Ranking the Stadiums

  • Student Participation-35 points
    • 20 points available for students general involvement. Including initiating crowd noise/chants, participating in traditions, showing up early, staying the game, dressing to show support.
    • 15 points available for student lead organizations. Is the band in the stand playing music the fans are participating with? Are the Cheer/Yell leaders actually leading anything? Any other student groups that enhance the game atmosphere by encouraging fan involvement?
  • Non-Financial Alumni participation- 15 points
    • The same for student general involvement but for alumni.
  • The Shows– 10 points
    • This is all the stuff that goes on when the game isn’t. Pre-game and Half-Time. Not just is your band good, but are the fans watching the band. Are your awards and recognitions easy to follow and appreciated by the crowd? Is the National Anthem done well? Is there a flyover or pyrotechnics? Does your pre-game hype video actually hype anybody?
  • Stadium lead participation- 10 points as averaged between the 2 categories
    • The big screen- This category can go negative. Is it too loud? Is it just constantly going such that you can’t hear the band, or the cheer/yell leaders, or the crowd in the stands? Or on the good side is it playing fun videos/games during commercials? Remember we will be at 16 Stadiums, what makes your game unique or stadium specific? Is the music getting the crowd involved, if we don’t like but everyone else around us is dancing we’ll still give points. But also points for the nice touches like playing music that has a connection to the school or perfectly hits a vibe. Another key point is are you making it easier to follow the actual football game by showing replays, following the action, giving statistics and easy to see info.
    • Stadium lead hype- This is your first down call/response or your 3rd down make some noise. Anything lead by the stadium to encourage noise and participation during the game. This also includes and pyrotechnics or smoke used on touchdowns and kickoffs or team entrances. We would personally prefer all the hype be student lead but we will give points if you got it and the crowd seems to enjoy it. Or if you have a big ship horn. That made me laugh every time.
  • Family Friendliness- 5 points
    • We aren’t trying to be sticks in the mud and we understand that family friendly can sometimes be counter to student participation, but it doesn’t always have to be. While we do slightly factor is your stadium playing songs with F*ck in it we are more thinking big picture. Are your prices reasonable such that you can bring the family? Are there things for the kids to do or places to move around? Are there give aways or other things to keep the kids involved? Is there a place to nurse a baby? Asks the mom that nursed babies sitting on ground next to the elevators at Kyle Field.
  • The Stadium- 10 points averaged between the two sub-categories
    • The logistics of getting there- Is it easy to buy tickets? Do you have to download a whole other app just to get the tickets? Can you find parking? We know we were driving EhVan that added logistical complications for us but we could see on websites and from being there. Can you figure out where to go, how to get into the stadium, and such?
    • The stadium itself- Is it big, small, pretty, clean, well-maintained? Yes- we are rating bathrooms. Does the stadium have cool little features or stuff to look at? Is there water available? Can you navigate the inside of the stadium? What are the food and drink options?
  • Pre-game and Post Game Atmosphere- 15 points
    • What’s the atmosphere from the town? From the fans and the businesses as everyone walks to and from the stadium? Are there tailgates happening? Are they easy to find? How friendly is everyone? What march in or other outside the stadium show/activities are happening pre-game? What is the vibe as everyone leaves? What does the town/city have to offer? For this category there were and will be a few times that due to the schedule we have to rely on our knowledge of the town from past experiences instead of our exploring the town that day. Example being we went to a friend’s house in Austin, but we know Austin has a vibrant live music scene and good places to eat since we have been there many times.

We are ranking as we go but won’t share scores until the end. We will start to post short videos talking about or likes, dislikes, and general impressions of each stadium as we get time while traveling. We aren’t just going from school to school but enjoying activities along the way. Feel free to check out our tour of Iowa that we did right before the football season or any of our other travels.