Baltimore's M&T gets some love

[52decleetzu]

Ranked the best football experience by city:

http://sports.espn.go.com/travel/news/story?OSC=E9hriiIMSB!1500702987!183182657!7001!-1&id=2569521

[Admin Steve]

Heinz Field is #2? Guess they didn't sit on the bleacher seats for 3 hours while a 400lb hairy woman cussed at them (my experience).

And the Johnny U statue wasn't built with the stadium. It was erected after his death.

FedEx came 26th - "Far too corporate".

OPACY came 4th in the MLB stadium rankings.

[52decleetzu]

The downtown atmosphere is what really makes M&T nice,how it is smack in the center of whats happening in the city.I was on the Skins board and that where I saw the story for the first time,they were alkl whining about what the guy said about the tailgating...LOL!!

[RavensInBrazil]

I need to experience some of that love ):

[Mista T]

I've been to many of the stadiums and in general agree with their rankings. (One of these days, I hope to have visited all of them all except Cleveland).

The strongest disagreement I have is, as mentioned by the Admin fella above, is the Heinz Ketchup at #2. Worse than the hairy women is the stadium itself: a giant erector set, with bleacher seats in the upper deck, an inadequte scoreboard, narrow concourses. This is the worst of the modern NFL stadiums.

The Superdome #14 is still the top stadium for fan comfort, IMHO. No tailgating area is offset by the nearby French Quarter and beer sales in the 4th quarter trumps the tiny single video screen.

Also disagree with both Jax (20) and Miami (24), which are dumps that should be tied for #30. And the Georgia Dome at #17? It's just slightly better than the RCA Dome, which I would rate as #31.

:mrt:

[DrUnk]

Mr. T-Lifestyles of the rich and famous.:jester:

[Mista T]

Mr. T-Lifestyles of the rich and famous.

I wish! No - it's the lifestyle of the cheapskate who combines vacations with Ravens away games, roams opponents stadiums looking for half price tickets and pounces on bargain air fares (e.g. going to Tampa for $39 this weekend).

:mrt:

[Admin Steve]

I think you will find that it is not only the architecture but other factors such as fan friendlyness, beer prices, ushers, etc. that adds up to the final score.

Maybe they both got some hot action from some stooler women <shudder>.

[Greg]

Uh, Trap, New England has a new stadium. And Green Bay has an old stadium that has been very well refurbished,

[ravensfan1996]

Well like someone else said, its not just the stadium itself, its the whole expereince. If they just went into the empty stadiums and ranked them on what they saw, it would be a whole new list. But its whole picture.

Like going to Wrigley field for a baseball game, the stadium is old and run down, but its so cool to watch a game there.

Ive been to 7 of the top 10 stadiums....Reliant stadium in houston has to be the top one for me. retractable roof, never had to wait in line for food, beer, or restrooms. They also have no ushers in the stadium! so no one in your way, if you want something you have to go get it, so maybe thats why less lines, lazy people wait til halftime! hehe

M&T is great but for some reason needs better bathroom and concession stand organization, always a big wait.

[RavenFanatic2k6]

Maybe things are different on the upper level but we have never had a problem with lines getting food where I sit. My Dad usually goes to get a drink and something to eat at halftime, and he's usually back before the HS kids are off the field.

[braven98]

Heinz Field is #2? what a dump,also Philly looks like its not finish our should be number 1

[52decleetzu]

Are you serious when you sday that there are BLEACHERS in the upper deck at Heinz Field???You have got to be joking.

[flraven]

The only complaint I'd have about M&T is the bathrooms are too small, not too much of a problem until the Stealer fans show up. Gotta wonder why the bathrooms get so mobbed when they're here. Guess they're full of it. :)

But it is cool that's its downtown and has plenty of tailgating area.

As a side note, on NFL Total Access last night, Rod Woodson was doing that 4 downs thing they do and when he was asked his favorite stadium to play in, he said "Baltimore".

They also did a tour of the Cardinals new place, pretty neat with real grass and a roof. They retract the floor so it goes outside the stadium when not in use.

[birdbrain]

I must disagree about Cleveland's stadium....I think it blows....the upper deck concourse is "very" narrow for such a new and modern stadium. In addition, although very nice, Philly's stadium has two big problems....one is the open corners on three sides of the stadium. that can cause problems for the kickers. Second, their jumbotrons are very very low....if you are sitting in the lower end zone, as I did, the screens are so low, you get distracted by them as they follow the play on the field. If they were higher like ours, no problem but they really goofed there. :179421:

[Sports Steve]

M&T Bank stadium is one of the best out there. It was designed well.



:jester: :jester:

[Mista T]

Are you serious when you sday that there are BLEACHERS in the upper deck at Heinz Field???You have got to be joking.

This is no joke. :179421: I couldn't believe it. Even many college stadiums (e.g. Navy) have done away with bleacher seats.


The only complaint I'd have about M&T is the bathrooms are too small

Not just the size, but the number (33). Potty parity was strictly a political thing. The ladies do not encounter the huge lines because their 33 restrooms are excessive. If ten women's restrooms were converted to men's, the problems would be eliminated. Give the Ravens some credit for increasing the capacity of the small upper deck men's restrooms; although the problems aren't totally fixed, there has been some improvement.

What's needed is adding more restrooms, perhaps to the outer rings of the councourses, as the City did with Memorial Stadium. And, of course, add some escalators.

Until the restroom and escalator problems are fixed, I can't see our stadium being placed in the top ten, even 15. Yeah, the downtown setting, the sightlines, the gameday experience, the purple seats, the notches, the big video screens, are all plusses. But since contemporary stadiums are built with adequate restrooms and escalators, and ours is not, they are better stadiums. Except Heinz Ketchup, of course.


They also did a tour of the Cardinals new place, pretty neat with real grass and a roof. They retract the floor so it goes outside the stadium when not in use.

It should immediately become the NFL's best stadium.

:mrt:

[Rochardrik]

:rolleyes: The ONLY good thing about Heinz, and it is not actually a part of the stadium, is the ferry ride across the monongahela, or is it the ohio? with a bar!!! The stadium is the worst piece of junk I have ever attended a game in! But hey, what do stooler fans care?... more than the comforts of home, hell, there's running water, and such!!!!:rolleyes:

[braven98]

its an upgade from the trailers they call home

[Admin Steve]

They also did a tour of the Cardinals new place, pretty neat with real grass and a roof. They retract the floor so it goes outside the stadium when not in use.

My understanding is that they can wheel out the whole field to do (for example) a car show inside. I don't think they'll be leaving out in the heat for too long though.

Otherwise, I'm not sure it would win any design awards in my book. Looks like something from the last three Star Wars movies.

http://www.azcardinals.com/nm_files/Image/stadium/view4_dayaerial.jpg http://www.azcardinals.com/nm_files/Image/stadium/view1_daytime.jpg

[Greg]

They can move the grass in and out in 65 minutes per directions, IIRC. And Steve, they anticipate having the grass outside all but aobut 20 days. It will be brought in about 1-2 days before a game and then back out. The heat isn't bad on the grass as long as they keep it watered.


But since contemporary stadiums are built with adequate restrooms and escalators, and ours is not, they are better stadiums.
Ted, I hate the lines more than anybody but these are hardly the 2 most important criteria in a stadium. First is sight lines. I put bathrooms high and escalators are on my list, but a bit down. I haven't been to enough stadiums (maybe 10) to rate them a whole lot but M&T is as good as most others. Each has their drawbacks.

[Admin Steve]

Did you know that the Cardinals turned down a Mexican restaurant chain called the 'Pink Taco' who were interested in buying the naming rights.

http://620ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=210526

Cardinals spokesman Mark Dalton stated "We're in serious discussions with companies about naming rights, and Pink Taco is not one of them".

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2006/08/21/daily10.html

That would have been something eh?

[Mista T]

First is sight lines. I put bathrooms high and escalators are on my list, but a bit down. I haven't been to enough stadiums (maybe 10) to rate them a whole lot but M&T is as good as most others.

Agree regarding sight lines, and, in that regard, we are at or near the top of the list of new stadiums which have the separate club level which throws back and stacks up the upper deck .

Escalators and restrooms shouldn't even be a subject of discussion for a modern stadium. The Maryland Stadium Authority totally fucked up in the design.

:mrt: