Stadium Review - New Meadowlands Stadium

FDR and I hit up the New Meadowlands Stadium ("NMS") in beautiful East Rutherford, NJ December 5th for the Giants/Redskins game. We all know how the football portion of the day went, so I thought I could give a quick review on the new confines that the Giants and Jets share.

NMS is located within the Meadowlands Sports Complex, which is owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority ("NJSEA"). The Jets and Giants financed the project via New Meadowlands Stadium Company, LLC, which is presumably a bankruptcy remote entity that is owned by the Jets/Giants 50/50. While the land is owned by the NJSEA, the improvements are owned by the Jets/Giants entity through a long-term leasehold. Apparently the lease is 25 years with extension options that could carry the term out to 97 years. After year 15 and every 5 years thereafter, each team can opt out of the lease with 12 months notice.

NMS is about 2.2 million square feet - about twice the size of the now demolished Giants Stadium - 30 feet higher and has about 2,500 more seats (capacity of 82,500). The price tag was just as robust at a cost of $1.6 billion (compared to the $78 million it cost to build Giants Stadium). Most days the stadium will look sterile with its razor blade facade and gray seats, but on Sundays it is lit up in blue or green depending on who the home team is.

Obviously the owners of the Giants and Jets decided to build this palace to make more money. The old stadium had 142 club seats while the new one has 9,300 club seats (and 130,000 square feet of club lounges). Per the NFL's current revenue sharing agreement, luxury box revenues are of course exempted. So the Mara and Tisch families saw piles of money vanish when the Giants choked to the Eagles on Sunday.

To the common fan, the experience is marginally better than the old Giants Stadium. The high definition video boards in the four corners of the stadium are a nice amenity. Yes, there are more bathrooms, but they are poorly designed and get filled up quickly. Concessions are not important for football fans as most tailgate prior to kickoff, so I cannot comment on food options - besides, I didn't eat anything. The new seats are rather cramped and the upper deck seats are much farther from the action than before. I found the crowd noise was average, but the game wasn't exactly competitive.

I find the New Meadowlands Stadium to be a tremendous waste of money for the typical fan. I'm sure the players have significantly improved facilities and the club seat holders must enjoy the wood paneling, fire places, and plasma televisions, but this was an unnecessary project. Non-club section PSL's cost $1,000 to $20,000 per ticket (game tickets range from $85 to $160). That's a lot of cash to spend on watching football live; club seats cost significantly more. PSL holders committed to buying tickets through the 2011 season. If there is a lockout next year, I bet lots of fans try to dump their PSL's. Fortunately this project was privately financed, but the infrastructure improvements (train service from Secaucus, improved roads, etc) were paid by tax payers.

All I care about now is a win at Lambeau Field on Sunday.