American Family Field

^{June 26, 2026
American Family Field (Capacity: 41,900)
Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee Brewers vs Chicago Cubs
Final Score: 6 – 2}

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The final stop on our Tour of Wisconsin vacation was the largest city in the state: Milwaukee (“I believe it’s pronounced Mill-uh-wah-kay“). With a population nearing 600,000, the city name means “Gathering place by the water” as indeed it is at the confluence of the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic Rivers, right by the shore of Lake Michigan. Milwaukee may have been established as a port city, but it is most known as a beer town. The arrival of many German immigrants led to a plethora of breweries in the city, many gaining national prominence. While Miller is the only one that remains, this is still Brew City with beer and German heritage being the fabric of Milwaukee. That background is the basis for the baseball team’s nickname: the Brewers. They arrived in Major League Baseball via Seattle in 1970 thanks to Bud Selig. After just 10 winning seasons in their first 33, the Brew Crew has had a lot more success later in the 21st century. Milwaukee may be one of just five current teams to have not won the World Series, but they certainly are getting closer of late. They’ve taken the NL Central title 4 out of the last 5 years and just need to find a way to get past the mighty rich Dodgers. Home games are played at American Family Field, opened in 2001 as one of the less lauded parks of the era. There are at least a couple of great Wisconsin highlights though: Tailgating and Food/Beer.
Prestige Ranking: 3.5 out of 5

Location

We spent three days in the city around the baseball game and found Milwaukee enjoyable with plenty to do. The downtown in particular was great as we went down the RiverWalk and also took a boat tour. The confluence of these waterways feature other attractions like the Harley Davidson Museum, Milwaukee Public Market, Discovery World and the historic Public Museum (closing soon and becoming the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin). Since of course there is so much history with the beer industry, make sure to take a brewery tour. You could do Miller because of the national cache, but I’d recommend Lakefront Brewery, a fantastic place and tour that is historic in its own right within the craft beer industry. American Family Field can be found 10 minutes west of downtown, in the Menomonee Valley section of the city. This is the site of a lot of former industry, business parks and redeveloped land. It certainly is not the place to explore before the game, but that’s not the story for Brewers games as the widespread tailgating is the attraction and pre-game activity.
Location Ranking: 6 out of 10

Accessibility / Parking

Interstate access to Milwaukee is plentiful and it’s easy to get to no matter where you come from. The ballpark is right off I-94 and that really simplifies things. Milwaukee’s overall traffic and rush hour isn’t terrible, but throughout our multiple days here, 94 always had a 5-15 minute slowdown because of construction. Which parking lot you want dictates which exit to use from the interstate. The lots behind home plate are the easiest arrival. Outfield parking require a little more navigation via Route 175, but it’s still simple. Finding a spot is not an issue given the many large parking areas in front of and behind the stadium. You’ll want to prepay for access because it is cheaper and a plate recognition system is used, so you have to do it on an app there anyway. All of the above seems great for MLB, so why the ranking of a 4 instead of 7 or 8 you ask?. Because leaving the stadium was the most frustrated I’ve been after a sporting event.

After taking 30 minutes to just exit the Preferred Parking lot (no thanks to attendants assisting the exit), we made it to the outer rim where it was two lanes. There was no signage for which lane went to I-94 East vs I-94 West and cones blocked off the ability to switch lanes. So I found myself stuck towards the Eastbound ramp. Not the way I needed to go, so I went straight, did a U-turn in a residential neighborhood (like many others) and then found that the Westbound lane was blocked from that direction. Infuriating, as I ended up getting on I-94 E to find a turnaround for going westbound and the whole ordeal from arrival into the car to hotel was 1 hour and 10 minutes (normally a 20 minute ride). Terrible.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 4 out of 8

Exterior

American Family Field looks like a funky spaceship from a distance. Being the only tall building around and quite visible from the highway, it’s the sea-green arches on the roof structure that gives it an interesting/defining appearance. When the roof is closed, that’s when you’ll see those trusses come together, to an extent that it’s part of the ballpark logo. The front portion of the stadium features two large, half-circle glass windows close to the roof, also in a sea-green color. The bottom half is brick, interspersed with arching windows. It’s a true clash in styles. There is a clock tower near the home gate, a nod to a frequent feature in Milwaukee architecture and a good reference point for a meeting place. The back of the ballpark has more brick and glass elements, including a sliding window to allow for an outfield view into the stadium.
Exterior Ranking: 6 out of 10

Concourse

Each ballpark entry goes right into the concourse and an opening rotunda or entry plaza is a sorely missed feature. The Brewers just opened an outdoor plaza behind the outfield the day I was here with music, games and other things, but it’s outside the ticketed area. Connecting it with otherwise drab centerfield walkways would be beneficial. The lower concourse suffers from the “inside” feel, while green steel beams and various piping have more of an industrial appearance. However, they do a lot to spruce the area up with attractive signage and team oriented visuals. You can get get glimpses of the field even if there isn’t a completely open area. An homage to the trendy “Third Ward” in the city, each area has a “ward” as a name. I didn’t have any trouble locating elevators/escalators to move between levels and there’s even a middle deck concourse that is worth exploring. It’s the location of “The Alley”, a food truck park and “The Bud Selig Experience” (more on that later). Up to the 400 level enclosed concourse, there are low ceilings with piping and beams that interrupt walkways, but behind home plate is spacious.
Concourse Ranking: 2.5 out of 5

Food

Interior

The roof was closed during our game, which is a shame as it was 66 degrees outside and clear. Obviously the feel is different and less ideal when watching baseball in an enclosed setting. The way the roof opens is interesting as it is fan-like with five moving panels, as opposed to something completely sliding overhead. The set-up allows for two massive large windows on the top sides that allow natural light (and also create funky shadows). In addition, two support beams directly behind home plate on the 400-level leads to obstructed seats in a place you would not expect it. Be ware if buying a ticket in this area. Sitting up here, I also found that heads got in the way of my view, plus there are notable complaints that certain spots on the field are not visible across good chunks of the seating bowl. It’s an expansive stadium and one that has a four-deck design as the 100s are followed by a 200-level deck. Above that is a club section (300s) and luxury boxes before getting to the split-level 400s. It’s cavernous, impersonal and the higher levels are a good distance away. Seats are green and generally comfortable. In the outfield, there is a varied mix of seating sections while the most dominating features are the scoreboard and the large windows looking outside. The windows are nice, even if the view is bleh, highlighted by watching how many are late to the game as they stroll on the pedestrian bridge.
Interior Ranking: 6.5 out of 14

Scoreboard

The scoreboard dominates the outfield view and it is dead center above the batter’s eye. Installed in 2024, it is massive and at 12,000+ square feet, it’s the third-largest in MLB. I’m sure that will be surpassed as years go by with the ballpark arms race continuing. I loved how it wasn’t cluttered during gameplay as the video screen was an easy view with pertinent information. Replays were frequents and of course, very crisp and clear. A secondary video screen in right field provided game stats and it was awesome to see pitch information very quickly, especially with Jacob Misiorowski on the mound.
Scoreboard Ranking: 4 out of 4

Displays

Outside of the stadium, there are plenty of goodies, including homages to their old County Stadium. In the same area as a current parking lot, you’ll find markers for where home plate was and where Hank Aaron’s 755th home run landed. What’s really neat is they have a little league field in the area too and there was a game going on before the Brewers played. Around the stadium are several statues that honor the best for the franchise, plus there’s a Wall of Honor with further plaques. Inside, there really isn’t a team history or timeline area. The Bud Selig Experience offers detailed look at the owner that was instrumental for the Brewers. It includes a 13-minute film and a memorabilia walk thru. Overall, it’s well done, but the small theatre and pre-game wait in line made it suboptimal to visit for me as I was touring the ballpark pre-game. Thankfully, one of the attendants let me race thru it and skip the movie when I returned while the game was going on. Within the field, retired numbers are located high above the outfield and Division/League pennants are on a wall behind home plate.
Displays Ranking: 4.5 out of 6

Cost

Parking actually isn’t too bad because if you buy in advance, it’s $14 – $21. Given that’s the only option for cars, it could be a lot worse. Plus, if you want to keep it cheap, there are plenty of downtown shuttles. Tickets are reasonable as well, with the team ranking Top 10 in the league for lowest average prices. We were shafted by circumstances ($75 per seat for a game against the Cubs), but otherwise, for the vast majority of games it’s not hard to find an upper-deck ticket less than $40. For concessions, only the $4 Value Meal items have, well, value. Things are costly including $9 for French Fries, $7 for a bottled soda and a whopping $12.74 for a Miller or Coors.
Cost Ranking: 6.5 out of 8

Fan Support

All of the tailgating that goes on here may lead to a festive and fun pre-game atmosphere, but it actually has a side effect that likely will be an unpopular take. The Brewers for a good chunk of the crowd seemed to be a secondary attraction. For some, the tailgating was the highlight. For a significant group of others, it was a place to get drunk or the first place before a night out. This was a Friday Night game, against the rival Cubs and I was stunned by the ebb and flow of butts in seats. Innings 1 thru 3 featured a slow increase from 60 to 85% full. Further evidence was the stream of people on the pedestrian bridge as the look was visible through the outfield windows. Innings 4 thru 6 featured a packed house and minimal empty seats, then the place saw a steady stream of departures for innings 7 thru 9. To the point that it was half full for the final pitch. Our Section 421 certainly behaved the same way and the amount of 21-35 year olds that were drunk, half paying attention and planning their post-game festivities was quite annoying. Understand that this is a one game experience from a non-local, but it was impactful. As for overall attendance, Milwaukee has been middle of the pack (#12 to #16) the last three seasons when they have been one of baseball’s best teams. A feel of pecking order for Wisconsin sports fandom is 1) Packers, 2) Brewers, 3) UW Badgers, 4) Bucks.
Fan Support Ranking: 5.5 out of 8

Atmosphere

I discussed the Tailgating above and outside of that side effect, man does it create an awesome and festive atmosphere to start. It really felt like going to a football game as the sights and smells were so similar. Inside, there are a few defining aspects of a Brewers game: Each time, the Brewers hit a home run, their mascot “Bernie Brewer” slides down a big slide in the left-field corner. He hangs out in a clubhouse of sorts beforehand. This tradition dates all the way back to the County Stadium days and is not as good as the simplicity and visual appearance when the feature was front and center over the outfield as Bernie slid into a barrel of ‘beer’. Another long-time feature is the Sausage Race. Now replicated all over baseball, the Brewers started this in 1993 with a Bratwurst, Polish Sausage and Italian Sausage. Not long after, the Hot Dog was introduced and then in the 2000s: Chorizo. It’s a fairly standard race around home plate and while I give them the nod as the originators, I gotta say the Presidents Race in Washington is way more entertaining.

During the game, crowd interaction and noise was really good. The circumstances helped (star pitcher on the bump against a rival on a Friday Night) and there were plenty of Cubs fans in attendance to counter the home cheering. Regardless, the pops were loud and a few times, the lower bowl got on their feet, like in the Bottom of the 6th when the Brewers got a big strikeout. Again, I could do without the abundance of buzzed/drunk annoying millennials all around. Otherwise, the atmosphere was solid.
Atmosphere Ranking: 10 out of 14

Other Stuff

Nationally known for his Tonight Show appearances, Miller Lite commercials and playing as Harry Doyle in Major League, Bob Uecker was treasured in Wisconsin. He was the Brewers play-by-play guy from 1971 to 2024 and mixed humor with a great game call. One of the best ever…..Milwaukee County Stadium is where the Brewers played for 30 years before this current stadium. It’s not exactly one of MLB’s beloved parks of yesteryear…..The Cubs-Brewers rivalry is driven by proximity (90 miles apart) and the number of fans from Wrigley that attend games up north. Milwaukee makes it a true rival though as they have gotten the better of the Cubs recently and fan passion on both sides has been turned up. It’s one of sports’ more underappreciated rivalries…..On this night, the Brewers were wearing “Wisco” uniforms. I really don’t like it. Makes no sense and I’ve never heard of the state referred to as Wisco. Just make up uniforms for the sake of selling more merch. Keep “Brew Crew” as your “3rd uniform” instead of all this City Connect contrived garbage.

Game

I had incredible luck with this visit as it came on a night where the best pitcher in baseball was on the mound. Jacob Misiorowski did not disappoint and the fireworks started right away as he faced Pete Crow-Alexander. Watching the cocky PCA swing and miss on a 103 MPH first pitch was enjoyable. The Miz managed to hit 105.5 MPH on the radar gun a few pitches later and he eventually sat down PCA. The Cubs never really threatened the Brewers Ace and he went 6 innings, giving up 2 hits, a solo home run and striking out 8. Milwaukee got him the win by plating three in the bottom half of the 6th and that included a Garrett Mitchell two-run shot. William Contreras broke the game open with a monster 449 foot home run the next inning to make it 5-1. The first place Brewers ended up winning 6-2.

Stadium Experience Ranking: 67 out of 100