NFT: Football stadiums

really cool. I loved Soldier Field as well.

is really cool and a lot smaller than appears on TV. people are very welcoming and a great place to go.

In early October with the foliage changing it's one of the best places I know to watch a football game. There's also enough going on, including Cadet shy divers delivering the game ball, to keep someone who is not a football fanatic from being bored.

but did the tour of AT&T when I was in Dallas, it's amazing. So jealous. it's like a Vegas casino in Dallas.

I've been to games at Gillette, FedEx, RFK, and Ralph Wilson, as nondescript as fans think it is MetLife is as better than than all of them. Also newer. Gillette has Patriot Place around it so there's some easy stuff to do after to kill time (if you want to fight those crowds instead of traffic), but it's no easier to get out of even in the suburbs.

In comment 14039454 njm said:

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In early October with the foliage changing it's one of the best places I know to watch a football game. There's also enough going on, including Cadet shy divers delivering the game ball, to keep someone who is not a football fanatic from being bored.

Yup. I couldn't agree more. I went to an Army game 5 years ago this October with family from Jersey. We took a ferry from the Jersey Shore to lower Manhattan & then up the Hudson. It was awesome. The foliage, brews on board...I couldn't recommend it enough. A really enjoyable time.

FedEx, the Linc and BOA stadiums on the NFL end. I really like BoA stadium. It's getting a bit older (build in the 90s) but it's nice to have a stadium in a downtown location. I really don't like MetLife and didn't like FedEx either.

My favorite place to watch a game is Notre Dame stadium. The tradition of the school and the beauty of the campus usually leads to a memorable experience.

In comment 14039456 pjcas18 said:

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but did the tour of AT&T when I was in Dallas, it's amazing. So jealous. it's like a Vegas casino in Dallas. I've been to games at Gillette, FedEx, RFK, and Ralph Wilson, as nondescript as fans think it is MetLife is as better than than all of them.

+1

I'll add Tampa's stadium is a good experience - can't beat the weather and tailgaiting basically in a park (w/ palm trees, etc) as opposed to bland parking lot is a welcome change.

Lambeau kicks ass too, and Detroit's Ford Field is surprisingly very nice.

Miami's renovations are all additive - they did good work - but its still too hot to go see a game there before November.

Is great ,I also liked Tom Benson stadium in Canton i thought it was so cool to see an NFL game in a high school stadium ,Biggest dumb for Football since they play a Bowl game and an all star game there is Tropicana field lol

In Baltimore is a really good stadium. Really liked the tailgate scene and good bars close by. Has a lot of character to it. Which is my biggest complaint about Metlife. Is there anything cool or unique about Metlife? The sight lines are complete dog shit too compared to Giants stadium.

Nothing I've ever experienced as a sporting event matches it.

BC - awful, more opposing fans consistently. Saw ND, Miami, and a bunch of old Big East games (Syracuse, Pitt, etc.) Easy to sneak alcohol into.

Penn State - saw Michigan State when Curtis Enis (?) was at PSU. Great atmosphere, but the stadium seemed like a dump

Nebraska - I was at the Central Florida game when Daunte Culpepper was at UCF. Good game, he kept it close through 3 IIRC, great atmosphere, it was a sea of red

Yale Bowl - hundreds of times, talk about old school, I haven't been in probably 25 years, but it was a wood stadium with wood benches and troughs in the detached bathrooms. Best hot dogs though. Good atmosphere for Harvard, but meh otherwise, back in the day when I was a kid they'd bang out that place with 50k plus fans.

( if it is even called that anymore ) was a great experience.. You drive through a residential neighborhood to get there. People selling stuff and offering parking on their lawns. Fans are ok, got shit for wearing my Strahan jersey. I was also in a luxury box so that added to the experience.

In comment 14039509 Chef said:

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( if it is even called that anymore ) was a great experience.. You drive through a residential neighborhood to get there. People selling stuff and offering parking on their lawns. Fans are ok, got shit for wearing my Strahan jersey. I was also in a luxury box so that added to the experience.

great tailgating. stadium is a dump though (IMO).

In comment 14039510 pjcas18 said:

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In comment 14039509 Chef said: Quote: ( if it is even called that anymore ) was a great experience.. You drive through a residential neighborhood to get there. People selling stuff and offering parking on their lawns. Fans are ok, got shit for wearing my Strahan jersey. I was also in a luxury box so that added to the experience. great tailgating. stadium is a dump though (IMO).

Yeah, but I also got a chance to see Tom Brady wipe up the Bills. In the box on TV they had New York VS Green Bay with Kurt Warner starting so I was paying attention to that.

ND is awesome. Athens is great too.

I really want to go to Ole Miss. That's on my bucket list.

Notre Dame stadium, which keeps getting based with the additions and college tailgate. Saw ND/Miami at Solider Field and really enjoyed it, was able to "tailgate" on a buddy's boat on Lake Michigan. Saw a bowl game at the Orange Bowl or whatever its called in Miami, not a big fan of it. Ive been to a bunch of games at Qualcomm and that is a dated stadium. Caught a SF/Arizona game at University of Phoenix and that was the best stadium, tailgate was pretty good as we got there early and parked on a grass area.

Miami meh... Was under construction in 2014... Washington sucks with all the piped in noise. Old Chargers Stadium sucks also. Looking forward to Atlanta this year (if I can dump my Steely Dan tix for that weekend), was gonna do Houston but way too hot in September.

aside from the team that plays there and their heathen savage fans...the Linc in Philly is a really nice Stadium

Very few that I would call memorable or nice. Football stadiums are pretty charmless. NFL stadiums are worse than college on the whole.

Giants Stadium - fine memories but basically a bland bowl
MetLife - fine for its purposes, no character whatsoever
RFK - Dump
Superdome - Dump
Veterans Stadium - Dump
Whatever Seahawks stadium is called - Pretty cool actually
Heinz Field - best atmosphere I’ve seen for an NFL game, overall good experience
Ravens - not memorable in any way


College football been to a few. The notable ones:

Michigan Stadium was interesting, you feel like you are in a people soup the way the seating is set up. No atmosphere though, particularly considering the crowd size. I was opposite the sizable student section and I could see that they were jumping around and going crazy but I couldn’t hear them at all. All the sound just goes up and out.

Beaver Stadium felt bigger than Michigan even if it’s slightly smaller. Absolute fucking nightmare getting in and out of that place though, not interested in going back.

Notre Dame Stadium is cool. Campus is very nice, feels like a big event.

Michie Stadium (Army) is the best. I am biased because I grew up going here but the whole experience is great. Only problem is the football normally sucks, but that’s not the reason to go.

Going to Georgia this season.


The top few I want to see (pro or college) are Tiger Stadium (LSU), the new Cowboys Stadium and Lambeau.

in Ann Arbor is an experience. 100K +.

are my favs. The fans at Arrowhead are great and the stadium is similar to the old Giant stadium. Tampa is smaller and very fan friendly.

sucks for many reasons (location, parking, ugly colors, etc.) M&T is solid and is great for pre and post-game partying. Byrd/Maryland Stadium is outdated and the fans are either miserable or don't care (not that you can blame us.) They do sell beer inside now which is a plus. Puskar (WVU) has amazing fan support. 90% of the stadium stands for the entire game. The stadium itself is pretty basic. Navy-Marine Corps. has a fun family atmosphere. The tailgating is great, which includes halftime in and out privileges. Joe Robbie or whatever sponsor name it has now seemed run-down and is in a crappy part of town. I was there for a Bowl Game so the tailgating was fun. The old Vet was a complete shithole with asshole fans. It's gone but the fans remain.

It’s a shame that our home stadium is terrible

When I think of what football is supposed to look and feel like, that's the closest to perfect that I've seen.

Completely devoid of character or identity.

But that said, from a utilitarian standpoint I have few issues with it. I took the stairs from the top level and was out in the parking lot in less than 5 minutes. No lines at the bathroom, easy access to concessions. I didn't really have an issue from that standpoint.

It just looks like nothing from the outside.

Say what you want about Penn State but that was the most insane football atmosphere I've ever experienced

I have also been to the old Texas Stadium, Raymond James Stadium, Ralph Wilson Stadium. Texas Stadium was a dump. Raymond James was nice, I sat last row of the upper deck on the 50 yard line, and I felt like we were fairly close to the field. Ralph Wilson Stadium was an awesome environment. The Bills stunk but the place was shaking all game, no one sat down, it was a mad house. I parked in some dude’s back yard, totally different environment from MetLife. You’re driving through a residential neighborhood then all of a sudden there is an NFL stadium popping out of the ground haha.

I think the Linc is pretty cool looking, but man, the upper deck is high. And getting out is slow going. M&T seemed nice enough, didn't make much of an impression on me either way. The crab cakes were really good - not necessarily surprising for Baltimore, but for a stadium concession stand, I was pretty impressed.

I've been to the Rose Bowl too - obviously it's iconic, but didn't have much going for it other than history imo. You're pretty far from the field, and the facilities have seen better days.

In comment 14039576 BigBlue2112 said:

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Say what you want about Penn State but that was the most insane football atmosphere I've ever experienced

I was more impressed with the tailgating. I've never seen more RV's in my life.

In the stadium I didn't realize you don't have seat assignments until you walk in (at least when I went - with student tickets) and my buddy and I got separated and they handed us tickets.

we were in opposite ends of the stadium. We went to an usher and explained what happened and he kind of hooked us up, put us in the senior student section.

not sure if it still works that way.

but the stadium itself was not impressive, the crowd was and the tailgating was insane. if there was 100k people in the stadium there was maybe 150k tailgating.

Loved going to Canes games at the old OB back in the day. It was fun back then. Bench seats with the plastic butt form seat that cut off the circulation to your legs after a while. Saw so many classic games at that dump.
Miami's 1st National Championship win in 84
Hail Flutie game in 85
Maryland 31 point comeback at the hands of Frank Reich
Countless FSU and ND classics

Metlife is super functional, obviously lacks aesthetics.

My favorites in order are (overall experience, not just aesthetics):

1.) Heinz Field - Pittsburgh
2.) Ralph Wilson - Buffalo
3.) Superdome - New Orleans
4.) Candlestick Park - San Francisco
5.) Raymond James - Tampa
6.) Lincoln Financial - Philadelphia

I'm heading out to San Francisco for the Niner game this November. Hopefully that park is in a nice area than Candlestick.

as many issues with MetLife as most on here. I had endzone mezz corner seats on the 2nd level and the sight lines were great.

Have only been to concerts at Fedex but that place is a dump. Ingress and egress is awful and parking isnt much better.

might have the steepest upper deck I've been in.

In comment 14039541 Bubba said:

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are my favs. The fans at Arrowhead are great and the stadium is similar to the old Giant stadium. Tampa is smaller and very fan friendly.

Couldn't disagree more about Tampa. For one thing, the fans suck (and the dumb alternating "Tampa" "Bay" chant is grating after a while); for another, if you enter through the wrong gate, you have to go back down to the ground level to go back up to the upper bowl because the concourse doesn't go all the way around.

In comment 14039454 njm said:

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In early October with the foliage changing it's one of the best places I know to watch a football game. There's also enough going on, including Cadet shy divers delivering the game ball, to keep someone who is not a football fanatic from being bored.

I agree 100% and was just about to post the same thing. Michie Stadium in October, there's no place better to be for a great football atmosphere. The pregame tailgating is awesome too.

Looks as though it's nice, thoughts?

In comment 14039805 Rover said:

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Looks as though it's nice, thoughts?

I've been there twice. Its not bad, alot like Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. It would be better if it wasn't for the Eagles fans who are as wretched as their reputation suggests.

from a partial local native.

Thanks for the comments. Was fun to read. I have also seen but never been in was the Astrodome. One of the last times I was in Texas had to seek it out as I thought they had imploded it. Also was outside the Tampa Bay Bucs stadium twice when down in Tampa for Spring Training.

I do agree, Metlife has no character at all. When it was first built was passing it in the car with people and they were like when are they finishing the stadium and I said, its done. Thats it. Thats what it looks like.

Metlife is a bore. Very gray and generic. I understand there had to be some compromise between us and the Giants in building it but they could've come up with something more architecturally inspiring. The layout of the seats is boring. It's a bit too big. Could probably stand to lose about 5k upper deck seats. Overhangs should've been used.

Shea I loved though it was a dump it was very loud and the stands shook. Lincoln Financial Field is tremendous. It's not at all new anymore but they keep it in great shape. Also ended up liking the new Soldier Field. Going into it I thought I'd hate it

Orange Bowl was pretty decent. Unlike Joe Robbie the Orange Bowl has a great ambiance for football.

I can see Metlife getting an early renovation to give it some pizzaz. Similar to what Fedex got

is a dump. bills fans are drunk and loud, but the facility itself is old and generic.