There’s not much Giants and Jets fans can agree on. But if there’s one thing that’s universally agreed upon between both fan bases, it’s that MetLife Stadium generally sucks.
WFAN legend Mike Francesa said it himself. Here’s what our own James Kratch caught from the Big Guy’s podcast back in April:
Francesa said MetLife Stadium — which opened in 2010 — is possibly “the worst big stadium, I think, ever built.”
“There is one of the few stadiums that was rebuilt where the old stadium (Giants Stadium) was not only more popular, it was better than the stadium they built,” he said.
“It is disappointing in every way. And it ruined the Giants franchise, because what it did to the fanbase with the seat licenses and the moving of their real fans to different parts of the ballpark. To me, they lost a lot. That stadium had a huge impact on the fortunes of the Giants for a decade. They’ve come out of that now for the first time, but that is a big part of why they went into this downward spiral. That stadium is a complete disappointment. Nobody likes it.”
Nothing like pumping $1.6 billion into a stadium that everybody hates, right? They may have replaced the turf, which is great for player safety, but that doesn’t do much for the actual fan experience.
The Athletic ranked MetLife Stadium as the 25th-best NFL stadium out of a possible 30. Here’s the blurb about it:
Despite it not being old, 13 ballots had it ranked as one of the five worst stadiums in the league.
“When MetLife was completed in 2010 it cost $1.6 billion,” Jets reporter Zack Rosenblatt wrote. “The money was not particularly well spent. It’s a boring stadium — which is something universally agreed on by both Giants and Jets fans, a rarity — both in look and feel. The food is poor. And it’s always a disaster exiting the stadium, especially for fans — and that gets even worse after concerts. There’s a mall nearby but otherwise it’s not exactly an exciting area, especially as the home base for two teams that are supposed to represent New York City.”
Are any lies detected here? I don’t think so. Everything mentioned by Rosenblatt is legitimate and what everyone already complains about. The five stadiums ranked worse than MetLife include the Ceasar’s Superdome (New Orleans), Paycor Stadium (Cincinnati), Hard Rock Stadium (Miami), TIAA Bank Field (Jacksonville), and FedEx Field (Washington).
At least maybe there’ll be good football played in East Rutherford again this season to offset it all. We have to hold onto something, ya know.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on X: @mmusico8.
