The most fan-friendly major league stadiums

Major league sport is one of America’s most popular pastimes, with the NFL and NHL both multi-billion-dollar industries that attract millions of viewers each year. But which football and hockey teams provide the best gameday experience for stadium-attending fans?

Comparing an array of factors including venue capacities, roof type, reviews, and fan costs, NFL odds site Betway been able to rank and reveal the most fan-friendly major league stadiums to visit. Read on to see where your favorite teams rank!

The best NFL stadiums for fan experience

Comparing each NFL venue according to an array of factors including the overall cost, fan capacity, and reviews, we can reveal that the Dallas Cowboys officially offer the ultimate stadium experience.

This comes as the AT&T Stadium receives an impressive index score of 5.290 out of 8, largely thanks to having an 80,000 capacity, recording 3,658 great TripAdvisor reviews, a retractable roof, and the greatest rate of positive sentiment among social media supporters (32%). In addition, you can even visit the venue between seasons, with the Cowboys putting on regular tours for fans.

Next up, with a retractable roof, regular tours, and tickets costing just over $110 per game, the Atlanta Falcons have the second-most fan-friendly stadium (5.261), ahead of the Arizona Cardinals (5.084) and Indianapolis Colts (4.649). Delving into the data, the Cardinals offer some of the most affordable gameday tickets ($91.34) and parking ($14.70), while the Colts’ Lucas Oil Stadium boasts the fourth-most four-star-or-above TripAdvisor reviews (1,505).

Taking fifth spot, we have the Houston Texans, with a respectable index score of 4.583. The NRG Stadium earns its place among the best-ranking venues thanks to its retractable roof, mega 72,220 capacity, and affordable gameday hot dogs ($5.25). While tickets here don’t necessarily rank among the cheapest - $117.45 per game – they’re far from the most expensive in the NFL.

Just missing out on a spot in the top five, the Detroit Lions (4.548) boast some of the NFL’s cheapest gameday tickets ($91.89) and parking ($19.44), as well as Ford Field having the third-best social media sentiment score (27.4%).

They rank ahead of the Minnesota Vikings (4.006) and Baltimore Ravens (3.936), with some of the cheapest gameday parking and hot dogs, respectively, while the Tennessee Titans’ (3.877) Nissan Stadium and Las Vegas Raiders’ (3.762) new Allegiant Stadium round out the ten-most fan-friendly NFL venues.

Notable teams to miss out on the top ten include six-time Super Bowl winners the New England Patriots (3.495) and Pittsburgh Steelers (3.221), as well as last season’s champion the Kansas City Chiefs (3.488), suggesting that on-field success doesn’t always mean the best stadium experience.

The best NHL stadiums for fan experience

Just like our NFL study, we’ve compared each NHL venue across a range of factors, from gameday costs to the number of reviews and online positive sentiment score, to reveal the best hockey stadiums for fan experience.

Jumping straight in, the New York Rangers officially offer the ultimate experience, with an index score of 4.688 out of 8. This is contributed to by the Rangers and Madison Square Garden providing the league’s cheapest hot dogs ($4.50), registering a strong positive sentiment rate (25.8%), and boasting more excellent TripAdvisor reviews than any other team (8,466). 

The Calgary Flames take second - just as the city does on our ‘Best North American locations for gameday’ index - with a score of 4.571 (though, they’re planning on moving to a new, upgraded arena), ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets (4.405) and Vancouver Canucks (4.394).

Interestingly, the Flames boast the second-best sentiment score among social media audiences (27%), while the Blue Jackets have the league’s fourth-cheapest tickets ($57.02) and the Canucks have the NHL’s only retractable roof.

Taking fifth with an index score of 4.279, the Dallas Stars offer some of the most affordable gameday tickets in the NHL ($62.68), while the Edmonton Oilers just miss out on a place in the top five despite providing some of the cheapest refreshments ($5.13) and recording a strong social media sentiment score (22.7%). 

Ranking seventh on our index, the Tampa Bay Lightning come away with a score of 4.119, ahead of 2022 Stanley Cup winner the Colorado Avalanche (4.005), while the Detroit Red Wings (4.004) and Minnesota Wild (3.938) round out the top ten.

With the NFL and NHL both set to resume in the next few months, it’ll be interesting to see whether any teams step up their game and deliver an even better gameday experience for visiting fans. In the meantime, discover all the latest NHL odds and NFL picks for your teams, or explore even more like this over on the Betway blog – including the NHL’s dirtiest teams!

Methodology

This dataset ranks the current NHL and NFL stadiums, based on fan experience. To do this, eight different factors were used.

Once the factors were collected, teams were ranked against others in their respective league, and the data was normalized to provide each factor with a score between 0 and 1. The normalized values were then summed, to give each stadium a total score out of 8.

The factors used are as follows:

• Capacity: The number of seats in each stadium.
• Roof Type: Whether the roof is open, fixed, or retractable. Open gets a score of 0, fixed gets a score of 0.5, retractable gets a score of 1.
• TripAdvisor Reviews: The number of reviews on TripAdvisor with 4 or more stars for each stadium.
• Average ticket cost: The average cost of a ticket for each team’s games. High values get a low score. Low values get a high score.
• Price of parking: The price of parking at each stadium. High values get a low score. Low values get a high score.
• Price of Hot Dog: The average price for a hot dog in each stadium. High values get a low score. Low values get a high score.
• Positive sentiment: The percentage of social media posts in the last year that were positive about each stadium.
• Tours/Museum: Whether the stadium offers either tours or a museum. ‘Yes’ gets a score of 1, while ‘No’ gets a score of 0.

Data gathered is correct as of 06/29/2023. The most recent data possible was used in compiling this dataset. Where two teams share a stadium, the average fan cost data was used.