Worst Stadium You Have Seen (inspired by the Vols)

Submitted by marc_from_novi on

I am down in Knoxville visiting family and wandered over to University of Tennessee's football stadium today. I have to say I was shocked by how run down and ugly it is. I have been to most stadiums in the Big Ten (still need to visit Wisconsin and Minnesota) plus ND. Neyland Stadium is by far the worst that I have seen. It reminds me of the final days of Tiger Stadium with all of the rust and peeling paint. Total erector set POS. Have you been similarly surprised by any of the stadiums you have seen?

blueheron

April 7th, 2010 at 5:30 PM ^

The Astrodome is really ugly. (That's maybe understandable when its age is considered.) Also, Pauley Pavilion at UCLA, for all its storied history, is really underwhelming in-person.

formerlyanonymous

April 7th, 2010 at 6:05 PM ^

Co-sign on the Dome. It's last few years with the Astros were getting bad. After they left, the high school games they held there were horrible. There is a working toilet in one of the player tunnels that appeared to be a homeless man's treasure. Wild rats being chased by wild cats all over the place. Turf full of staph. Just generally crappy building.

It's a shame they can't just destroy it. It's too costly as they can't implode it. Too much weight from the glass ceiling has permanently put too much stress on the halo, pieces would fly 50 miles into the Gulf of Mexico. So with Reliant Stadium just about 500 feet away, they aren't risking any of that. They'd have to tear it down piece by piece, almost as slowly as it was built. Might have 2-3 years to the process, and between Rodeo season and NFL season, I'm not sure they can afford that long of major deconstruction right in the middle of Reliant Park.

Robbie Moore

April 7th, 2010 at 9:27 PM ^

I saw the Mariners play at the old Kingdome. It was beyond awful. It had a concrete roof (!) and the "noise" from the crowd of 5,000 or so echoed off it. The loudest thing in the place was a peanut vendor, whose dulcet tones echoed off the roof and could be heard on the other side of the stadium. Like watching baseball in a mausoleum.

Almost forgot a second dome. Stade Olympique in Montreal. Dreadful is too kind. It had the first "retractable" dome but it mostly was broken and stuck open, which wasn't a good thing in a Montreal April.

KinesiologyNerd

April 7th, 2010 at 9:01 PM ^

I went to the OSU-Wisconsin game this year, and while it was weird as hell being there, I didn't mind it When you get inside with the bell and everything it's pretty cool.

Those stupid Block O student sections are awful though. The have megaphones set to lead cheers... stupidest shit ever. I sat with my friend at his dad's alumni/donor seats so I had a great view and the people around me were surprising tolerant and understanding upon discovering the where I am getting my degree.

Oh and the pizza was pretty good.

GoBlueYork

April 7th, 2010 at 5:46 PM ^

1) Shea Stadium - next to an airport, sewage issues, escalator was a death trap
2) Giants Stadium - see above
3) Comerica - don't feel safe outside, no atmosphere inside

topgun161

April 7th, 2010 at 6:20 PM ^

When did you go to Comerica? If you went in the early 2000s to a game against the Royals, maybe there was no atmosphere. There has been plenty of great atmosphere down there since the beginning of 2006. I've never once felt unsafe outside of the stadium either. There are thousands of people around and it's not a bad part of town at all.

As for bad stadiums, the Metrodome was/is a piece of crap. I'm so glad Minnesota football built an on campus stadium. The place was awful for baseball too with the ridiculous infield bounces and half the outfield seats tarped off. YUCK!

letsgoblue213

April 7th, 2010 at 6:49 PM ^

It depends on what time of year he went to Comerica and what other stadiums he has been to. It doesn't always get very loud, but the pennant race atmosphere always seems pretty exciting. Aside from Comerica, I have only been to Wrigley and U.S. Cellular Field, so I would rank Comerica's atmosphere behind those two, but I think those two parks are more exceptions for being good atmospheres than Comerica is for being bad. I would guess that Comerica's atmosphere would be at least better than half of the MLB.

Rico616

April 7th, 2010 at 6:58 PM ^

No way I was at a Tigers-Sox game last summer at the Cell and it was so boring. The crowd wasnt into it whatsoever. I had taken the girl I was with to a Tigers-Yankees gane @ Comerica a week or 2 earlier and she said Comerica was mos def a better experience, and shes from Chicago!

I went to Shea a few times in 2008...wow that stadium sucked! There were a lopt of seats with obstructed views. I also managed to make it to Yankee Stadium, the field and atmosphere was excellent but however when you're in the stadium around the restroom/concession areas it was a little tight but then again it was built a long time ago when America didnt have so many fat asses lol.

Wrigley is a shitty stadium but the atmosphere makes for a fun time as it is the biggest bar in Chicago. Especially when the Cubs lose haha.

formerlyanonymous

April 7th, 2010 at 7:16 PM ^

Yeah, having been to 17 MLB parks in my life, Comerica ranks in the top 5. I've been there a few times, 5 or 6, always a good crowd/time. White Sox, I've been there twice, neither time were the fans into it. The park itself is probably in my lower tier. It just seemed kind of plain, boxed in with no view from the inside.

Comerica has a nice view of down town, the park has several interesting architectural features including the tiger statues, the history boards, that bats at the gates. It has a nice flat design. I've never been a fan of the extremely high nose bleeds like the old Astrodome. Nor am I a fan of stacking fans at steep angles like old Yankee Stadium's upper decks or Minute Maid Park in Houston. I always feel like I'm going to trip and be unable to stop myself when I visit Minute Maid's upper deck.

formerlyanonymous

April 7th, 2010 at 9:43 PM ^

West coast is all of them I've missed. I'll openly admit that helps their cause because everything I've ever heard of from the west is awesome. Just worked out that I was traveling the Midwest and East coast during baseball season, and did my West coast swing in January/February so I could escape the snow.

PNC is also in my top 5, probably #1, I can't ever decide. New Busch Stadium is vying for the top spot, and it's hard to pass up. If we talking experiences included in how nice the park is, Fenway and Wrigley are probably in the 3-5 range with Comerica. If we're talking just the park, Wrigley and Fenway drop way down, Wrigley considerably further.

After those five, it gets tough. I've been to Minute Maid, Miller Park, Great American Ballpark, old Yankee Stadium, Rogers Centre, Turner Field, Progressive Field, Camden Field, and Nationals Park. All of those had positives and negatives, and I'm not sure I can rank any of them any higher than any other.

I've also been to old Shea and the Metrodome, but yeah, those are definite way below the others. I'm hoping to make it out to the Ballpark in Arlington (or whatever it's called these days) sometime in the next few weeks and add that to the list as my first Western Division park in either league.

jmblue

April 8th, 2010 at 2:28 AM ^

I'm a Tiger fan, but I'm just lukewarm towards Comerica. It has its frills, like the view of downtown and all the tiger decorations and such, but when it comes to actually watching the game, I don't think it's that great. I realize that we were spoiled with Tiger Stadium, but I can't stand the upper deck in Comerica - it's much, much farther away from the action that Tiger Stadium's was. I have a hard time getting into the game from seats that far away. Most of the lower-deck seats are good, but not the ones in left field and part of the third-base line - there, you're blinded by the setting sun in the evening. So basically, in a 40,000-seat stadium there are like 15-18,000 seats that are actually good (lower deck seats that aren't in line of the sun). Tiger Stadium had more than that.

st barth

April 8th, 2010 at 6:54 PM ^

The upper deck at the old Tiger Stadium was awesome. I know many people complained about the obstructed views caused by the poles to hold it up, but if you ever got a chance to sit in the first 4-5 rows of the upper deck then you'd understand it was worth the obstructions below. Those seats were so close to the field it was like you were floating above it in a hovercraft of something. Absolutely magical.

GoBlueYork

April 7th, 2010 at 9:58 PM ^

The seats are too far away. rather than going up they go back.

The seats are turned towards the outfield, not towards the mound

There's a fucking merry-go-round in the main concourse. wtf?

Literally no energy in the ballpark (given both games were matinees and the stadium was mostly empty)

I was accosted by about 50 homeless to and from the parking lot

Just because the stadium's new, doesn't mean it's good. I think they screwed up Comerica just like they screwed up the Cell in Chi-town.

Best ballparks I've been to were Citizens Bank (easily number one), old Busch Stadium, Camden Yards and Dodger Stadium

VectorVictor05

April 8th, 2010 at 10:26 AM ^

Yeah...losing 119 games will take the life out of a crowd. Not really fair to judge a stadium's atmosphere on the worst season in the franchise's history. Night and weekend games (especially late in the season) have been a blast the last 4-5 years...even w/ the massive inconvenience of shifting 1.5 inches in your seat to face the mound.

Agreed on some of the architectural stuff...the lack of stadium seating bothers me as well. Let's not even consider the scoreboard in left field that's a good 50 ft. off where it was designed to be, whoops.

I've been to Camden and Dodger Stadium...along w/ several other stadiums/arenas in other cities. The homeless/sketchy people problem is not Detroit specific. It's no worse here than other big cities (at least around the ball parks).

VectorVictor05

April 7th, 2010 at 7:52 PM ^

How in the hell do you not feel safe outside? That is comical...

It's smack in the middle of the safest part of Detroit (save the oxymoron jokes please) with FoxTown, Ford Field, the DAC, the PwC and other office buildings surrounding it.

Now if for some reason you parked about a mile up Woodward past Wayne St. I could understand your concern.

VectorVictor05

April 8th, 2010 at 10:14 AM ^

Wow...now that would be a sight.

I've worked downtown for several years now and go to plenty of games every summer. I've never felt unsafe, but I also don't have irrational preconceived notions about Detroit (not saying you do, just in general). Also, whenever I'm in big cities and going to sporting events (LA, Boston, Chicago, wherever) I assume there will be plenty of sketchy folks around. That just comes with the territory.

formerlyanonymous

April 8th, 2010 at 10:19 AM ^

Yeah, I've been into Detroit, even the Wayne State area at night and come away feeling alright about Detroit. That was just one way strange instance, and I'm sure it was an outlier.

Honestly, the scariest post game I've ever had was at Fenway after Game 7 on the ALCS against the Indians in 2007 (IIRC). Riot police were clearing Kenmore Square starting in the 7th inning. Just pushed through with riot shields, pushing everyone toward the freeway. Freaking unreal. There were thousands of people in the streets outside the stadium and the police wanted to avoid riots like 2004 when they had to use rubber bullets, accidentally hitting an innocent girl fleeing the scene in the eye.

It was just crazy to see a police state like atmosphere outside with mounted police and riot guards everywhere.

Kalamazoo Blue

April 7th, 2010 at 5:49 PM ^

Historic stadium in an incredible setting in the hills.

Many wooden bleacher seats in the end zone were rotted through. They just strung yellow "Caution" tape around them and left them as is. It was really a shame.

[This was about 10 years ago. I hope things have been improved since.]

WolverBean

April 7th, 2010 at 10:14 PM ^

Things have not improved much. They've replaced some of the bleachers, but otherwise it's still pretty terrible. I found the motivation for this thread really amusing, because when Tennessee played at Cal a few years ago, I heard more than a few Vols fans complaining about how terrible Memorial Stadium is compared to Neyland. Berkeley's finally begun construction on some basic improvements (after a 22-month-long hippies-living-in-trees-related delay), but it's going to take a lot more than they're doing to bring that building up to the Pac 10 average.

It's too bad, too, because I agree with your observation: it is a beautiful setting (if located directly on top of a fault line).

SEAL Fan

April 7th, 2010 at 5:51 PM ^

Spartan Stadium. It's nasty and so are the people inside. I had a 40 year old man that tried to fight me and my friend for wearing Michigan shirts to the game last year. He also poured water on us while it was raining. Perhaps that's why I hate that team/stadium so much.

Purkinje

April 7th, 2010 at 5:52 PM ^

I can second the comment on Neyland Stadium. My fiancee is from Knoxville, so I've been past it a couple of times. The whole of UT's campus is really pretty disgusting...

Big Brown Jug

April 7th, 2010 at 5:56 PM ^

Hideous, dank, dirty, gloomy, and possesses one of the world's most unique smells. Terrible sight lines for baseball, accumulated dust balls falling from the ceiling, awful sound system, cramped hallways, trough urinals, the list is endless.

It also had the Gophers adding ineptitude to the mix for about 20 years.