Sports Illustrated has done one of those surveys in which National Football League stadiums are rated for overall best fan experience. Lambeau Field is the top-rated venue.
Here's what SI had to say: "We're not going to postulate that Packers fans have an almost unnatural love of Lambeau, but when one fan writes "if you can't make it to church on Sunday, this is the next best thing" and another describes the place as "a temple of physical and spiritual perfection ... tastefully decorated with statues and images of our gods," one can't help but wonder if Lambeau Field is more a place of myth than memories. But if that's the case, is that so wrong? With a billion-dollar football palace set to open in Dallas in a few years and half-billion-dollar stadiums already up in Philadelphia and Detroit, the NFL needs a place as understated as Lambeau. For all the glitz and money the NFL exudes nowadays, football's heart is still on that "frozen tundra," where tough guys grapple with each other while fans warm themselves on cold bleachers with hot chocolate and full-throated cheering. And that is still the essence of Lambeau. Sure, there are a few more amenities now as the economics of today's game demands ever-expanding streams of revenue. But once fans leave that glass atrium and head to their seats, the focus is football."
High praise indeed.
Average Price Per Ticket $63.39
Price Range Of Tickets $59-$292
Ticket Availability Games sold out at Lambeau since 1960.
"Considered a "religious experience" by many, attending a game at Lambeau Field is to come home with a memory: the game in "December [when] it was about minus-10 and windy, with a light snow falling, and my winter hat blew off, but the woman right behind me put it right back on me in a sort of instinctual, motherly fashion;" the friendly wagers "my nephew made on the scoreboard car races with Al, who sat behind us, from the time my nephew was 3-years-old until Al died years later;" the Bears game late in the year "in one of our 4-12 seasons that was packed until the end;" and the tailgate in mid-December when "my uncle Dave invited over ... a car full of Bears fans who were just trying to stay warm ... for some brats and beer. It was a little tense at first, but once they realized that we love our team as much as they love theirs ..." In other words, Packers fans are "devoted, yet accepting of non-Packers fans." Perhaps that is because "there is a little more at stake being a part owner of the team (the Packers are the only publicly-owned team in American professional sports) than the average fan. Or because fans "not only feel the history of the stadium, but feel like a part of that history, too." But this isn't a "stuffy" group, not when "you have fans taking their shirts off in the middle of a snowstorm." Rather, it is a crowd that creates "a small-town atmosphere right inside the stadium."
SCORE 9 out of 10
For NFL fans, each Sunday's game is only part of an event that includes a lot more than what happens between the hash marks for three hours. From the commute, to tailgating to taking one's seat, the act of attending a game is an experience shared by every NFL fan from Seattle to Miami. But what separates one venue from another?
That's what SI.com attempted to discover in rating the experiences each NFL team offers the fans who attend their games. From ticket prices to availability, from the quality of the tailgating to the comfort of the seats, they asked fans to rank and describe every aspect of the game day experience. After painstakingly reviewing each of the 17,000 responses in their online survey, they sorted the information to give a snapshot of what readers told them and rated each team in seven categories.
The criteria used is described below. In the cases of a tie, teams were ranked based on the length of their current sellout streak. Hence, though the top two teams finished with the same score, the fact that No. 1 (Green Bay) has sold out every game since 1960 carries the day over a team (Pittsburgh) with a sellout streak dating to '72.
The ratings in each category were determined by the following:
Tickets
The availability of tickets and fan atmosphere were weighed against the average ticket price (determined by Team Marketing Report's 2007 NFL Fan Cost Index, which represents a weighted average of season ticket prices for general seating). The lower the price, the fewer the available seats and the more festive the crowd, the better.
Food & Souvenirs
Does the stadium offer a selection of food that can fuel a fan's passion for the game, or does it specialize in a typical spread of lukewarm hot dogs and expensive beer that can sap a crowd of its vigor as quickly as a loss on the scoreboard?
Accessibility
Is the trip to the stadium smooth or as thick as molasses? Do public buses or rapid transit trains offer more convenient alternatives to driving? And how is the search, and cost, for parking?
Tailgating
The tenor of the game ahead often is set at the hours spent grilling in the parking lot beforehand. What teams offer the chance for fans to bond over fabulous food and heated football talk? Which teams don't?
Team
Is the team's performance worth watching?
Stadium Atmosphere
A facility's architecture can go a long way toward making a fan feel the team isn't merely a tenant, but a resident of the city. Of course, it can also make one feel like the team plays in a soul-less mall. Those teams that do their best to incorporate the city beyond its walls can charm fans even during a losing season; those that don't better win or risk irrelevancy.
Neighborhood
Is the city that lies beyond the stadium's walls worth visiting before or after the game? Is it safe? Or is one best served by beating a hasty retreat to the safety of home?
Here is the final results:
1. Packers - Lambeau Field
2. Steelers - Heinz Field
3. Browns - Cleveland Browns Stadium
4. Lions - Ford Field
5. Ravens - M&T Bank Stadium
6. Eagles - Lincoln Financial Field
7. Seahawks - QWEST Field
8. Colts - RCA Dome
9. Titans - LP Field
10. Panthers - Bank of Amer. Stadium
11. Patriots - Gillette Stadium
12. Jaguars - Municipal Stadium
13. Broncos - INVESCO Field at Mile High
14. Texans - Reliant Stadium
15. Bills - Ralph Wilson Stadium
16. Chiefs - Arrowhead Stadium
17. Buccaneers - Raymond James Stadium
18. Saints - Louisiana Superdome
19. Bengals - Paul Brown Stadium
20. Bears - Soldier Field
21. Raiders - McAfee Stadium
22. Chargers - Qualcomm Stadium
23. Dolphins - Dolphin Stadium
24. Cardinals - Univ. of Phoenix Stadium
25. Giants - Giants Stadium
26. Cowboys - Texas Stadium
27. Rams - Edward Jones Dome
28. Redskins - FedEx Field
29. Falcons - Georgia Dome
30. 49ers - Monster Park
31. Vikings - HHH Metrodome
32. Jets - Giants Stadium
It was my good friend Tom Johnson who was living in New York City at the time, that got me started going to Packer games in person.
Our first experience was Sunday, October 1, 2000, when we went with our brothers Anson and Stan to a 3:15PM start against the Bears. What I remember most clearly about thae game was it was the only one where we encountered some unpleasantness with a fan. the guy behind tom took umbrage with the fact that Tom rented a cushon with a seat back.
The guy kept kneeing Tom in the back and they kept having words until I finally, unable to take it anymore, said: "Look! I paid a lot of money to come here and have a good time and I am tired of this! I am going to sit where Tom is sitting and I trust we will have no more unpleasantness!"
And we didn't.
The Packer led most of the game, but then lost by a few points at the end of the game.
Tom and I went again on Monday, September 24, mere weeks after the World Trade Centers went down, to a Monday night game against the Washington Redskins. There was a lot of tension in the air and everyone filing in was checked thoroughly.
The biggest laugh of the evening came when Tom spotted a guy with a full beard and said: "Look! It's Omar Bin Olson!"
The folllowing year was the year of the "traveling pork roast". I was determined to get to the Lambeau parking lot early and roast a crown roast of pork on the Weber, but things didn't fall into place and so it stayed on ice until we reached Superior on Monday afternoon and I prepared it for Tom and his mom.
It was really quite good and gave way to Tom's proclaiming that he had experienced "a porkgasm".
We also attended the following games:
Sunday, September 29, 2002 - noon - Packers/Panthers
Sunday, October 5, 2003 - noon - Packers/Seahawks (a satisfying victory over the Poohbah)
Sunday, October 3, 2004 - noon - with Kim Packers lost to the Giants depite Favre being knocked unconscious one play, coming in and throwing a touchdown pass that he didn't remember throwing).
We missed going to games in 2005 and 2006.
Kim and I attended the Sunday, October 14, noon game against the Redskins this Fall.
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