CAESARS SUPERDOME
STADIUM DUDE’S NFL STADIUM RANK: #10
STADIUM INFORMATION
- Located: New Orleans, LA
- Opened: 1975
- Capacity: 73,208
- Weather: n/a (indoors)
- Games attended: 3
- Last visited: 2018
STADIUM REVIEW
This venue has hosted more Super Bowls than any other. While a lot of that is the allure of the city, the facility itself brings something to the table as well.
Now sponsored by Caesars Entertainment Inc., the Superdome has been renovated several times already, with another big $450 million renovation having started in 2020 (slated for completion in 2024). This latest project is designed to eliminate key paint points by replacing ramps with escalators, widening concourses, making the club area more luxe, and adding some new field-level suites. If successful, this may leapfrog the Superdome past a few more of these stadiums on the list.
It’s already a pretty great place. For one, it offers one of the best atmospheres in football; I rank New Orleans Saints fans up there with Chiefs and Seahawks fans as the loudest and most passionate in the game. Two, the concessions; while the concourses in which they are offered are tight (especially in the upper bowl), enjoying football whilst eating jambalaya, a po’boy, an andouille sausage, or some crawfish paired with an Abita is bliss. And three, it’s in effing New Orleans just a few blocks from the French Quarter.
You don’t have much in the way of traditional tailgating due to the dome’s urban location and reliance on parking garages. But the city is a giant open-carry party anyway, so it’s hardly missed. The Saints also built Champions Square with dancing, jazz bands, lots of food and drink and plenty of free giveaways from local vendors.
The constant chant of “Who Dat” and the playing of “When the Saints Go Marching In” after every touchdown is fantastic. And you know the post-game party will just spill out and keep going all night long, especially if the home team wins.
It’s an older venue built in a different era. Despite the many renovations (including the pending ones), it may not ever truly be THE most incredible facility in the league. But you won’t find a more fun place to watch a football game. And if the Saints are good and the stakes matter, there isn’t a more electric atmosphere. While I barely have it in the Top Ten, it’s absolutely in the discussion as the answer to “if you can only get to one more game, where would you see it?”.
