Why americans have a boring stadium's atmosphere? (clubs, football, EPL)

[Winterbeard]

Originally Posted by moionfire

Why do Europeans and non Americans take so much pride in acting like idiots in sporting stands. We Americans don't want sectarianism in our sports. Sports represent a city or college. That is it. It is not about hate of the other team.

Tell that to the Red Sox fans when they play the Yankees.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by Winterbeard

Tell that to the Red Sox fans when they play the Yankees.

It’s pretty mild now. Fenway Park is an extremely expensive ticket and the suits and pink hats have taken over.

I had season tickets by the Lighthouse corner flag in Gillette for the Revs for a bunch of years. Other than the drum in the fort, it’s a pretty subdued crowd. 60,000 seat stadium where the lower bowl isn’t filled. It’s a totally different atmosphere for international matches when it’s sold out.

It’s a very different culture from the UK where every town has their football club and the whole town turns out at 3:00 on a Saturday to support their club. You don’t have derbies because it’s a relatively new league and the cities are very far apart. New England has 10 million people and one soccer team that barely draws 20,000 spectators. Sunderland draws 40,000 for a city with maybe 200,000 to 300,000. You go north a few miles and it’s Newcastle supporters.

[CorporateCowboy]

Originally Posted by Brave New World

It should also be noted that football is a 90 minutes in terms of total normal time with a 15 minute half time break, and fans don't have a lot of time to consume vast amounts of alcohol.

Stadium bars, kiosks and hospitality services open two hours in advance, some of them even 2 1/2 or 3 hours prior to a match (re: Stamford Bridge). Fans have plenty of time to consume alcohol, if that’s what they want to do.

[Brave New World]

Originally Posted by CorporateCowboy

Stadium bars, kiosks and hospitality services open two hours in advance, some of them even 2 1/2 or 3 hours prior to a match (re: Stamford Bridge). Fans have plenty of time to consume alcohol, if that’s what they want to do.

The ordinary fan doesn't have access to the facilities in relation to most hospitality areas, and alcohol tends to be very expensive in many stadiums, and can only be drunk in certain areas. Most ordinary football fans tend drink at the local pubs near the grounds, which usually have historic links to the club and where a pint is usually a lot cheaper.

As for the current laws on alcohol, the consumption of alcohol is banned in the stands of English and Welsh football grounds and is banned from any parts of Scottish football grounds.

In terms of local rivalries (derbies) or games where the police suspect problems, the kick off can be moved to an early time to help prevent pre-match drinking, whilst the police also have powers to close pubs and bars in and around stadium areas if they suspect any problem or potential trouble. There have been 11am kick off's in relation to certain games in the past, as the pubs don't open until 11am.

In terms of international games there are sometimes alcohol restrictions placed city wide in terms of some parts of Europe, and it should be noted that most drunken or violent behaviour usually happens after the game and not in the stadium itself.

[CorporateCowboy]

Originally Posted by Brave New World

It should also be noted that football is a 90 minutes in terms of total normal time with a 15 minute half time break, and fans don't have a lot of time to consume vast amounts of alcohol.

Originally Posted by Brave New World

The ordinary fan doesn't have access to the facilities in relation to most hospitality areas, and alcohol tends to be very expensive in many stadiums, and can only be drunk in certain areas. Most ordinary football fans tend drink at the local pubs near the grounds, which usually have historic links to the club and where a pint is usually a lot cheaper.

The stadium bars are separate from the hospitality areas and are available to ‘ordinary fans’ (lol); it’s why they open a few hours in advance (up to three in some cases). Do you really think they don’t want to sell as much alcohol as possible prior to a match, particularly given the restrictions i.e. folks can’t bring it to their seats.

Btw, there is no pub ‘link to the club’ that is going to compare to the historic stadium, in and of itself.

Originally Posted by Brave New World

Most football fans enjoy a drink after the game rather than in the ground.

This couldn’t be more inaccurate; everyone has heard of the pre-match pint, and it’s heavily advertised/promoted, particularly relative to the hours of various stadium bars and concourse areas.

[GeoffD]

In MLS, games start at 7:30. At Gillette, I often brought a portable gas grill and had dinner and drinks in the parking lot. A season ticket got you in-close parking. No different from an NFL game.

[Brave New World]

Originally Posted by CorporateCowboy

The stadium bars are separate from the hospitality areas and are available to ‘ordinary fans’ (lol); it’s why they open a few hours in advance (up to three in some cases). Do you really think they don’t want to sell as much alcohol as possible prior to a match, particularly given the restrictions i.e. folks can’t bring it to their seats.

Btw, there is no pub ‘link to the club’ that is going to compare to the historic stadium, in and of itself.



This couldn’t be more inaccurate; everyone has heard of the pre-match pint, and it’s heavily advertised/promoted, particularly relative to the hours of various stadium bars and concourse areas.

There are plenty of traditional pubs around grounds and many have been there as long as the club has, and they are generally a lot cheaper than the drink inside grounds, with one well known premiership club charging up to £7.60 for a pint of beer ($9.25 USD), and the same is often true of food.

As for the law it states that stadium bars should not be legally 'in sight of the pitch' and you can not take a drink back to the terraces or to your seat, whilst bars can be a significant walk from your seat, and could be in an entirely different stand depending on the club, and facilities and access also varies.

Whilst in terms of the more impressive hospitality areas, they are not for ordinary fans, which is what I stated.

In terms of being open hours in advance, most fans don't bother turning up until near kick off, with many having had a pint in a nearby pub, many of which have been there as for as long as the grounds themselves and are often famous in their own right.

In reality most people just turn up before kick off and leave after the final whistle, and if they want food or drink they wait until they get out of the ground, where they have a massive selection of cheaper food and drink outlets to choose from.

The 21 football ground with the most pubs within a half-mile radius - Planet Football

As for pubs in many British cities, many are quite historic, and generations of fans often have a close affinity to the pubs close to grounds, and some ground are not far from city centres with numerous pubs.

[rabbit33]

"Boring atmosphere"? must be all that carbon dioxide they exhale.

[CorporateCowboy]

Originally Posted by Brave New World

It should also be noted that football is a 90 minutes in terms of total normal time with a 15 minute half time break, and fans don't have a lot of time to consume vast amounts of alcohol.

Originally Posted by CorporateCowboy

Stadium bars, kiosks and hospitality services open two hours in advance, some of them even 2 1/2 or 3 hours prior to a match (re: Stamford Bridge). Fans have plenty of time to consume alcohol, if that’s what they want to do.

Originally Posted by Brave New World

Most football fans enjoy a drink after the game rather than in the ground.

Originally Posted by CorporateCowboy

This couldn’t be more inaccurate; everyone has heard of the pre-match pint, and it’s heavily advertised/promoted, particularly relative to the hours of various stadium bars and concourse areas.

Originally Posted by Brave New World

There are plenty of traditional pubs around grounds and many have been there as long as the club has, and they are generally a lot cheaper than the drink inside grounds, with one well known premiership club charging £7.60 a pint ($9.25 USD).

I’m not disputing cost, lol; I am, however, in strong disagreement with your bolded statements (and my responses), above, in that there is plenty of time for British football fans to consume alcohol prior to a match (and they certainly do so).

Originally Posted by Brave New World

As for the bars themselves they vary from ground to ground, as does ease of access, and other such factors, and it can be a nightmare trying to get a drink during half time, when you only have 15 minutes to buy and consume any drink if you want to get back to watch the match.

I wasn’t speaking to half-time; I very clearly stated prior to the match in direct response to your post.

Originally Posted by Brave New World

In terms of being open hours in advance, most fans don't bother turning up until near kick off, with many having had a pint in a nearby pub, many of which have been there as long as the ground and team themselves and are often famous in their own right, whilst here's also a lot less scrutiny and security outside the ground.

This is beyond ridiculous; they wouldn’t open in advance if folks weren’t ‘turning up’, particularly three hours. Obviously, they want to sell alcohol. Sincere question; have you ever been to an EPL match? Your posts tend to be bizarrely inaccurate or they are extraneous information you copied from a link.

[Brave New World]

Originally Posted by CorporateCowboy

I’m not disputing cost, lol; I am, however, in strong disagreement with your bolded statements (and my responses), above, in that there is plenty of time for British football fans to consume alcohol prior to a match (and they certainly do so).

I wasn’t speaking to half-time; I very clearly stated prior to the match in direct response to your post.

This is beyond ridiculous; they wouldn’t open in advance if folks weren’t ‘turning up’, particularly three hours. Obviously, they want to sell alcohol. Sincere question; have you ever been to an EPL match? Your posts tend to be bizarrely inaccurate or they are extraneous information you copied from a link.

Anyone with any idea about Britain knows there is a massive pub culture and that there are usually lots of pubs and places to drink around football grounds and that you don't need to go to the stadium bar.

As stated in my previous post, some of the pubs are very famous, and in terms of say Newcastle United which has 108 pubs in the half a mile radius of the ground, they include pubs such as 'The Strawberry' which opened as a pub 1859, and is older than both the club which was formed in 1892 and the ground in terms of St James's Park (1892), and there are numerous other such examples across the country.

"A stone’s throw from St James' Park, the Strawberry has for decades been the spiritual home of Newcastle United fans who flock there for a matchday pint".

Then and Now: When the famous Strawberry pub sat in the middle of a very different Newcastle - The Chronicle (Newcastle) - (2022)

The 21 football ground with the most pubs within a half-mile radius - Planet Football

There are numerous pubs in Britain that pre-date the US as a country, and which have seen all kinds of famous patrons, and in terms of football grounds many traditional grounds have their own traditional and often historic pubs which are as much a spiritual home to generations of fans as the ground itself, The Strawberry being just one such example, and there are others in most towns and cities across the length and breadth of Britain.