Stadium Journey is a pretty cool website that does pretty much what the name implies -- take you on a journey to stadium all across the country. The Stadium Journey folks have recently concluded a review of the New Meadowlands Stadium, and I thought I would share some of their findings.
Before I get into all of that, though, a quibble. Gang, it's not called 'Giants Stadium' any longer. I wish it was, but that was the old building. This one is called New Meadowlands Stadium. The Stadium Journey piece calls it Giants Stadium, and since it now is equally shared by the Jets and Giants that just isn't correct.
That said, there is still interesting information in the piece. Here is a snippet of what the SJ piece said about the $1.6 billion structure.
The new Giants Stadium (which is shared with the Jets) still has some of the problems that the old stadium had (the edifice itself lacks character, and access/parking is still a total nightmare), but the seating, views of the field, cleanliness, and overall stadium-going experience have improved dramatically.
Here is another snippet.
There's nothing special or unique about the design of New Meadowlands Stadium. Generally speaking, the experience of being there feels very impersonal. It doesn't feel much like "home" (though this is at least in part just the byproduct of teams sharing a stadium), and there aren't a lot of bells and whistles designed to fire up the crowd or intensify the atmosphere.
The best parts? While the seats are small and uncomfortable even by stadium standards, there isn't a bad one in the house. The old Meadowlands Stadium had a lot of obstructed views, even from what you might call "good" seats. Not so here - you feel as though you can see the game and are part of the action even in the upper reaches of the stadium. And if by chance you are having trouble viewing some of the action on the field, there are four well-placed giant replay screens around the stadium that are there to ensure you don't miss a thing.
Stadium Journey's Overall Ratings
- Food (2/5)
- Atmosphere (3.5)
- Neighborhood (1/5)
- Fans (5/5)
- Access (3/5)
- Return On Investment (4/5)
- Extras (3/5)