I went to the att center a few years back for the spurs mavs playoff series (not last year). I'll echo what everyone else said and I'll add that the location sucked. Not only was there nothing but asphault around it, it took forever to get out. The nosebleeds were also incredibly steep but allowed for the stadium to feel "cozier". In the end, I'm glad we have the Toyota Center.
Yeah you can say that again, I actually made this thread because I started to google pics of other stadiums and I really surprised other stadiums use their downtown as a location.
I've never been to a single game outside of Houston for NBA, NFL, or MLB. That's pretty sad. Damn I need to do that.
Verizon center isn't that great. I was in the upper deck and the sound and video were terrible. Also seats were not good.
New MSG, Bankers Life Fieldhouse (Pacers), Amway Arena (Magic), and Barclays all set the standard. They all combine uniqueness with no spared expense. Toyota Center is nice... but I don't think it was as well done as the other new Houston sports venue. They've certainly improved certain aspects to make it feel more like a team-specific stadium (and less like a generic mall/airport/car dealership), but you can still tell that its an entertainment venue first, and home of the Rockets second. I really wish they'd individualize all division and conference championship banners (rather than group them all to just two banners)... they have a lot more room since finally taking down the Aeros stuff (unfortunately the Comets banners will sit there uselessly as long as Les is the owner).
I have been to Sacramento, Golden State, and Los Angeles (Clippers regular season and Lakers for the game 7 loss in the TMac era). I like the ease of access of Oakland, where the BART station has a skybridge right to the arena. All of the seats at Staples are pretty good. I have sat in the very back row and just off of the floor. Arco (now Sleep Train I think) was very cozy, and the fans were great for quite a while. Seeing road Rockets games in the Yao era had the disadvantage of seeing an Asian girl flip bowls onto her head while riding a unicycle for halftime every time. I swear I saw that halftime show at least 5 times.
I was at that cavs game. Wasn't sitting court side lol but drove in the snow for 2 hours and made it in late. The Q is my fav Arena in the NBA. The In game entertainment is absolutely amazing.
Oracle (GSW) was really nice. Especially the club area -- miles nicer than the club at TC. I went to United Center (CHI) last summer when they hosted a FIBA game, and it was pretty unremarkable. TC is nicer (though maybe it's not fair to judge in the off-season).
I have unfortunately only been to AAC (Dallas) for a few Rockets Away games. That Arena sucks. I hate it. It looks great from the outside, but the interior is poorly laid out IMO. The Announcer isn't the best (trying to be a cool hipster guy) and the ushers aren't very helpful. The people, well I guess I can't blame the stadium for the crowd. I will say the audience gets rowdy when they're up, however they're dead silent when losing. Interesting place.
I actually like the AAC. It's really posh compared to Toyota Center. Maybe it's because I have gone to so many Rockets games that I can start pointing out the flaws in TC. Dunno. With that being said, the Mavs suck.
I've been to Toyota Center, AT&T Center (San Antonio), Target Center (Minnesota) and Air Canada Centre (Toronto). AT&T Center just felt super steep. The decks up top are closer to the floor as a result but they're much further up. Just felt odd sitting up there. Overall I like Toyota Center a little but more (as a person who regularly sits up top). Target Center is just ancient. They're doing some renovation this year but its clearly a much older arena. Its not in the same league as any newer arena like Toyota Center. The Timberwolves have been garbage for years so the crowd isn't exactly the most lively. Plus Minnesotans are kind of reserved in general so its probably one of the quieter arenas you'll ever go to. Sometimes it gets so quiet and empty that it feels like one of those Astros games when they were the worst in the league. Air Canada Centre was probably my favorite. Great location, good design, and the crowd was fantastic. There were fans in front of us who literally had no idea what the rules of basketball are and they were all into it with Raptors gear and were cheering constantly. This was when the Raptors were awful and the crowd was still better than anything I've seen in Toyota Center.
