Derek Morin
Google
Came away disappointed as a visiting team fan for the first time at the big house.
Pros:
Beautiful city, stadium, as well as nice people.
Large and clear jumborons.
Excellent music played during TV timeouts.
Cons:
The lines! I was constantly waiting in line for everything. I have been to over 30 different stadiums between pro football, college football, concerts, and baseball. This was hands down the most poorly designed stadium layout for flow and egress I have ever been to.
By far my biggest gripe is the stadium layout causes extremely long lines. I missed 5 minutes of game time trying to walk up the stairs from row B to use the bathroom. I have never waited in such long lines before and my home stadium holds 101k+, so very similar with a large crowd vibe and large stadium capacity.
A more efficient stadium would have a lot more tunnels for better flow. Getting into section 15 took over 10 mines. I've never waited in a line after security to enter a seating section before. Ushers wouldn't allow me to enter the tunnel to section 14, saying they needed to keep the walkways clear. I said 15 is far from clear and they still refused. So I got in another line.
The bathrooms were disgusting- the womans was half flooded per my wife, and the men's was almost the same with lots of water on the ground. They ran out of paper towels around halftime. Again, long lines and the men's room I used only had 8 urinals. I have season tickets to an FCS school with a stadium that only holds 22k and each men's room has over 20 urinals. Again, poor flow and long lines were the theme of the day.
Another thing I noticed and was disappointed with was the fact the concessions are far away from the field and you end up missing the game. No tvs setup outside to continue to watch the game as you wait in another line. Most stadiums have the concessions near the seats and have monitors to stay informed of the game. Not here. I'm used to being 44 seconds to 2 minutes max from my seat at any given time. Again, not here.
Drink selection was poor. I went to buy a beer (shortest line of the day, shockingly) and a water. This was before halftime and the selection was very limited. Modelo, Founders all day IPA, Coors, and a Finland type of Seltzer. Highnoons were sold out, as was the water! I have never been to a stadium with such limited beer selection in one line. Want something else, get into another line. Lines for days at this place. I wish each concessions spot offered more options as I would have purchased more. I was really surprised to not see a bigger drink selection as each spot considering the size of the crowd. Most stadiums I got to have 9-14ish options, and you can get a mix of beers, cocki, wine, and sodas all in one transaction. The concessions must be a real mess when it's poor weather, since it's all outside. Even my FCS school has almost 20 different drink options.
My last gripe is subjective, but I expected the crowd to be a lot louder. The biggest stadium in the country and I was expecting it to be another 8-12 dB louder. Perhaps the stadium design (out vs up) allows some of the noise to escape, but I have been to way louder venues with 10-40k less people.
Lastly, was surprised to learn that 2nd row (row B) seats did not have seat backs and is rather bleachers.
Would I go back? Yes.
Would I give more consideration to where I sit due to the poor traffic flow. Yes.
Are there opportunities for improvement? 100% Absolutely.
