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The Athletic: Expert NFL stadium rankings


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What makes a great NFL stadium? Is it the gameday atmosphere? The architecture? The sight lines? The concession stands? Ticket prices? History? Several of those things can also factor into what makes a bad venue.



There are a variety of ways you can break them all down. Last season, there were 31 stadiums for the league’s 32 teams. There are now 30, with the Giants and Jets sharing MetLife Stadium in New Jersey as the Rams and Chargers share SoFi Stadium in southern California.

Since The Athletic has quite a few NFL reporters, we decided to use our experiences to put together a ranking of the league’s best and worst stadiums. In the process, we also figured out which ones rank somewhere in the middle.

To reach our final totals, we had 31 NFL writers rank the NFL’s five best and five worst stadiums in order. Since games have not been played in SoFi Stadium or Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, those were omitted from this exercise. However, the L.A. Memorial Coliseum (Rams), Dignity Health Sports Park (Chargers) and Oakland Coliseum (Raiders) were all part of the survey since teams played in those stadiums last season. (Note: Every reporter in this survey has not been to every stadium.)

 

 

New Era 24th
 

1st US Bank Stadium, Vikings

 

Last FedEx Field, No Names

 

Hard Rock and MetLife both ranked below New Era. The Big Razor in Foxboro was 20th

Edited by YoloinOhio
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8 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:
New Era 24th

 

1st US Bank Stadium, Vikings

 

Last FedEx Field, No Names

 

Hard Rock and MetLife both ranked below New Era. The Big Razor in Foxboro was 20th

 

24 sounds about right.

 

Where were the old stadiums (L.A. Memorial Coliseum (Rams), Dignity Health Sports Park (Chargers) and Oakland Coliseum (Raiders)) ranked?

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7 minutes ago, Greg S said:

I can personally say MetLife is a POS. I miss Giants Stadium.

I can personally disagree with you on that.  I was there in 2013 weekend before Thanksgiving to see Giants-Cowboys.  Seemed like a real nice venue to me.  What don't you like about it?   Site lines were excellent.  Not a palace but a nice solid stadium right near the swamps of Northern Jersey.  Took the Path Train from Penn Station in Manhattan.  It was a good time.

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24 is generous if judging amenities, number of bathrooms and concourse size and suites etc. New Era excels at game day experience outside and even though it is old, it still have great sight lines and perfect for football viewing. My bet is those help weight it higher. 

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30 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

24 sounds about right.

 

Where were the old stadiums (L.A. Memorial Coliseum (Rams), Dignity Health Sports Park (Chargers) and Oakland Coliseum (Raiders)) ranked?

chargers soccer field was 21st
At the bottom:

27. Paul Brown Stadium (Bengals)

28. L.A. Memorial Coliseum (Rams)

29. Oakland Coliseum (Raiders)

30. TIAA Bank Field (Jaguars)

31. FedExField (Washington)

23 minutes ago, SlimShady'sSpaceForce said:

Not a subscriber.   Where does crappy M&T Bank fit in ? 

 

16

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3 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

chargers soccer field was 21st
At the bottom:

27. Paul Brown Stadium (Bengals)

28. L.A. Memorial Coliseum (Rams)

29. Oakland Coliseum (Raiders)

30. TIAA Bank Field (Jaguars)

31. FedExField (Washington)

 

 

Thanks. So assuming the new Rams/Chargers and Raiders stadiums will be ranked ahead of New Era, we're actually at 26 out of 30. Not great, but I guess not too out of line.

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54 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

 

 

 

New Era 24th
 

1st US Bank Stadium, Vikings

 

Last FedEx Field, No Names

 

Hard Rock and MetLife both ranked below New Era. The Big Razor in Foxboro was 20th

 

Did you also catch the name in the article, one of the architectural firms involved with a number of these new buildings, didn't he play for Buffalo

 

“What we find is that we’re constantly in a re-adaptation of these venues. Constantly,” said Scott Radecic, a former NFL linebacker and founder and senior principal at architectural design firm Populous.

 

 

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1 hour ago, SlimShady'sSpaceForce said:

Not a subscriber.   Where does crappy M&T Bank fit in ? 

 

1. U.S. Bank Stadium (Vikings)

2. CenturyLink Field (Seahawks)

3. AT&T Stadium (Cowboys)

4. Lambeau Field (Packers)

5. Arrowhead Stadium (Chiefs)

6. Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Falcons)

7. Soldier Field (Bears)

8. State Farm Stadium (Cardinals)

9. Lincoln Financial Field (Eagles)

10. Heinz Field (Steelers)

11. Empower Field at Mile High (Broncos)

12. Levi’s Stadium (49ers)

13. Lucas Oil Stadium (Colts)

14. Mercedes-Benz Superdome (Saints)

15. Raymond James Stadium (Buccaneers)

16. M&T Bank Stadium (Ravens)

17. Nissan Stadium (Titans)

18. NRG Stadium (Texans)

19. Ford Field (Lions)

20. Gillette Stadium (Patriots)

21. Dignity Health Sports Park (Chargers)

22. Bank of America Stadium (Panthers)

23. FirstEnergy Stadium (Browns)

24. New Era Field (Bills)

25. Hard Rock Stadium (Dolphins)

26. MetLife Stadium (Giants/Jets)

27. Paul Brown Stadium (Bengals)

28. L.A. Memorial Coliseum (Rams)

29. Oakland Coliseum (Raiders)

30. TIAA Bank Field (Jaguars)

31. FedExField (Washington)

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24 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

8. State Farm Stadium (Cardinals)

 

Remember reporters never get bad seats - I went to Cardinals game and  "obstructed seating" was behind a girder under an overhang and you could see maybe 1/10 of the field.

 

It would be better to rate each feature and let readers determine what is best stadium for themselves.

  • Are heated toilets more important than sight lines?
  • Is number of beers available or cost per beer more important?
  • Is number of zeroes in ticket cost more important so you can feel elite or value of that ticket more important when the difference in cost is difference between taking a bus to game place or plane?

 

Edited by Limeaid
typo
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1 hour ago, Paup 1995MVP said:

I can personally disagree with you on that.  I was there in 2013 weekend before Thanksgiving to see Giants-Cowboys.  Seemed like a real nice venue to me.  What don't you like about it?   Site lines were excellent.  Not a palace but a nice solid stadium right near the swamps of Northern Jersey.  Took the Path Train from Penn Station in Manhattan.  It was a good time.

Ya I like MetLife. 

I live in NJ , about 15 min away from the stadium.  I was at the opening  XFL game there, had field access and it was an amazing experience. You can watch from field,  or the stands and have a restaurant/bar right there on field level.  

Overall I feel it's a significant upgrade over the Meadowlands 

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5 minutes ago, Patrick Moran said:

Never been to VIkings stadium but now i"m much more intrigued. 

It looks amazing

 

i would personally Lucas oil higher. I haven’t been to all of them but to me it seems perfect as a venue. Maybe they downgraded it on atmosphere as the fans aren’t too boisterous 

 

Edited by YoloinOhio
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14 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Oh Lordy, we're plumbing the depths of the sports dearth here.  New Era ranked after the Factory of Sadness on the lake SW of us?

 

to be fair, most dystopian novels have some form of grand entertainment to take away from the dirty, ugly stuff going right in front of people's eyes. Fahrenheit 451 had giant wall sized TVs, 1981 had the two minutes of hate, the Imperium of Man from Warhammer 40k has the litany of hate, Bring it On has cheerleading. Just like these exampls of dystopian society, I'd say Cleveland's stadium having some features like a larger scoreboard that new era lacks is understandable. 

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4 minutes ago, jeremy2020 said:

 

to be fair, most dystopian novels have some form of grand entertainment to take away from the dirty, ugly stuff going right in front of people's eyes. Fahrenheit 451 had giant wall sized TVs, 1981 had the two minutes of hate, the Imperium of Man from Warhammer 40k has the litany of hate, Bring it On has cheerleading. Just like these exampls of dystopian society, I'd say Cleveland's stadium having some features like a larger scoreboard that new era lacks is understandable. 

 

Brrr, it's cold in here. I said there must be some Toros in the atmosphere!

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