September 26, 2010
MetLife Stadium (Capacity: 82,500)
East Rutherford, NJ
New York Giants vs Tennessee Titans
Final Score: 10 – 29
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The new Meadowlands Stadium (quickly named MetLife Stadium) is part of the sports facility growth that took over this region during the late part of the decade. Just like Giants Stadium, both the New York Jets and New York Giants football teams call this facility home and the stadium hosted its first football game just weeks before my visit. I was very lucky to get inside for a game as a friend of mine was gifted prime seats at the 30 yard line, just eleven rows from the field. The weather was as perfect as can be for football: overcast and 70 degrees. Four years earlier, my visit to Giants Stadium was to see the Jets play (sitting in the last row) and now I returned to the new stadium for the Giants. They may both have “New York” in their name, but this stadium is in New Jersey…East Rutherford to be exact. It is a tiny borough of just 4 square miles in the northeast part of the state with a population 10,000 people. The Giants are one of football’s oldest franchises, operating since 1927 with seven NFL championships, three of them Super Bowl victories. Famous names dot their history from Frank Gifford and Y.A. Tittle to Phil Simms and Lawrence Taylor. Their move to this $1.6 billion stadium was met with criticism as the high-tech facility is equally drab and catering to the corporate and rich.
Prestige Ranking: 3 out of 5
Location
MetLife Stadium is in the Meadowlands, a name very well-known as it has been part of many introductions during the opener of a broadcasted sporting event. This portion of New Jersey is usually congested, however the Meadowlands sits in a swampy area. The massive complex contains an arena, horse racing track and soon a shopping mall / entertainment complex. It sounds like they’re going to put some things in here that might be worth checking out like an indoor ski slope and an aquarium. Otherwise, you’ll find a ton of parking around the area. Waterways separate East Rutherford from the Meadowlands and it’s highly unlikely visitors to the stadium will see any of the tightly clustered borough east of Route 17. Don’t forget that the biggest city in the U.S. lies just 7 miles east of the Stadium and you can of course check out all that NYC has to offer. It’s just that it does feel further away because of traffic and a bridge/tunnel crossing.
Location Ranking: 4 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
Route 3 and I-95 lead into the complex and there are several entrance points. Sundays often aren’t bad traffic-wise in New Jersey, but still plan for extra time given the frequently congested roads in the region. As mentioned before, there is a ton of parking in the complex (23,800 spaces), yet the set-up is sub-optimal. In order to just come into the Meadowlands on gameday, you need a parking pass which is not sold to the public. So, if you got your ticket via the secondary market, you just can’t drive up to the game and pay for parking there. Without a pass, you are forced to park off-site and these non-pass lots are scattered across some office complexes in nearby Lyndhurst. The “official” offsite Giants lot is on Murray Hill Road in East Rutherford and there are shuttle buses that bring you to and from a stadium parking lot. We went with the offsite lot as Meadowlands parking passes were scarce and expensive during our visit. Thankfully, that has recently improved as it is now less of an issue getting a parking pass from secondary ticketing websites. Within the Meadowlands, it is somewhat of a free-for-all in terms of where to park your car. There are many lettered lots and they are divided between “Platinum” and “Gold”. Whichever one you have, you may go to any of the corresponding letters. Traffic getting out can be chaotic and signage back to your main road doesn’t show up until you have to make a lane decision. If you go offsite, the traffic isn’t as bad because of how darn long it takes to get to and from the stadium.
Other transportation options include NJ Transit, which runs a direct train from Secaucus Junction to the Meadowlands on gamedays (you can also get this train from Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan). It’s not a bad option as it is cheaper, parking lot access is simple and the train ride is only 13 minutes. You just need to fight for an overcrowded train after the game.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 4.5 out of 8
Exterior
This is one ugly stadium from the outside as it is drab and uninviting. The rounded rectangle shape is covered with these small diagonal flaps that horizontally line the stadium. Basically, it looks like silver drapes covering the facility. I understand the neutrality of the design because two teams share it…but it is not attractive. Around the stadium are some large vertical video screens that have the Giants logo, a large game video screen and a countdown to kickoff clock. At night, the stadium has a green or blue glow, depending upon which team is playing.
Exterior Ranking: 2 out of 10
Concourse
Fans enter through one of six gates and the main entry is the West Hall which features a Giants mural that gets switched to the Jets when they play. Straight ahead is the entrance to club seating, while there are ramps that lead to mini-concourses designed for some lower 100 sections. There are three levels of concourses, with the middle being for suite and club members and the look remains silver/gray throughout. The 100 level concourse is the nicer of the main two as it seems more open and there are some areas open to the public like the Captain Morgan’s Club, which is similar to a bar. The coolest thing I saw were the monster HD video screens above a few of the food stands. These three separate video screens displayed the game feed, game stats and NFL RedZone. The third level concourse is more crowded and more basic. With all of this real estate, you would think they’d figure out a way to make these areas wider as halftime was a bottleneck for the upper level
Concourse Ranking: 3.5 out of 5
Food
Food was excellent as you can find pretty much anything you want. Given that this is a football facility, the lineup was surprisingly impressive. There’s a nice range of New York delicacies including Nathan’s Hot Dogs, Corned Beef sandwiches, Knishes and New York-style Pizza. The Boardwalk Fryer concession stand looked interesting with fried hot dogs and clams. Some of the items I wanted to try included Pepper & Egg sandwiches along with Italian Roast Pork. I was thrilled to see the North Jersey specialty, Taylor Ham (pork roll) featured. There were also an abundance of Mrs. Field Cookie stands (I love cookies). Beer stands were varied too.
Food Ranking: 8 out of 8
Interior
A quick glance at the inside and the general fan sees a simple design without much in uniqueness as three levels of seating round the field and enclose the facility (similar to the old Giants Stadium). Digging deeper, there is an abundance of club and luxury seating. Most of the prime spots are on the second level. However, on the first level there is the Coaches Club, which includes an open deck at field level near the Giants bench. Nearly 10% of the stadium is club seating and there are also 228 luxury suites. Only the ends of the middle second level are non-special seating and there is also an extra area of seats on the ends below the third deck and between the huge video screens. All of the seats are varying shades of gray and it was nice to have them be individual chairs with backs and cup holders (no bleachers!). At the top of the stadium, fans have a small obstructed view of the NYC skyline. Sightlines to the field are solid and leg room is adequate. If you are not in a specialty seat, there is nothing special about this ridiculously overpriced stadium.
Interior Ranking: 6.5 out of 14
Scoreboard
In each corner of the stadium (between the 2nd and 3rd levels) are large video screens. It’s likely overboard to have four of these when two would suffice. They are used for the game feed, out-of-town scores and some limited cheering graphics. Images are expectedly perfect. A ribbon scoreboard surrounding the stadium is where the game information (score, time, etc.) can be found along with player and game stats. It takes a little bit to adjust your eyes to this area to find the clock or score, however the lower sidelines have this information too.
Scoreboard Ranking: 3.5 out of 4
Displays
A trip to the new stadium wouldn’t be complete without visiting the “Legacy Club” on the 100-level concourse. Open to the public, it is a terrific hall devoted to the Giants featuring team artifacts, including their three Super Bowl trophies and the busts of important and retired players. At the game I attended there were no visible banners, however that was quick to change as the following week, the Ring of Honor was to be unveiled. This will be located in the end zone and include 30 players.
Displays Ranking: 4.5 out of 6
Cost
Unless you are treated to a Giants game, it costs a small fortune. The cheapest single-game ticket was hard to find online, but looks like it starts at about $110 and goes up from there (though season tickets start at $85). The team does run its own TicketExchange program that has some slightly cheaper seats. I believe all season ticket seats require a PSL (Personal Seat License) with the cost ranging from $1,000 to $20,000 just for the right to buy season tickets. I already talked about the $25 parking charge. Food stands were high ($8-$9 for beer, $4 for a hot dog), but not absurdly ridiculous. There are places that are more expensive all-around (New England, Dallas), but still prices are quite high here and the whole PSL debacle has led to families that have cancelled Giants season tickets previously held for generations.
Cost Ranking: 2 out of 8
Fan Support
The first two Giants games ever played in the stadium have not been sellouts. In fact, they have been nearly 5,000 less than capacity with noticeable sections featuring empty seats. It is important to note though that this has been all because club seating has failed to sell (and thus the team has not been blacked out from local TV). Outside of filling the stadium, fan support is excellent and the Giants have a large, passionate following throughout the Tri-State. This extends to other warm-climate stadiums as transplanted New Yorkers usually fill up road games.
Fan Support Ranking: 7.5 out of 8
Atmosphere
We met up with a tailgate in the Meadowlands and the scene was great. It’s fun with a lot of varied parties and it was tamer than when I was at the old stadium for the Jets. Inside, the cavernous stadium doesn’t hold in the noise that fans generate throughout the game all that well. While it’s overboard to call it a “Wine and Cheese Crowd”, there can be a lack of energy at times for Giants games. That’s not to say the atmosphere isn’t good. They’ll Do expect the fans to be vocal when things aren’t going well as they have no issue with booing a player that does something stupid or with a lack of effort. There are no special chants, cheers or celebrations and time will tell if the old-school atmosphere from Giants Stadium translates to this new place geared towards those with money.
Atmosphere Ranking: 9.5 out of 14
Other Stuff
The $1.6 billion price tag, makes this the most expensive stadium built in the world to date….Everything in the facility is sponsored, from the gates you walk in through, to the team store and bar. I’ve seen some of this before, but it’s overbearing to see and hear everything as “Presented by: “. Just a sign of the times…..One thing I really enjoyed here was the game presentation: Hardly any music during breaks in play and there were no cheerleaders. Of course I like cheerleaders, but it was a refreshing change of pace to see the focus clearly on the game…..Unlike Giants Stadium, the new facility is more of a 50/50 venture between the Jets and Giants. Various touches make each team feel at home when they play……Nicknames for the team include Big Blue and the G-Men.
Game
The Giants turned in an embarrassing and undisciplined performance on this day as they had four unsportsmanlike penalty calls. Some of the goofs included: a chop block in the end zone that led to a safety, a penalty that took them out of field goal range and they had a lost fumble and interception inside the Titans ten yard line. New York was down 10-0, before tying it up before the half on an Ahmad Bradshaw 10-yard run. However, Tennessee took control midway thru the third after the safety and then a quick six-play TD drive. They went on to win 29-10, despite being outgained by a whopping 200 total yards (271-471), which goes to show the amount of mistakes and penalties. Tennessee’s Chris Johnson ran 32 times for 125 yards, while Eli Manning threw for 386 yards.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
