In a ranking of the 32 stadiums in the NFL, Washington’s Fed Ex Field ran away with the bottom spot in a landslide.
If you’re wondering why Washington is pushing so hard to change their name, one of the reasons is because a simmering outcry has reached a boiling point over the past few weeks with the social unrest in America coming to a head. Another reason is that Dan Snyder and the team wish to get into a new stadium, and in order to do that, they’ve been told they’ll need to change the name.
Why do they wish to get into a new stadium so badly? It’s because their current home, Fed Ex Field in Landover, MD, is the worst in the NFL. That’s not conjecture, it was literally ranked as the worst stadium in the league just recently by The Athletic. When polling NFL experts, Fed Ex Field made 27 of 31 ballots, and was ranked as the worst venue by 14 people.
Here is what The Athletic’s Rhiannon Walker — who covers Washington — had to say:
“FedExField definitely deserves this ranking. From purely a reporter standpoint, there’s a mile walk to and from the stadium — rain, snow or shine. It’s one of the older stadiums in the league and without the fun history of a Lambeau or Soldier Field. The upper-level seats are regularly covered because of poor attendance.”
While the poor attendance may be attributed more to the on-field product that is regularly seen in Washington, a nicer venue to view said product would definitely get at least a few more fans. Here is what The Athletic’s Ben Standig had to say about Fed Ex Field:
“While I cannot personally rank all NFL stadiums based on personal experience, FedExField ranking near the bottom comes as no shock. Just to check myself since it’s been a long minute I attended a game without a media pass, I asked my friends for thoughts. Among the issues: Location. As in that this Maryland suburbs locale is a poor one for fans wanting to arrive early or wait out postgame traffic, of which there’s plenty when packed (insert “no issue when 3-13” joke here). There are no restaurants or bars or walking around areas.
“Parking. ‘Exacerbated by point number one, parking is a nightmare and can take up to two hours to exit at times if you wait until the end of a game,’ said a friend who had club level season tickets for over a decade. ‘Getting to and from the stadium isn’t actually too bad on weekends, but that last mile either way is exhausting and a buzz kill.’
Winning would definitely make that gameday experience more enjoyable for all fans in attendance, but that rarely happens, and when it does, you’re still met with a long haul to and from the stadium. A new location, refurbished venue, and improved product on the field could help the franchise as a whole, but none of it is likely to get done without a rebrand as well.
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