okay i was at the TD banknorth center up in boston today watching disney on ice(SHUTUP) in a box seat haha. and i would like to say, it sucked. it was very dingy and kinda old looking. so im starting this thread to learn about other peoples experiences at other stadiums. i say toyota center is #1!!!!!!!
Verizon Center in DC is pretty nice, only NBA game I went to was there so I can't compare it to others.
The Summit is 1000x better than New Orleans Arena. That place is a cheap piece of crap. Miami's is NIIIIIICE...upscale and trendy (but from what I understand, not quite as nice as Toyota Center...which I've sadly never been to ). Phillips Arena in ATL is nice; decent location and connected to CNN. MSG is outdated, but unique; they're supposed to be renovating it sometime within the next 3-5 years (last renovation was 1990). In an April 2005 article in USA Today, Denver's Pepsi Center was "ranked" the best (it was writer opinion based on game-day experience).
I've been to Staples, Pepsi, and American Airlines Arena They are all better than Toyota Center. I think lighting and crowd atmosphere has a lot to do with it. Watch TNT right now, game 1 is in Dallas and game 2 is in Denver. See for yourself what I'm talking about. But then again, it's really not hard to beat something like this: Aesthetic wise, Toyota Center is easily in the top 5. I'll give them that
You are talking about this article: http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/6088/rocketslgwu5.jpg It's based on seats, fan involvement, concessions, and parking. But like you said, based on one gameday experience only. 1. Denver 4.16 2T. Indiana 4.14 2T. Philadelphia 4.14 4. Phoenix 4.11 5. Detroit 4.05 6. New Orleans 3.98 7. Atlanta 3.90 8. Sacramento 3.79 9. Miami 3.77 10T. Cleveland 3.72 10T. Golden State 3.72 12. Houston 3.67 13T. Charlotte 3.65 13T. Seattle 3.65 15T. San Antonio 3.62 15T. Portland 3.62 17. L.A. Lakers 3.57 18. L.A. Clippers 3.54 19. Minnesota 3.51 20. Utah 3.46 21. Memphis 3.42 22. Chicago 3.37 23. Orlando 3.33 24T. Milwaukee 3.28 24T. New York 3.28 24T. Toronto 3.28 27. Dallas 3.24 28. Boston 3.11 29. Washington 2.94 30. New Jersey 2.82 I didn't believe it when I saw Toyota Center so high up and AA Center so low. They said they loved the food and the huge seats at Toyota Center but complained that instead of having a game-day program, there was only a card with the roster. That day we played Atlanta and won by 30 points and only 9,960 were in attendance. AA Center, on the other hand, was a sellout, they lost by 4 to the Warriors (meaning it should've been a more interesting game) and complained that security was tightest in the league and TV's were opposite of the wall of the concessions making it hard to watch the game while they were in line for food. And that alone called for a 27th rank Denver was ranked first because these "fans" had great seats with their own personal food server (every arena has these servers). They loved the 10 year old kid announcer and they love the mascot. This is all they had to say and ranked them number 1. They ranked Lakers 17th and said tickets were too expensive. They enjoyed the "buzz" in the building and loved the Laker girls. OK, good for these guys. That's not enough information to justify a rankings It's just so ridiculous. Give them better seats at Toyota Center and they would've probably ranked that number 1. But this is what I have to say - Toyota Center lighting is terrible. Either you turn on the lights or turn them off. Do not dim them, it calls for horrible effects and looks heinous on television (look at the picture I posted above). The lower bowl is too large and I'd rather have more decks. They say you have a better view this way, but that's all nonsense. I remember in the Compaq Center I would always spend 15 bucks and sit in the upper section. But because it was smaller, I was closer to the action. I am not going to complain about the ticket prices because I usually go free or usually get some discount. The music, PA, power dancers, halftime shows, and the crowd all suck. Concessions, I don't care because I never eat in the arenas. And parking is really not that bad. A friend of mine showed me where to park for free and it's less than a 5 minute walk to the arena! You can't beat that. Most importantly, most Rockets games are a pain to sit through. I'd rather be in the hot tub watching the game on the 50 inch LCD...
Toyota Center kicks ass, except for the lights during the game not being bright enough, too many warm tones.
I think that's everybody's main problem as well. We already have a ghastly red and gray court, why make it even more dull with those lights?
I've only ever been to the Toyota Center and the Summit. I saw the Globetrotters back when it was the Summit. I remember it being nice. The Toyota Center is nice, but food is waaayyy too expensive, so I didn't have any there (I was on a budget).
honestly, i feel like our fans aren't as involved as they should be which really brings down the experience at toyota center. i will say that the meadowlands sucks. i went to a nets game last year and the experience was terrible. it's not really the nets fault. their arena is just really old and plain terrible. i went to a knicks game @ MSG. it wasn't the nicest stadium but i enjoyed it because it's in the heart of manhattan and there's so much history behind that arena.
One time a long time ago the Warriors had to play a game at the Compaq center in San Jose instead of up in Oakland. It happened to be against Houston, which was great. That was the only time I saw Hakeem play in real life. Houston won, too. In fact i've never been to Warrior games other than when they play the Rockets. I remember watching a game when Yao Ming first played against the Warriors...there are so many Yao fans here in the bay. Not to mention Bob Sura used to be a Warrior. He still is but not for Golden State.
Well staples center here in l.a. I guess is alright. Its smaller than how the tv shows it. And I do mean smaller. You can actually go around the arena in less than 5 mins. What's cool though is they have a smoking lounge in the second or floor I think.. Where the staples sign is placed and I think it was awesome. When I was still there in houston I can remember watching the rockets play against the pacers on yao's rookie year back @ the compaq center, when he did the shanghai shake the very first time and I can remember everyone gettin wild for that. I even spilled my soda because of that. Lol. And when they came back to win it was just awesome! I had a blast in that game! I still have my ticket stub for that game! :]
I have been to the Toyota Center, AT&T and the AAC. I would say Toyota and AT&T are close both have a nice baseline restaraunt, club area's, box's etc. The TC seems nicer but AT&T has a nice little overflow area outside the stadium. I say TC, but it is close. Not too crazy about the arena in dallas, certainly an upgrade over the old one but nothing special + narrow hallways. If this matters to anyone the AAC looks better on the outside
Only one I have been to is The Palace. It was very nice, clean, easy access to parking and traffic wasn't bad before or after the game. It is in a really nice area too, Auburn Hills and Troy are like the upper crust areas of Detroit, so it was nice not having to go downtown (which is a little intimidating for me) The seats were a little close, but not incredibly uncomfortable. View was fantastic... I was in the lower arena, so I don't know about the view from top part. And the bar was really nice... right behind our section Food was eh...okay I guess... mainly "fast food" with a couple of specialty places. Only bad thing about it.. the Rox lost.
Phoenix had the best arena when they first built it in 92 (America West). Then, just 10 years later, they decide to renovate it and make it among the best again. You also can't beat it aesthetic wise, location wise, and amenity wise (practice court connected, like TC).
Of the arenas I've been to, I'd rank them like this (some aren't even NBA arenas anymore): FedEx Forum American Airlines (whatever it's called in Dallas) Compaq Center Alamodome Veterans Memorial in Phoenix (what a dump!!)
