Where to sit at NFL games [infographic]
NFL is by far the most popular sport in the United States. It’s not even really that close: 33% of respondents to a 2016 Harris Poll of US sports fans picked NFL as their favourite league. The next highest was Major League Baseball… at 15%. The National Basketball Association? 5%.1
Another example: One of our SWIAM fan tips made reference to the fact that New England Patriots games at Gillette Stadium have been sold out since 1993… which means it hasn’t been easy to get a ticket there since Demolition Man came out.
So, the short answer to our question is probably ‘sit anywhere you can at NFL games’, because tickets aren’t always easy to come by.
With that in mind, this guide is focused on the best places to sit at football games according to our users, assuming that you have the choice. This is something we did for baseball games once before.
Find NFL tickets at Sports Where I Am
How we put this together
We used the same process that we did last time for baseball. A blank football arena was divided up into 16 seating sections, like this:
Then we allocated each city with an NFL team two ‘votes’ and checked the seating tips provided by fans from every venue:
…and then we just tallied up the votes for each of the sections.
If there was an absolute consensus amongst the top tips for one stadium, we allocated two votes to that section.
If a venue had multiple tips contradicting each other, we went with the one with the most votes. 2
THE RESULTS: The best place to sit at an NFL game is…
According to Sports Where I Am users, the consensus best place to sit at NFL games is between the 20 yard lines on either side of the field. Many people used the phrase “about 20 rows up” when referring to the ideal spot.
Notes/observations
■ If you factor in the upper and lower levels, ‘between the 20 yard lines’ on either side of field accounts for over 70% of the tips we have for seating.
■ Obviously, not all stadiums are the same. Although our guide above says to sit either side of the field, some stadiums specifically mentioned the End Zone areas as the best. In one venue, it was suggested to get a good view of the city behind the field. In another, it was to get into the Dawg Pound amongst the ‘real fans’. It’s a reminder that this is a ‘guide’: your best bet is to check the fan tips for the venue you’re going to on our site.
What do you think?
Did we get this right? Let us know your thoughts on our Facebook page.
More football at Sports Where I Am
- This doesn’t appear to be some outlier poll, either. There are other examples that tell a similar story.
- 2022 update: We don’t have the ‘votes’ function on the site anymore, but we did at the time of writing this guide.
