis, and Joni Mitchell.

Spoken introductions were made by Billy Graham, Bill Bradley, Daryl Hannah, Robert De Niro, Christopher Reeve, Michael J.

The show featured performances by Slipknot, Slayer, Sevendust, Sepultura, Hed PE, Mudvayne, downset., Hatebreed, Full Devil Jacket, Famous, Amen, U.P.O., Nothingface, PPM, Cold, Relative Ash, Systematic, Six Feet Under, Candiria, Lamb of God, God Forbid, Darkest Hour, Unearth, All That Remains, Dropkick Murphys, Sick of It All, Tiger Army, Converge, The Unseen, Reach the Sky, Stretch Arm Strong, Kill Your Idols, and Nashville Pussy, including the only appearance by Metallica during the tour and also featured 42 tattoo artists from Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Malaysia, Manitoba, Spain, Switzerland, and the US.

[11] On June 11, 2001 (the first of three nights), the band played the song "Two Step", where Dave Matthews sang the improvisational lyrics "let it rain", where then a thunderstorm broke out.

U2's concert on September 24, 2009, on their 360 Tour, broke the Pope's attendance record at Giants Stadium; the U2 crowd was in excess of 84,400.

While the Jets were attracted by the stadium's larger capacity (it held 15,000 more seats than Shea did in its football configuration), they were understandably displeased at the prospect of playing in a facility named after another team.

When the Jets moved in, green banners were hung over the walls and eventually over the outer gates of the stadium anytime the team hosted a game.

Midfield decorations at the 50-yard line were typically not team-specific (in early years a Meadowlands logo, and later an NFL shield), which could be used for both teams' games.

For some years, a popular urban legend purported that the remains of Jimmy Hoffa, whose disappearance coincided with construction of the stadium, had been buried under one of the end zones at the field.

The rumor was referenced in The Simpsons episode "Last Exit to Springfield", when the leader of the Springfield chapter of the "International Brotherhood of Jazz Dancers, Pastry Chefs and Nuclear Technicians" trade union is said to have mysteriously disappeared after promising to clean up the union; the body of the missing leader is then shown buried under a football field.