Sporting News recently ranked all 31 NFL stadiums...they included Wembly the London home of the National Football League. If you look at the list, you will see that it is not necessarily new that makes the top of the list, as Lambeau Field is #1, it is attention to the overall fan experience. I highly recommend looking over the list.
The problem with St. Louis is that the entire focus on the stadium was luxury boxes. It was believed back in the mid 1990s that to focus on luxury boxes would bring a team revenue, and with that revenue the team would be able to sign high-priced free agents. That never happened in St. Louis because they forgot of the rank-and-file, Average Joe who would pay a much higher percentage of his paycheck for season ticket. It was the lack of Average Joe at St. Louis Rams games that caused the end of the St. Louis Rams. This is why one of the oldest stadiums in the NFL, the one on the other side of the Show Me State, is still one of the best in the NFL in spite of its age. It is a great place for Average Joe to blow a mid-month paycheck.
In addition to this lack of focus is a lack of other things for fans to do outside the stadium on game day. There are very few places to park that allow tailgating. There are not very many bars and restaurants nearby. But the baseball park, where the St. Louis Cardinals play is another story. The baseball cardinals are, in fact, one of the best attended teams in baseball.
Here are the bottom 5 NFL stadiums according to Sporting News
31. O.co Colosseum, Raiders
If you look at the picture at the Sporting News site, you see the problem. O.co also serves as home to the Athletics of Baseball. And there are bleachers that give football fans sideline access for Raider games, which are retracted for baseball as they are in the baseball outfield. The problem, as you can see from the photo, is those sideline fans are in the sun, and have to compete with the brightest star of all to see much of the game, particularly on one side of the 50 yard line. There is also little outside the stadium for the fan to enjoy before or after the game. After 20 years back in Oakland, that renovation is still being paid for by the Raiders because fans have stayed home in droves.
As for a solution, here is what has been proposed. It's complicated, but here goes. The Golden State Warriors will be moving to a new arena in San Francisco in 2018. The plan would be to temporarily move the Warriors to the SAP arena. The Oracle Arena, which is on the same site as the O.co, would be razed so that a new baseball stadium for the Athletics can be built. In the mean time, move the Raiders to Levi's Stadium or California Memorial Stadium, temporarily. Once the Athletics are out of O.co, raze that stadium for a new Raiders stadium. This will take some time, at least 5 years, before dirt is moved for a new stadium for the Raiders, and is sounds a lot like what went down in Cincinnati a few years ago for the Bengals. That did not turn out so well.
30. Qualcomm Stadium, Chargers
It's just old, and has simply been in limbo too long. The locker room floods. Fans are staying away in droves.
29. Georgia Dome, Falcons
It has served its purpose and now the Falcons are two seasons from moving on. This is much like the story in St. Louis, where the focus was on luxury boxes while the rank and file fans had so suffer from poor sight lines and an inconsistent team
38. Fed Ex Field, Redskins
In terms of sight lines, the stadium isn't terrible, and the VIPs have it just as bad as the rank and file fans. They have tried some things to improve the situation, and those things have failed, just like the team on the field, which was one of the best in the NFL at the old place. Major League Soccer's DC United is the sole tenant at the old place, and soon they will have a new place. Redskins ownership is now talking about wrecking the old place and building a new place for the team at the sight of the old place.
37. Edward Jones Dome, Rams
See above.
Best NFL Stadiums
5. Arrowhead Stadium, Chiefs
This one was ahead of its time.
4. Century Link Field, Seahawks
3. Levi's Stadium, 49ers.
There is even an amusement park nearby.
2. AT&T Stadium, Cowboys
1. Lambeau Field, Packers
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