Best/Worst Stadium Experiences

I have not been in very many major-league or college ball parks in total. Arrowhead and Kaufmann are both great and I love going to Coors Field.

The Metrodome, for baseball anyway, was the worst by far.

 

Putting this hear instead of an NFL thread because, well, FedExField might be doomed?

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos interested in owning NFL team, has strong support among current owners

 

My 2 favorite arenas of all-time. Such charm and intimidation. Never covered a game at St. Louis Arena, but covered a few in the final few seasons of Chicago Stadium.

In the final year, got there super early for a Bulls game and just wandered around the basement. Encountered a couple of the badass cats who lived there (they could have killed me if they wanted) and found Phil Jackson at the deserted end of one hallway, sitting in a folding chair blazing a heater.

He offered me one. I declined but we sat and chatted about the NFL for 5 or 10 minutes. He was extremely cool.

 

Cool story!

 

I often daydream about the stadiums I missed.

Ebbets Field. The Polo Grounds. The Madison Square Garden Bowl in Queens.

The wooden stadium they built in Reno for the Johnson - Jeffries fight. The old velodromes.

Stillman's Gym on 8th Avenue.

 

I think Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds were probably dumps, by today's standards. But yes, I would have loved to have attended a game there. I walk with a guy who was born inn NYC in 1948 and who has attended games there; his dad played football at both venues as CCNY's quarterback back in the day.

 

Please let Bezos get an NFL team while Trump still draws breath. Pretty please.

 

I also enjoy the old stadiums and there are still quite a few, contrary to what some say.

Best:
For college football, it’s tough to beat the atmosphere at Norte Dame, though my favorite overall experience may have been at Husky Stadium in Seattle. Beautiful, recently renovated stadium that is surrounded by a lake and in a great part of town and actually on a college campus.

The Rose Bowl and the LA Coliseum are also up there with my favorite places to catch a game, and I don’t care for UCLA or USC.

CenturyLink and Soldier Field are my favorites for NFL. For MLB, PNC Park and Camden Yards beat Fenway and Dodger Stadium — but all four are pretty great.

Worst:
FedEx Field by a mile. Ugly design, terrible parking, not a great part of town. Oh, and the fans are some of the worst.

By contrast, RFK Stadium was once a great place to watch a game.

Second worst? Petco Park. San Diego is great and all, but the atmosphere at Petco is dead and the stadium has no character.

 

I had to think about my answer to this for a while. As a beat reporter and columnist, I visited eight or nine venues, and never had what I would consider a bad experience.

As a spectator growing up, however, I can't say I thought very highly of the old venues in Toledo. Both Ned Skeldon Stadium (which wasn't even in city proper) and the Toledo Sports Arena overstayed their welcome. They each showed their age inside and out, each lacked any personality, the arena's PA system was practically inaudible and the concessions served the only bad pizza I have ever encountered. I have to imagine Fifth Third Field and the Huntington Center were welcome upgrades.

 

Thank you for this. I live in SoCal and so many people love that ballpark. Maybe it's because it's (sort of ) new.

I agree that the atmosphere is dead. There also is no flow to the stadium. Depending where you enter and where your seats are, there's a lot of go up the stairs then back down the stairs, or vice versa.

There are a lot of food options, I'll give it that. And a pretty nice Padres Hall of Fame too.