Hard to believe that going into 2015 we will be entering the 6th year of MetLife Stadium. I know that we have gone over the good and the bad about it in the past, but I'm hoping to talk about what can be done better now that we should consider it to be "broken in" at this point.
We are getting ready for a new season, so let's try to start positive.
The Good:
- I like the several points of entry/exits. As much as I liked the classic spirals of Giants Stadium, as I now take my 2 kids to the game, having more options to get in and out is a big plus.
- Food options are better
- The Legacy Club offers a good opportunity to see the Trophies and interactive history of the team. It makes for a nice stopping point before the game to take people who have never been there before.
- The 4 screens by the field give more options for viewing replays
- Stadium shop is pretty nice (if pricey)
- You feel "closer" to the field in the new Stadium. They reduced more space from the out of bounds areas to the stands. I know that in my seats in Giants Stadium, I was in row 11 in the end zone. My current seats are row 19, but I'm actually closer to the field the way the stadium is set up. Or maybe it's an optical illusion and I'm just stupid.
- Stadium lights up at night to reflect the color of the home team that week (Giants blue/ Jets green)
- Cup Holders! Yes, something so simple yet effective. I've lost too many drinks to count in Giants Stadium setting my drink down on the floor and either knocking it over myself or someone coming through the aisle.
What's not so good:
- Hate the dark grey/light grey color scheme. I liked the old red seats. But I get that in a stadium with 2 teams, there was compromise, but still just feels bland as hell.
- No real advantage to the elements anymore. The old stadium had character and once it turned to November and got cold, the winds would swirl around and Giants Stadium became impossible to throw against the wind. The Giants would build their team around it. In MetLife, maybe it's because of all the different exits, but the former wind tunnel effects are kind of gone now.
- To that point, the Stadium isn't as loud anymore. I know that we can go after the fans sitting on their hands, the down in front crowd, the PSLs killing off the ability for the diehards to come every week because they will sell to recoup $$, etc. But I think it goes beyond that. Something seems off in the acoustics of the place. I'm not an engineer so I couldn't begin to say if this is a structural thing. But at least from my experience in being in Giants Stadium from 1987-2009 and now 5 years of MetLife, the old stadium seemed louder.
- WIFI- At least MetLife decided to honor Giants Stadium by essentially not having functional WIFI. However, since Giants Stadium never offered WIFI and it has been packaged as a plus to season ticket holders is kind of a problem, especially in 2015. I hope the Giants or the NJ Sports Authority have this fixed coming into this year. And I'm not talking about the jackasses goofing around on Facebook looking at their friend's feed. I can't stand the fans that come to the game who don't know what's going on. I remember going to a game a few years ago and this one guy behind us was curious why the Giants came on to punt and my then 6 year old turned to him and said "because it's 4th and 10, of course they have to punt" (ps- no it wasn't Mook or DCPollaro). I actually want the WIFI in place because there are supposed to be perks to downloading the Giants app to see different camera angles during the game, replays, etc. Also, and maybe this is my fault, I actually like to check in on the BBI game thread to see if there was something I missed (ie- an injury). Taking a peek at my fantasy team during timeouts doesn't hurt either. Point is, the WIFI is barely functional during warmups when the crowd hasn't filed in, and pretty much dies as soon as the game starts as the fans get to their seats.
I know there are things which are in place because they had to collaborate with the Jets and with that comes problems. But I'm hoping that the Giants can make some of these things better from a fan perspective to go to the games. The NFL is going to have a very big problem in coming years having fans come out to the games as the home experience has gotten better (bigger HDTVs, no traffic, ticket expenses, etc.) that they need to find a better way to incentivise fans that come to the games. Yes, I love the feel of walking through the parking lot to get to the game, seeing all the tailgates, being there in the crowd when there is a big play, etc. But I also know a lot of season ticket holders who (granted some are getting older), would just assume go to a couple of handpicked games and then sell the rest.
Any other thoughts on what can be done to make it better in 2015?
Other improvements:
-better bathrooms
-the video boards outside the stadium are nice for watching 1pm games when the Giants play at 4.
The stadium experience is dull whereas Giants stadium quite the opposite. They botched this stadium.
Not enough port o johns in the out lying lots either. I park in K2, there is a single pisser for the lot. How cheap can you be?
Getting in sucks. Its built post 9/11, they should have access and staff to get people in quickly without.
Getting to the second to last row sucks once I am in as does getting down. One set of escalators peer gate to serve the whole stadium? The architect should lose his license. I'd love to see the egress analysis submitted to the building department, it must have included a blank check.
I have been to half a dozen of the newer stadium, I like out the least.
I also find the lit exterior of MetLife to be highly disappointing. When I heard of the concept I was expecting what we see in Munich with the Allianz Arena:
MetLife by comparison:
I have no complaints with ingress/egress (I got out from one of the top rows of the upper deck in 10 minutes using the stairs), concourses, food, etc. But it's a dull place that may as well be any of the other dull places the NFL is played. A big part of the dullness is probably the crowd...you get the sense that a lot of good fans were either priced out or forced to sell their tickets to out of towners.
The whole stadium cost 1.7B to build. but they went cheap on the colored exterior lighting on game day, probably saved a few thousand bucks. smh
one of the few?
Everyone loved that stadium
I get choked up every time I hear Bruce's "Wrecking Ball"
I'm honestly done going to games there unless I can get a really sweet deal on tickets. I've been to 5 games there and the Giants only won one of them. Best part is always tailgating, which I feel is still pretty decent.
That may be true, but around the time of the stadium's demolition and the building of Met Life there was a distinct lack of voices publicly lamenting its loss.
Frankly, I was one of the only writers to post something resembling a eulogy.
Bluenatic: The Wrecking Ball Can Wait - ( New Window )
With a seating capacity of 82,500, New Meadowlands Stadium is equipped with four massive high-definition (HD) video display scoreboards and more than 2,200 HD video displays located throughout the facility – all designed to provide fans with access to the game virtually anywhere in the venue. All of the 2,200 video displays are powered by the latest release of Cisco StadiumVision™, an innovative digital video and content distribution system that centrally controls and delivers customized sports and entertainment experiences, advertising, promotions and general venue information to meet the needs of fans and patrons at the facility.
During sporting events, Cisco StadiumVision technology will present live game footage, team trivia, news and weather information. It is also flexibly designed to allow New Meadowlands stadium operators to change the entire color scheme, content and team branding from Giants blue to Jets green with the push of a few buttons. This same flexible offering can be easily adapted to accommodate concerts, conferences and other unique sporting events hosted at the stadium.
Verizon is teaming with Cisco to bring 34 channels of customized HD content into the stadium allowing fans to view multiple games and other content at the same time in select areas of the facility. In addition, Verizon will install throughout the stadium a comprehensive wireless network designed to accommodate fan access to relevant sports and entertainment content.
The Giants and Jets are working with Verizon Wireless to offer fans mobile apps that feature concessions information, team news, player information, scores and highlights, as well as alerts and text messaging. The Jets and Giants will be among the first to offer these team specific applications to their fans in the fall, complementing the NFL Mobile app available only from Verizon Wireless.
That was from 2010. 5 years later it still sucks balls.
- Stairs are the way to go up and down. I take the gate in on the 50 yard line, then the escalator up to the main concourse. Then straight to the stairs. It's a workout, but who here couldn't use one after a tailgate party?
- Who needs toilets in the parking lot? I either piss behind the trees by Rt.3, or pull a double-door-trick (open front and back car doors, and let it rip)!
- WiFi is a complete embarrassment. But the LTE service has made huge improvements since the first few years.
- I'm still happy that I no longer have to deal with the bitchy old man who sat next to me for 11 years at Giants Stadium calling the coach "COG-lin" and second guessing everything.
The whole design sucks balls. The grey seats are dull. the lack of LCD lighting outside in a stadium that expensive is ridiculous. they actually have to manually change colored discs over the lights outside to match the event. The Giants had a cheaper and more classic design ready to go. the Jets came on board and the design changed to this tin can and the costs nearly doubled. i can understand compromising on the look, but how the Hell did the price tag nearly double...and for this design?
The PSL and ticket prices way too high. More importantly, why are there different costs for the two fan bases? The seats aren't different. The two teams are equal partners. So, the seats should cost the same for both fans.
In fact, there's not much to like about the new stadium. It's more expensive, the sightlines are worse just about all the way around, it's drab.
After initially missing out on all but the end zone uppers, I was happy when someone called (private party) to offer me a decent upper level ticket on the 20, but that went out the window after I sat in them once. You could barely make out the field. I passed, and haven't regretted it since.
If I were charged with long range planning for the NFL, this would be at the top of my list of threats to the long term success of the league. It's not crazy to envision a future with stadiums that are half full or worse.
One solution may be to construct smaller stadiums. However now that the NFL's 20 year program of using Los Angeles as a threat to get new stadiums built leaguewide is coming to an end, this will be an interesting challenge for them going forward.
Definitely the WiFI situation needs fixing. Though, if you are in the Chase Club where I sit for some other events there, the service works just fine.
The overall cell phone service has been odd. I think it's because of the seating and the metallic, but I could be wrong. I remember trying to send a pic and text during the game and had a hard time getting through. But when I got to the concourse area a few feet away, everything was fine.
There is an insane amount of down time when you're at a game. When you're home when it goes on commercial you can quickly flip the channel to another game. Those at the game can't do that. When you're home you can check scores easily during that time.
I don't play fantasy football anymore but I do like during tv timeouts to be able to check scores. I also like to read BBI if there's a controversial play or to get injury updates.
They marketed how good it would be when they were trying to get people to buy PSL's and they failed to deliver.
I don't either. But I also don't get wanting giant tvs over each end zone, stands that sell $13 IPAs, or swimming pools overlooking the field. It goes back to the fans needing to be distracted from the basic fact that TV has made attending a football game very boring.
The only improvement in new stadium I give a damn about is the jumbotrons. That's it. Improved concessions? Who cares. I tailgate for hours before any game I go to, I don't touch food once in. And since I drive, I usually don't even have a beer either. Escalators are terrible compared the single shot escaltors at old stadium. Stadium is all grey and drab, barely feels like Giants home field.
One thing I do disagree with is the "distance" from the field. I am mezzanine in the same exact seats as old stadium (cornerish end zone). I did however move up two rows from 7 to 5. But I certainly find them closer to the field.
Another big negative I haven't seen mentioned is the seats are SMALLER! At the old stadium everyone can sit back comfortably. In my new seats if you are sitting next to any relative broad shouldered guy (and I am small), you can't even sit back comfortably at the same time. That is a joke.
And not having my mezzanine seats covered anymore is a big loss. Was wonderful NEVER having to be worried about getting rained on. Now the only way to be covered is to be way too far back in the mezzanine end zone. So that sucks too.
And Greg in LI, you have NEVER been to the new stadium? No offense, but how is that possible? Sounds like you are local from your handle. And you are obviously a huge fan since you are on BBI, and a frequent poster no less. That baffles me...that a local fan like that can go 5+ years without going to a game.
And it's not really baffling that someone in the area wouldn't go to a game in 5 years. A lot of people don't want to go to the games, they like TV experience better. I don't feel that way but it doesn't make them any less of a fan.
And with the cost of tickets and parking/concessions some people simply can't afford it, either.
I would prefer 100/100 to sit at home in front of the 60" screen on my couch, right next to the kitchen with my shitter close by sharing with no one.
But that's my point. There are a million stoppages that completely destroy the experience of watching a game.
The stadium is deeply flawed, but I suspect one could go see the Seahawks play in their gorgeous building and still get a shitty game experience.
Think about the old Giants Stadium. With the possible exception of the sight lines, the old place was inferior in every way. Yet our memories of games there blow the current experience out of the water.
The problem isn't the stadium.
The point being - there's no good reason to not have functioning WiFi. It's a service they advertise offering, and it's really not a service that other venues have trouble providing. Why MetLife can't deliver is beyond me.
This. As a non-season-ticket-holder who typically sits in the upper deck when I go to a Giants game, I cannot believe how much worse the views are from the upper deck in Met Life compared to the old stadium, where the views from the upper deck were generally very good.
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do you just sit there with your thumb up your ass during timeouts? Or do you flip the station, check out other games, check on scores? That's why people want Wifi during the game.
But that's my point. There are a million stoppages that completely destroy the experience of watching a game.
The stadium is deeply flawed, but I suspect one could go see the Seahawks play in their gorgeous building and still get a shitty game experience.
Think about the old Giants Stadium. With the possible exception of the sight lines, the old place was inferior in every way. Yet our memories of games there blow the current experience out of the water.
The problem isn't the stadium.
However, with that I think there are still some key benefits to going to a game you just don't get at home. The game IMO is awesome to watch in person, in real time (easier to follow as it seems slower), Tailgating, plus being part of an experience 80,000 other people are all supposed to be glued too as well (nothing better than a stadium erupting in celebration after a big play, score.
With that said, I think all this gimmicky shit to try and get people in the stadium (Free Wifi, Fancy Concessions, Games, Massive Jumbo Trons, Luxury Box Seats, etc) has actually had the unintended consequence of making the game less enjoyable to be there. Call me a minimalist or whatever, but I would prefer to go to a game like they used to play at the polo grounds, yankee stadium, yale bowl, etc. One where there aren't any distractions, where there is just the fans and football game, that's it.
To make matters even worse, every year it seems they restrict more and more things you can bring with you into the stadium as well, which has only hampered the experience when your extorted into having to pay exorbitant prices for things you could have just brought in with you. It's this reason why when I go to the game, I am always reminded how much easier and more enjoyable it us to just watch the game at home.
The PSL contract assumes a lifetime of 30 years for the stadium, so 24 more to go. God willing, we'll all be alive for then.
After spending a couple of hours negotiating into the lot with a "blue" pass, you then walk through an almost empty "red" pass lot right next to the stadium. Its crazy because there are never any cars in there.
The selective memory of old Giants Stadium is kind of interesting. Does anyone remember trying to get through the concourse at halftime? It was impossible - by the time you got out to the rings for a smoke, they were already kicking off the second half.
Lower bowl seats are very good in MetLife and that's my big positive. Aesthetically, its awful (almost embarrassing) looking. How they fucked it up so bad is beyond me...
2) I have been to two games in the new stadium and it is not really because I would prefer to stay in the comfort of my home. It is cost prohibitive. To take my son, it would cost well over $300 for one game when you factor in food and transportation. I find that ridiculous.
3) The seats and views suck. There is less leg room in this arena. So, I don't give a flying fuck that the concourse is wider. In the upper tier, as jcn pointed out, any seat in the upper tier is worse than the last row of the old stadium. It is that bad. I now turn down some opportunities because on top of the cost, I just don't find it enjoyable to cram into a seat where I can barely see the action.
4) To a lesser degree, I don't find the food options better. I don't think they are worse. But, it is typical stadium fare. Maybe there are terrific options on the lower level or in the clubs. But, in the upper tier, where I have been, there is nothing to get excited over.
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Because they can't possibly fuck up the next one worse than they did with this one, can they?
The PSL contract assumes a lifetime of 30 years for the stadium, so 24 more to go. God willing, we'll all be alive for then.
Thanks
Is there any substance for placing this at the feet of the Jets or is this misplaced blame?
I don't think its too much to lay some blame for the lack of personality of the stadium on the fact that it is a shared stadium
Hello?
- I like the several points of entry/exits. As much as I liked the classic spirals of Giants Stadium, as I now take my 2 kids to the game, having more options to get in and out is a big plus.
Entry and exit suck in Metlife for upper deck fans. Giants Stadium had escalators that went directly to the 2nd and 3rd decks. Now everyone has to use the same series of escalators or ramps. As you exit from the upper decks, you eventually mix in with the crowd from the lower decks. It takes much longer to get out. Likewise, when entering the stadium, instead of taking a single escalator right to the top, you now have to zig zag your way through each deck. It sucks!
Again, not true for the upper deck. I have basically teh same seats as I had in Giants Stadium (Upper deck row 8 now vs row 7 previously) and my seats are much farther from the field both horizontally and vertically. In Giants Stadium, the levels were stacked over each other so that everyone remained fairly close (horizontally) to the field. In Metlife, the levels are stepped so that each level gets farther away. Metlif is also much taller (you could see that when both stadiums were still in place) so the upper deck seats are much higher than before. I used to have trouble reading names on the players' jerseys, now I have trouble reading numbers (and it's not just because of my aging eyesight).
Seems that most of the complaints come from being upstairs. That's one of the reasons I miss the turnstiles.
Is there any substance for placing this at the feet of the Jets or is this misplaced blame?
The Giants really should have told the Jets to take a walk. It's not our responsibility to solve their problem of not being able to build their dream stadium. Instead, we compromised much more in terms of design, fan experience, cost, etc.
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weren't the Jets' stadium proposals very attractive and ambitious, the one of which I remember being built in Manhattan?
Is there any substance for placing this at the feet of the Jets or is this misplaced blame?
The Giants had a brick design that looked more traditional, but with modern amenities. The Jets designs for the West Side stadium were ambitious, but had a look closer to what we have now. Regardless, I don't see how this stadium ended up costing nearly double what the Giants plans were going to cost.
The Giants really should have told the Jets to take a walk. It's not our responsibility to solve their problem of not being able to build their dream stadium. Instead, we compromised much more in terms of design, fan experience, cost, etc.
did the Giants ever actually have a design of this alleged more "traditional" building? I don't remember even seeing renderings. And a Giant only stadium wouldn't have cost half - that's just fiction.
The big negative things are, it's drab & gray. Not as loud, except for the playoffs. The crowd is definitely not as fun. They priced the fans out of their seats with the PSL's.