Why Are Stadiums and Arenas Getting Uglier?

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Are teams purposely building ugly stadiums and arenas? Well, something here seems to be going on. The past decade or so hasn’t exactly been a golden era for design, to say the least.
When Golden1 Center first opened in Sacramento, I, like everyone else, thought it looked really cool. Eight years later, I’m far less enamored with it. The G1C looks extremely gimmicky and screams mid-2010s. It is hard to imagine it improving with age.
The problem doesn’t stop with the G1C. The Chase Center’s design hasn’t won many fans. As cool as the Intuit Dome looks on the inside, the outside is preposterous. I mean seriously, did you really build your basketball arena in the shape of a rugby ball?
Around the way, So-Fi Stadium is a similar story. From the inside, it is great, but from the outside, it’s grating to look at. Elsewhere, Levi’s Stadium is a disaster, and Mercedes-Benz Stadium and US Bank Stadium are extremely jarring.
From an aesthetics standpoint, stadiums across America have taken a noticeable step back. Now, designers and teams make up all kinds of stories as to the “inspiration” of the design. Wanting to incorporate local elements. Cool story but the result is still ugly stadiums.
You can’t help but think that it is being done on purpose. Sports owners aren’t stupid. They see the uphill struggle to get new stadiums and arenas built. And they realize that if their team’s home doesn’t look like it needs to be replaced or upgraded, the local population will staunchly fight back against their claims.
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[@AllanG24]

Levi's Stadium has to be by far the worst stadium constructed this century

[@msk1170]

I was at Mercedes Benz Stadium for an Atlanta United game last weekend and in my opinion it’s amazing both inside and out.

[@brianstacey2679]

Are you kidding? It's nice inside but outside it is an absolute eyesore.

[@msk1170]

I disagree but that’s cool.

[@guyfaux3978]

"How do you explain THIS?" An hommage to the Sydney Opera House, maybe, at least from the angle being displayed?

[@thetouchback]

They wanted to invoke thoughts of an armadillo...seriously, that is what the company designing the stadium said.

[@tonyarmbrust]

Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle is basically Seattle Center Coliseum v4.0. It wasn't even originally built as an arena. It was the Washington State Pavilion for the 1962 World's Fair.

[@bullwinkle2380]

Wait'll ya see the Sydney Opera House in Vegas!!!

[@Marylandbrony]

I actually have a sort of soft-spot for the “Dated stadium”. Mercedes Benz stadium and Jerry World being the ones coming to mine for the 2010s. The Metrodome and the Sliverdome for the 70s and 80s and even I think the Rose Bowl and old Solider field are examples of dated stadiums that almost scream “This is from the 1920s and everyone wants to be the Colosseum now!”. Maybe it’s personal taste and all that but still. Also I do think General, “Trendy” looks are more due to owners having poor taste than some conspiracy over decades to get public money for stadiums. The stadiums with the most public money circa 1990-2010 were in fact the “Timeless” ones.

[@BirdbiaGamingYT]

The SoFi stadium looks cool on the inside and out, futuristic design. Definitely not ugly. Same for the mercedes benz stadium.

[@kinghenrikm]

@thetouchback Hey man, I watch a lot of your videos, you have a lot of great sports insight, but for this video, its astronomically disagreeable. This is pertaining to NFL stadiums only. You said that the 90s-2000s was the best era for stadiums and after the 2010s it started to dwindle. In my opinion I wholeheartedly disagree, I think its the opposite. In the former, the only Stadiums that were probably the most memorable were Ford Field, Houston's Reliant Stadium, and Seahawks Lumen Field. The rest are forgettable at best. To have Sofi, Allegiant, Viking Stadium, and the Falcons Mercedes Benz Stadium on this list to call these Stadiums ugly? And to somehow call the crowd energy losing gappy Lincoln Financial Field as somehow Solid? With all due respect, you know nothing about architecture. The new recently covered stadiums that have been built, are architectural Marvels. No where in the world will you find Stadiums even coming close to these designs and with this many amenities. Outside of the US, people talk about how they could never achieve to make such luxurious Palaces for their home clubs, and these are some of the top sport clubs in the world too. Cowboys Stadium is 15 yrs old, that's half the years of what a number of stadiums stand for before newer ones are built, and there doesn't seem to be any conversation of Cowboys Stadium already being "outdated". This video should pertain to specifically to Levi's Stadium. No way you could sell that off as a "Good" Stadium. For that one the owner deliberately left the Stadium all exposed so later in the future he could ask for public tax dollars in the money rich Silicon Valley. When the 49ers were not doing so good, the Stadium was half empty because of course why would anyone sit there for hours in the baking hot sun for sub par performance. There the fans spoke.

[@trevorlewatle1886]

i agree, im currently doing a stadium model and i chose the charm if the facebric over weird angled roofs n farcades

[@eashansaju8106]

idk man, I want stadiums to look "ugly" like So-Fi Stadium or Mercedes Benz Stadium or Allegiant Stadium if that is ugly and not look "timeless" cuz a lot of those timeless stadiums look boring as fuck.

[@TrestinMeacham80]

I like most of the new stadiums, SoFi is my favorite. What they did to Soldier Field was bad though.

[@TheLIMREPORT]

The word is... modernist :-D

[@ord4r857]

The new Titans Stadium looks terrible.

[@Marylandbrony]

Looks like a video game console and not a stadium.

[@86byrdman]

@@Marylandbrony For real. Looks like a PS2. LOL

[@AHomelessShoe]

Modern MLS stadiums are a good way to go design wise.

[@ValleyProud916]

Build something ugly for the Sacramento A's. I can handle it.

[@cjspyker]

Mercedes-Benz arena looks good

[@noaho8457]

I live near Portland Oregon and I’ve seen people knock on the Moda center but even though it could use some minor renovations intirior and exterior. It’s still a great stadium and fits well in the city.

[@thetouchback]

I love Moda Center. But as you say, some folks really dislike it. I even saw it placed on an ugliest buildings in Portland list which I didn't really get.

[@srikothur2845]

It's an opinion piece with thought behind it so I did not dislike it. However, I completely disagree with your point about intent when most of these owners might not be alive in 30 years.

[@joedavenport5293]

These teams are owned by billionaires so if they want a new stadium they can build it themselves. And if public funds are used to build or renovate a stadium then the owner should at least give the city partial ownership so they can protect their investment.

[@liverpoolfcfab5]

They aren't necessarily getting uglier, they just look the same

[@AlexGall318]

🙄🙄🙄

[@ValleyProud916]

I once heard the G1C looked like a big " jiffy pop popcorn "