Fans Rate the NFL Stadiums with the Best Game-day Atmosphere

Sporting Post measured tens of thousands of game-day visitor reviews for each NFL stadium to discover which have the highest-rated atmospheres.

A great NFL atmosphere can be driven by many factors, including passionate fanbases, considerate stadium design, and a team's form.

What constitutes a great atmosphere can also vary according to the type of person in the crowd. Families may appreciate feeling relaxed and safe in particular zones of a stadium, while the more hardcore sections of a fanbase will want to vocalise in support of their team (and to intimidate their opponents) as much as possible.

Pulling the views of NFL match-goers of all types can provide us with a more definitive answer over which stadiums offer the best atmosphere overall.

Our Research

To determine which of the 30 NFL stadiums offer the best game-day atmosphere, we analyzed over 31,000 reviews from TripAdvisor and Google Reviews, focusing solely on those from fans who attended football games (excluding concerts and other events). We then isolated reviews that specifically praised the atmosphere at each stadium, allowing us to rank them based on the highest percentage of game-day visitors who praised the atmosphere (per 1,000 visitors).

Chiefs' Arrowhead Stadium Provides the Best Game-day Atmosphere

Leading the NFL for game-day atmosphere is the Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs, with 147 visitors per 1,000 praising the atmosphere. Known for its deafening noise, Arrowhead holds the Guinness World Record for the loudest stadium at 142.2 decibels, which can make it notoriously intimidating for visiting teams.

Lumen Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks, follows closely with 124.8 visitors per 1,000 praising the atmosphere. Along with being boosted by the Seahawks' legendary 12th Man fanbase, the stadium’s unique design consists of more compact seats that are closer to the players and overhead coverage that pushes the sound back towards the field.

By the same measure, the stadium ranked as having the worst atmosphere by match-going fans is the SoFi Stadium—home to both the Los Angeles Chargers and the Los Angeles Rams.

Since opening in September 2020, the SoFi Stadium has been praised for incorporating state-of-the-art technology into the match-going fan's experience, which includes a 70,000 square foot, dual-sided 4K LED screen. Despite such cutting-edge technology, both team's home atmospheres rank lowest with 20.9 (Rams) and 22.7 (Chargers) fans per 1,000 praising it.

Another impressive-looking stadium that struggles to attract praise for its atmosphere is the Las Vegas Raiders' Allegiant Stadium. Just 33 in every 1,000 game-day spectators have praised the atmosphere of the stadium since the Raiders relocated there in time for the 2020 NFL season.

The Allegiant Stadium is widely acknowledged for its attractive architecture. However, this doesn't always translate to a good game atmosphere, as one fan in 2022 explained in their review on Tripadvisor: "The stadium itself is nice and a cool looking venue but as far as football goes, it's not a great football atmosphere."

Closing comments:

Behind the results of this analysis, we have found that there are many factors that can define a good game-day atmosphere for an NFL fan beyond a more conventional measure of crowd volume.

Although crowd noise plays a vital role, attending NFL matches often means being treated to and interacting with a full-day of activities. Many attendees gather outside the stadium before games to embrace the tailgating culture that combines food, drinks and camaraderie between fans as excitement builds towards to the game's kickoff.

Stadiums also offer other forms of entertainment, such as half-time music performances and mascot shows. These additions to the day's programming help to keep the momentum and atmosphere of the crowd going until the football restarts.

Crowds also respond to the design and layout of a stadium. While some of the grander, open-air stadiums can create a sense of awe among match-goers, other stadiums that are enclosed or designed in a more compact fashion can add to the intensity and emotion of what takes place on the field.

NFL crowds are a broad church, and many of the visitor reviews analyzed here also show that families who attend games together appreciated being seated in areas with a calmer and more secure atmosphere.

Methodology

To discover which NFL stadiums have the best game-day atmosphere, we analyzed more than 31,000 reviews on Tripadvisor and Google Maps across all of the current stadiums being used in the NFL. We only focussed on reviews from people who attended for matches, removing irrelevant reviews such as those for concerts or other events in the process. We then calculated what percentage of the remaining reviews specifically mentioned and praised the atmosphere for each stadium. Stadiums were then ranked on having the highest proportion (per 1,000) of visitors who praised the game-day atmosphere. Data correct as of September 2024.

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Image credit: Kj1595 Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0