For those of you who follow hockey:

1) what % of fans in the stands can actually see the action?

2) is that snow covering much of the baseball field real or trucked in?

1, i saw last years at the big house from the top, could see the action, baseball stadiums los has to suck though, and its not real or made snow its like cotton balls.

I went to a stadium series game at Yankee Stadium last year. Yeah the LOS weren't great and I coulda used binoculars from up in the 400 level where my seats were. But I expected that so I wasn't really disappointed.

The best part was the atmosphere. It's fun being in a packed stadium outside in 15 degree weather and snow flurries watching hockey. The whole night was just a big party. And the beer stayed cold. The biggest problem was the restroom capacity at the stadium. They weren't designed for the peak demand during intermissions so lines were wicked long.

(01-01-2015 08:00 PM)madizoned-level2004 Wrote:  I went to a stadium series game at Yankee Stadium last year. Yeah the LOS weren't great and I coulda used binoculars from up in the 400 level where my seats were. But I expected that so I wasn't really disappointed.

The best part was the atmosphere. It's fun being in a packed stadium outside in 15 degree weather and snow flurries watching hockey. The whole night was just a big party. And the beer stayed cold. The biggest problem was the restroom capacity at the stadium. They weren't designed for the peak demand during intermissions so lines were wicked long.

That's what i figured- the pleasure is in the big party and novelty factor.

(01-01-2015 09:18 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(01-01-2015 08:00 PM)madizoned-level2004 Wrote:  I went to a stadium series game at Yankee Stadium last year. Yeah the LOS weren't great and I coulda used binoculars from up in the 400 level where my seats were. But I expected that so I wasn't really disappointed.

The best part was the atmosphere. It's fun being in a packed stadium outside in 15 degree weather and snow flurries watching hockey. The whole night was just a big party. And the beer stayed cold. The biggest problem was the restroom capacity at the stadium. They weren't designed for the peak demand during intermissions so lines were wicked long.

That's what i figured- the pleasure is in the big party and novelty factor.

The hockey version of the Final Four.

I wonder if the popularity of this will cause the next hockey arena built to have a retractable roof, so they can do his whenever they want.

(01-01-2015 10:02 PM)adcorbett Wrote:  I wonder if the popularity of this will cause the next hockey arena built to have a retractable roof, so they can do his whenever they want.

Wouldn't be worth the cost of the retractable roof. I'd guess that if you live in some place with a rough winter like Minneapolis or Winnipeg, the charm of paying $100-plus to sit under an open sky in sub-zero weather would wear off pretty quickly.

The cost really isn't that much. It adds about $20 million to a football stadium: it would probably only add $5-$10 million to an arena -'note on the football stadium cost I'm referring the the difference in price for a regular roof and a retractable roof, not the cost of a roof itself. That Would be less than 5% of the cost, probably 2-3%. It would have limited use, but for such a small cost could be a nice novelty. They are putting them on some of the newer tennis stadiums for this reason.

(01-01-2015 09:18 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(01-01-2015 08:00 PM)madizoned-level2004 Wrote:  I went to a stadium series game at Yankee Stadium last year. Yeah the LOS weren't great and I coulda used binoculars from up in the 400 level where my seats were. But I expected that so I wasn't really disappointed.

The best part was the atmosphere. It's fun being in a packed stadium outside in 15 degree weather and snow flurries watching hockey. The whole night was just a big party. And the beer stayed cold. The biggest problem was the restroom capacity at the stadium. They weren't designed for the peak demand during intermissions so lines were wicked long.

That's what i figured- the pleasure is in the big party and novelty factor.

Really depends, Baseball fields have horrible LOS for round field/rinked sports, Football fields work well with LOS as long as your not near the top. It's definitely an amazing experience as a huge hockey fan.

(01-01-2015 11:23 PM)adcorbett Wrote:  The cost really isn't that much. It adds about $20 million to a football stadium: probably only add $5-$10 million to an arena (not on the football stadium cost I'm referring the the difference in price for a regular roof and a retractable roof, not the cost of a roof itself). That's Would be less than 5% of the cost. They are putting them on some of the newer tennis stadiums.

I wish they would use smaller college football stadiums which would provide slightly better sightlines. For instance this year's could have played at Maryland's Byrd Stadium.

The sightlines for the Winter Classic were terrible at Fenway Park.

(01-04-2015 03:27 AM)vandiver49 Wrote:  I wish they would use smaller college football stadiums which would provide slightly better sightlines. For instance this year's could have played at Maryland's Byrd Stadium.

An outdoor tennis stadium would be ideal. Would not be a large capacity, probably18-20k, but it would be optimal. Arthur Ashe stadium in New York would be perfected. Holds 23k for tennis.





There's also a decent sized tennis stadium on Yale's campus (15K) and one in Toronto (13k). Gets sketchy after that in terms of cold weather climates (there's one in California as well).

(01-04-2015 04:23 PM)adcorbett Wrote:  

(01-04-2015 03:27 AM)vandiver49 Wrote:  I wish they would use smaller college football stadiums which would provide slightly better sightlines. For instance this year's could have played at Maryland's Byrd Stadium.

An outdoor tennis stadium would be ideal. Would not be a large capacity, probably18-20k, but it would be optimal. Arthur Ashe stadium in New York would be perfected. Holds 23k for tennis.





There's also a decent sized tennis stadium on Yale's campus (15K) and one in Toronto (13k). Gets sketchy after that in terms of cold weather climates (there's one in California as well).

Only problem is that there very few tennis centers that seat anything close to 20K

There is only one. The one above. At least in the US. But is also in New York, whcih makes it a good spot to host it very few years.

Rinks have playing surfaces 200 feet long by 85 feet wide. Some schools though, like UNH, play on 200 foot by 100 foot surfaces, which are wider and international-sized (allows UNH to host international competitions). Not sure what area the Arthur Ashe playing surface is, but it might be close.

Interesting that rink sizes helped give some old NHL teams their identities. The old Boston Garden was smaller than 85 x 200, and allowed the Bruins to have slower skaters who were bruisers... while the old Montreal Forum was larger, and they built their teams to have super fast skaters that would blow by their opponents like rockets... the new Garden and new Forum are both standard 85 x 200 I think, so their identities are lost a little.

Back in the 90's there was a movie with Russell Crowe named "Mystery Alaska", about a pickup hockey team that played pond hockey up in Alaska. They played without boards or glass, and with only a low pile of snow as the playing surface boundary.

Something like this at a baseball stadium would provide better sightlines, but would be pretty radical... plus it would be a different style of hockey... plus fans might get whacked with the puck...!

I was having trouble posting the picks but the playing surface looks to have lower level retractible seating to hold a hockey sized or bigger rink.

I don't watch hockey at all, but I do check out the winter classic. Cool visuals. But the islanders should consider playing some games here: it would seat 5-6k more than Barklays does for hockey.

I think some of you are missing the point here. It is not about sight lines, it's about the experience - kind of like the Final Four in men's basketball.

I have attended two Winter Classics and two Final Fours and they are similar feeling. However, neither are ideal for viewing the action.

I have been very fortunate. I've attended a Super Bowl, World Series games, Stanley Cup Finals games, two Olympics, two Final Fours, a BCS game, and many others. I would still rank the Winter Classic in Buffalo as one of the coolest sporting experiences I've ever had. It was simply magical. The drive home in a blizzard was positively harrowing but the event itself was absolutely awesome.

I'm not missing it. The spectacle is what it is. I was simply offering an alternative venue that offers another spectacle. One that is "also" fan friendly. And ove that matter, can be down throughout the year.

I just don't think there is any a lore in playing in a tennis stadium. A big part of playing in Boston is playing in Fenway Park. You don't get the same thrill playing in Gillette Stadium or at Boston College's Alumni Stadium – even though they would probably offer better viewing experiences.

To be honest, after attending a few Final Fours, if anything, college basketball should go to an arena set up for those games. Unlike the NHL's Winter Classic, which is just one regular season game out of 82, the FF games are extremely important and the viewing experience for them is absolutely horrific.