So we’re still weeks away from the draft and weeks removed from UGA’s second natty in as many years.
During recent years, UGA has played a number of it’s big games in big venues: NFL stadiums from as far east as Atlanta and Miami to as far west as Los Angeles.
While I’m sure I’m not alone in this, I’ve gotten the chance to be in the stadium for a fair number of these games and so developed enough experience to gauge which stadiums are the best, which the worst, and the one’s I’d still love to go to. From concessions to concierge, I’ve put together a highly opinionated review of the stadiums I’ve been to and how likely I’d be to go back for something other than a UGA game. This was a project born out of boredom and a desire to hurry along the offseason so we can get back to football.
This list includes: Bank of America Stadium, Hard Rock Stadium, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Lucas Oil Stadium, So-Fi Stadium, and TIAA Bank Field
As a scoring reference, I ranked them as a 1-10/10 with a 5/10 being “no good memories, no bad memories. Utterly neutral experience” and tried not to take the game(s) played into account since I’ll obviously like a place more if we won there. There is also a TLDR at the bottom.
Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, NC)
Capacity: 75,000
Home Team: Carolina Panthers
Game Visited: UGA vs Clemson (2021, 10-3W)
BoA Stadium starts this list in part because it is the first on the alphabetized list I used to refresh my memory on stats and also because it’s the one I had to remember I’d been to. Oh, I remember UGA vs Clemson perfectly well: the game was a slug fest that was never in doubt, but we didn’t know that until the end. Both the Bulldogs and the Stripey Cats channeled their inner 1905 heritage teams for a game that *I* loved but offense fans probably didn’t. What I can’t say was super memorable was BoA Stadium itself. It is rather standard as NFL stadiums go: big bowl shape with fully outdoor facilities and external walk ways to get around the stadium itself once inside the imposing walls. While it didn’t really seem to be doing anything new in my mind, it did do all the basics right: It was easy enough to get in and out of the stadium itself, passage to our seats was intuitive and easy to follow, and the food on offer was no worse than most college stadiums I’ve been to (you know, foil hot dogs and Red Baron Pizza kind of quality). The biggest gripe I can recall was traffic around the hotels near the stadium itself. They chose a fantastic time to begin road work, and so entire lanes were shut down and traffic got to be a bit hellish to say the least. Charlotte itself was quite nice, however, with plenty to see and do (including the NASCAR HoF) and lots of great places to eat without feeling like it was a suffocatingly big city. Overall, I’d be willing to go back for a game if only to visit Charlotte again and take in the sights.
Final Score: 6.5/10
Hard Rock Stadium (Miami, FL)
Capacity: 65,000
Home Team: Miami Dolphins
Game Visited: UGA vs Michigan (34-11W)
The first thing I remember about the Hard Rock Stadium is that it is in the middle of a giant parking lot. Like, GIANT parking lot. Like, 140 acres that can hold 24,000 cars, 171 buses, 90 RV’s, 85 Limousines, and at least one helipad on property. And with all that parking, we paid to park in a patch of dirt next to a drainage ditch near the shady neighborhood. The place certainly lives up to what you’d image “Hard Rock” would be: it felt very much like an entertainment venue. Not necessarily just football, though, which tracks considering they’ve hosted everything from WrestleMania to the Argentina-Honduras soccer game. All that to say that the place had a carnival atmosphere that felt unique among the stadiums I’ve been to and really added to the feeling of it being a special game. That carnival feeling extended to the venues inside the stadium itself: bright, colorful lights and vibrant décor really made Hard Rock stick out in my memory. Food was just as eclectic with everything from burgers to Mexican, to sushi, to bars serving about any kind of libations you could wish for. It was obvious that going to the Hard Rock was not just a football game it was an Event. While the game was memorable for other reasons, the Hard Rock certainly is worth visiting even outside of UGA football appearances. It was also cool to leave the stadium by midnight and get to see the fireworks over Miami to ring in the new year. Or maybe those were gunshots, who knows.
Final Score: 8/10
Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis, IN)
Capacity: 67,000
Home Team: Indianapolis Colts
Game Visited: UGA vs Alabama (33-18W)
I’m pretty sure I could have had fond memories of this game if it had been played in the arctic circle, frankly. This is a stadium review, however, so I gotta focus on the place the game was played, which really felt like the arctic circle at times. Despite sub-freezing temperatures, Lucas Oil was a great venue from top to bottom. First, the approach is easy and walkable from just about every major hotel in the area and even has a “skyway” that connects several buildings together to allow visitors to walk the majority of the way to the stadium without having to be outside. I hate to keep harping on the cold, but with the weather we had this was absolutely ingenious to me, and I was extremely impressed with he infrastructure Indianapolis had in place to make the gameday experience about as seamless as can be. Once inside, I think Lucas Oil is the stadium that represents it’s city the best. It was themed very much as a raceway, down to having an F1 in the entrance and racing theming everywhere, which really gave it a sense of local pride. Concessions were simple but frankly pretty high quality, which I remember despite being so nervous before the game I could barely eat anything. Really, I would have nothing but praise for Lucas Oil were it not for one big thing (and one small one): If you end up with seats under the press boxes then you don’t get to watch the game live. You get what’s pictured below: a TV the size of my computer monitor and a bunch of people standing in the way of the game. Thankfully, we were able to get up and move at halftime and see the end of the game clearly from some upper level seats, but this really was an almost experience breaking issue. The smaller problem was the staff at the end of the game being rather insistent that we leave so they could close the stadium down, which I get but also it was our first national title in longer than most modern fans have been alive. Lighten up. So, if it were not for the seating issue, I’d really say take a ticket to anything here for a great overall experience any time of year. Just check to make sure you aren’t up under the boxes!
Final Score: 8/10 (6/10 if we had not been able to move so easily)
Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta, GA)
Capacity: 71,000
Home Team: Atlanta Falcons
Game Visited: First – UGA vs Alabama (23-26L) Last – UGA vs Ohio State (42-41W)
My second most visited stadium, personally, and also the one with the second most visits from UGA in CKS’ tenure. Also one of the newer stadiums Georgia has played in, opening first in 2017 to replace the Georgia Dome (RIP). I only every saw one game in the Dome and was too young to really remember much about it other than that we lost the game, so I can’t speak to how much of an upgrade ‘The Benz’ really is but I can say that there is very little to want from the new model: it’s got a unique design that stands out against the Atlanta skyline, overall pretty easy entry and exit and close proximity to MARTA. Inside you’ve got one of the most modern appearances I’ve seen that is still functional. It has wide hallways, plenty of places to move between floors, and it’s easy to find your way around. I’ve never gotten lost in the Benz, and I’ve gotten to watch games from the highest rows and from almost the sideline. On that note, having taken in games from several places inside the stadium, I can’t say there’s truly a bad seat (or at least I haven’t sat in it yet). Additionally, it’s got some of the best stadium food I’ve tried, with my personal favorite being the loaded tater tots that I split with my dad and still couldn’t finish. I think of all the stadiums I’ve been to, the Benz is the one I’d be most likely to visit outside of a UGA game (even discounting proximity) if only because the experience is refined to near perfection. It might not be as flashy as the Hard Rock or as locally integrated as Lucas Oil, but it does everything you want a stadium to do and it does it all extremely well.
Final Score: 9/10
TIAA Bank Stadium (Jacksonville, FL)
Capacity: 67,000
Home Team: Jacksonville Jaguars
Game Visited: First – UGA vs UF (L) Last – UGA vs UF (42-20W)
The place I’ve been to the most on this list (and it ain’t close) and the site of a very small EvoDoesGood’s first UGA game. I’m not sure if it was 1998 or 1999, but I know I was carried in and we lost. I didn’t see my first win over Florida until 2004, but I always try to attend the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. To that end, TIAA Bank Stadium is almost the same in my memory from the first few times I went to the most recent Georgia victory. Similar to Bank of America Stadium, it feels like an upscaled standard stadium with no bad seats in the house and really good outdoor walkways that overlook the St. Johns River or the mass of tailgating tents that occupy every empty space outside the stadium. Where the Hard Rock felt like a carnival put on by professionals with no cost spared, TIAA Bank feels like a cul-de-sac party everyone you know is at. There’s tradition and rivalry to a Georgia-Florida game that gives the stadium a bit of an edge in my own memory. Having been to Jacksonville plenty of times for other events, the city itself is full of things to do and still a nice visit even if it’s not for a game, but I think that without the UGA-UF rivalry history, TIAA Bank is similar to Bank of America in that it does all it needs to do without really standing out. It does offer a much better view, though due to a nice location, so it’s plenty worth a visit for a Jags game, but I find it hard to really explain why you should see a game there that isn’t the Georgia-Florida game.
Final Score: 7.5/10 (Oh, and Bono’s BBQ is a great post-game eat if you can get there before it closes!)
SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, CA)
Capacity: 70,000
Home Team: Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers
Game Visited: UGA vs TCU (Have you seen that Darth Vader scene in Rogue One? W)
Before this year, I had never been to California. I’ve seen it on TV plenty of times and so I had some expectations in both positive and negative lights. While I was not in the city long enough to really judge its reputation for myself, I was excited at the prospect of seeing SoFi up close. From TV, it looked like a big spaceship landed in Inglewood and became a football resort. Pretty fountains, big, well kept parking lots, palm trees; it all felt like a distillation of what the ideal image of LA would be. Then it started raining. While I’m loath to dock points for something as uncontrollable as weather, I find it difficult to not penalize the stadium when you get rained on DESPITE the massive roof covering. I felt especially bad for the TCU fans because it seemed to be actively pouring on their sections while UGA actively poured it on on the scoreboard. The approach was very nice, but once it started raining we could have canoed to our truck. Taking a break from the rain, the design of the stadium feels very unintuitive as a well. Like, it LOOKS amazing and sleek and futuristic, but more than once we had to walk single file down small corridors and through tight doorways as well as both up and down slightly hidden escalators to get to our seats, which were not the easiest to find. Thankfully, the view from out seats was great and we could probably have seen everything we would need to no matter where we were sitting. Concessions were slow and unimaginative with little direction for the lines and the staff seemed like they had not prepared for the culture shock of a bunch of Georgians and Texans descending on Inglewood. Perhaps if I went again I might have a better experience since it is the newest stadium on this list (2020) and hopefully wouldn’t be in the midst of a rain storm, but frankly I have no desire to go back unless UGA is playing. Much like LA itself, SoFi is a superficially beautiful place designed to look good on camera while many of it’s internal structures are poorly managed and built like it wasn’t designed to be used: just seen and pointed to by a sideline reporter. If I find myself in the LA area for a Georgia game again, I’m going to hope its for the Rose Bowl.
Final Score: 4/10
The TLDR:
Bank of America Stadium was unmemorable, the Hard Rock lives up to its reputation and name, Lucas Oil is wonderful if you’ve got a good seat, Mercedes-Benz offers the best experience, TIAA Bank is simple but has amazing Cocktail Party tradition built around it, and SoFi is like LA: it looks amazing on camera and nails the visual elements but has terrible infrastructure and the people don’t really seem to want you there.
During recent years, UGA has played a number of it’s big games in big venues: NFL stadiums from as far east as Atlanta and Miami to as far west as Los Angeles.
While I’m sure I’m not alone in this, I’ve gotten the chance to be in the stadium for a fair number of these games and so developed enough experience to gauge which stadiums are the best, which the worst, and the one’s I’d still love to go to. From concessions to concierge, I’ve put together a highly opinionated review of the stadiums I’ve been to and how likely I’d be to go back for something other than a UGA game. This was a project born out of boredom and a desire to hurry along the offseason so we can get back to football.
This list includes: Bank of America Stadium, Hard Rock Stadium, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Lucas Oil Stadium, So-Fi Stadium, and TIAA Bank Field
As a scoring reference, I ranked them as a 1-10/10 with a 5/10 being “no good memories, no bad memories. Utterly neutral experience” and tried not to take the game(s) played into account since I’ll obviously like a place more if we won there. There is also a TLDR at the bottom.
Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, NC)
Capacity: 75,000
Home Team: Carolina Panthers
Game Visited: UGA vs Clemson (2021, 10-3W)
BoA Stadium starts this list in part because it is the first on the alphabetized list I used to refresh my memory on stats and also because it’s the one I had to remember I’d been to. Oh, I remember UGA vs Clemson perfectly well: the game was a slug fest that was never in doubt, but we didn’t know that until the end. Both the Bulldogs and the Stripey Cats channeled their inner 1905 heritage teams for a game that *I* loved but offense fans probably didn’t. What I can’t say was super memorable was BoA Stadium itself. It is rather standard as NFL stadiums go: big bowl shape with fully outdoor facilities and external walk ways to get around the stadium itself once inside the imposing walls. While it didn’t really seem to be doing anything new in my mind, it did do all the basics right: It was easy enough to get in and out of the stadium itself, passage to our seats was intuitive and easy to follow, and the food on offer was no worse than most college stadiums I’ve been to (you know, foil hot dogs and Red Baron Pizza kind of quality). The biggest gripe I can recall was traffic around the hotels near the stadium itself. They chose a fantastic time to begin road work, and so entire lanes were shut down and traffic got to be a bit hellish to say the least. Charlotte itself was quite nice, however, with plenty to see and do (including the NASCAR HoF) and lots of great places to eat without feeling like it was a suffocatingly big city. Overall, I’d be willing to go back for a game if only to visit Charlotte again and take in the sights.
Final Score: 6.5/10
Hard Rock Stadium (Miami, FL)
Capacity: 65,000
Home Team: Miami Dolphins
Game Visited: UGA vs Michigan (34-11W)
The first thing I remember about the Hard Rock Stadium is that it is in the middle of a giant parking lot. Like, GIANT parking lot. Like, 140 acres that can hold 24,000 cars, 171 buses, 90 RV’s, 85 Limousines, and at least one helipad on property. And with all that parking, we paid to park in a patch of dirt next to a drainage ditch near the shady neighborhood. The place certainly lives up to what you’d image “Hard Rock” would be: it felt very much like an entertainment venue. Not necessarily just football, though, which tracks considering they’ve hosted everything from WrestleMania to the Argentina-Honduras soccer game. All that to say that the place had a carnival atmosphere that felt unique among the stadiums I’ve been to and really added to the feeling of it being a special game. That carnival feeling extended to the venues inside the stadium itself: bright, colorful lights and vibrant décor really made Hard Rock stick out in my memory. Food was just as eclectic with everything from burgers to Mexican, to sushi, to bars serving about any kind of libations you could wish for. It was obvious that going to the Hard Rock was not just a football game it was an Event. While the game was memorable for other reasons, the Hard Rock certainly is worth visiting even outside of UGA football appearances. It was also cool to leave the stadium by midnight and get to see the fireworks over Miami to ring in the new year. Or maybe those were gunshots, who knows.
Final Score: 8/10
Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis, IN)
Capacity: 67,000
Home Team: Indianapolis Colts
Game Visited: UGA vs Alabama (33-18W)
I’m pretty sure I could have had fond memories of this game if it had been played in the arctic circle, frankly. This is a stadium review, however, so I gotta focus on the place the game was played, which really felt like the arctic circle at times. Despite sub-freezing temperatures, Lucas Oil was a great venue from top to bottom. First, the approach is easy and walkable from just about every major hotel in the area and even has a “skyway” that connects several buildings together to allow visitors to walk the majority of the way to the stadium without having to be outside. I hate to keep harping on the cold, but with the weather we had this was absolutely ingenious to me, and I was extremely impressed with he infrastructure Indianapolis had in place to make the gameday experience about as seamless as can be. Once inside, I think Lucas Oil is the stadium that represents it’s city the best. It was themed very much as a raceway, down to having an F1 in the entrance and racing theming everywhere, which really gave it a sense of local pride. Concessions were simple but frankly pretty high quality, which I remember despite being so nervous before the game I could barely eat anything. Really, I would have nothing but praise for Lucas Oil were it not for one big thing (and one small one): If you end up with seats under the press boxes then you don’t get to watch the game live. You get what’s pictured below: a TV the size of my computer monitor and a bunch of people standing in the way of the game. Thankfully, we were able to get up and move at halftime and see the end of the game clearly from some upper level seats, but this really was an almost experience breaking issue. The smaller problem was the staff at the end of the game being rather insistent that we leave so they could close the stadium down, which I get but also it was our first national title in longer than most modern fans have been alive. Lighten up. So, if it were not for the seating issue, I’d really say take a ticket to anything here for a great overall experience any time of year. Just check to make sure you aren’t up under the boxes!
Final Score: 8/10 (6/10 if we had not been able to move so easily)
Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta, GA)
Capacity: 71,000
Home Team: Atlanta Falcons
Game Visited: First – UGA vs Alabama (23-26L) Last – UGA vs Ohio State (42-41W)
My second most visited stadium, personally, and also the one with the second most visits from UGA in CKS’ tenure. Also one of the newer stadiums Georgia has played in, opening first in 2017 to replace the Georgia Dome (RIP). I only every saw one game in the Dome and was too young to really remember much about it other than that we lost the game, so I can’t speak to how much of an upgrade ‘The Benz’ really is but I can say that there is very little to want from the new model: it’s got a unique design that stands out against the Atlanta skyline, overall pretty easy entry and exit and close proximity to MARTA. Inside you’ve got one of the most modern appearances I’ve seen that is still functional. It has wide hallways, plenty of places to move between floors, and it’s easy to find your way around. I’ve never gotten lost in the Benz, and I’ve gotten to watch games from the highest rows and from almost the sideline. On that note, having taken in games from several places inside the stadium, I can’t say there’s truly a bad seat (or at least I haven’t sat in it yet). Additionally, it’s got some of the best stadium food I’ve tried, with my personal favorite being the loaded tater tots that I split with my dad and still couldn’t finish. I think of all the stadiums I’ve been to, the Benz is the one I’d be most likely to visit outside of a UGA game (even discounting proximity) if only because the experience is refined to near perfection. It might not be as flashy as the Hard Rock or as locally integrated as Lucas Oil, but it does everything you want a stadium to do and it does it all extremely well.
Final Score: 9/10
TIAA Bank Stadium (Jacksonville, FL)
Capacity: 67,000
Home Team: Jacksonville Jaguars
Game Visited: First – UGA vs UF (L) Last – UGA vs UF (42-20W)
The place I’ve been to the most on this list (and it ain’t close) and the site of a very small EvoDoesGood’s first UGA game. I’m not sure if it was 1998 or 1999, but I know I was carried in and we lost. I didn’t see my first win over Florida until 2004, but I always try to attend the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. To that end, TIAA Bank Stadium is almost the same in my memory from the first few times I went to the most recent Georgia victory. Similar to Bank of America Stadium, it feels like an upscaled standard stadium with no bad seats in the house and really good outdoor walkways that overlook the St. Johns River or the mass of tailgating tents that occupy every empty space outside the stadium. Where the Hard Rock felt like a carnival put on by professionals with no cost spared, TIAA Bank feels like a cul-de-sac party everyone you know is at. There’s tradition and rivalry to a Georgia-Florida game that gives the stadium a bit of an edge in my own memory. Having been to Jacksonville plenty of times for other events, the city itself is full of things to do and still a nice visit even if it’s not for a game, but I think that without the UGA-UF rivalry history, TIAA Bank is similar to Bank of America in that it does all it needs to do without really standing out. It does offer a much better view, though due to a nice location, so it’s plenty worth a visit for a Jags game, but I find it hard to really explain why you should see a game there that isn’t the Georgia-Florida game.
Final Score: 7.5/10 (Oh, and Bono’s BBQ is a great post-game eat if you can get there before it closes!)
SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, CA)
Capacity: 70,000
Home Team: Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers
Game Visited: UGA vs TCU (Have you seen that Darth Vader scene in Rogue One? W)
Before this year, I had never been to California. I’ve seen it on TV plenty of times and so I had some expectations in both positive and negative lights. While I was not in the city long enough to really judge its reputation for myself, I was excited at the prospect of seeing SoFi up close. From TV, it looked like a big spaceship landed in Inglewood and became a football resort. Pretty fountains, big, well kept parking lots, palm trees; it all felt like a distillation of what the ideal image of LA would be. Then it started raining. While I’m loath to dock points for something as uncontrollable as weather, I find it difficult to not penalize the stadium when you get rained on DESPITE the massive roof covering. I felt especially bad for the TCU fans because it seemed to be actively pouring on their sections while UGA actively poured it on on the scoreboard. The approach was very nice, but once it started raining we could have canoed to our truck. Taking a break from the rain, the design of the stadium feels very unintuitive as a well. Like, it LOOKS amazing and sleek and futuristic, but more than once we had to walk single file down small corridors and through tight doorways as well as both up and down slightly hidden escalators to get to our seats, which were not the easiest to find. Thankfully, the view from out seats was great and we could probably have seen everything we would need to no matter where we were sitting. Concessions were slow and unimaginative with little direction for the lines and the staff seemed like they had not prepared for the culture shock of a bunch of Georgians and Texans descending on Inglewood. Perhaps if I went again I might have a better experience since it is the newest stadium on this list (2020) and hopefully wouldn’t be in the midst of a rain storm, but frankly I have no desire to go back unless UGA is playing. Much like LA itself, SoFi is a superficially beautiful place designed to look good on camera while many of it’s internal structures are poorly managed and built like it wasn’t designed to be used: just seen and pointed to by a sideline reporter. If I find myself in the LA area for a Georgia game again, I’m going to hope its for the Rose Bowl.
Final Score: 4/10
The TLDR:
Bank of America Stadium was unmemorable, the Hard Rock lives up to its reputation and name, Lucas Oil is wonderful if you’ve got a good seat, Mercedes-Benz offers the best experience, TIAA Bank is simple but has amazing Cocktail Party tradition built around it, and SoFi is like LA: it looks amazing on camera and nails the visual elements but has terrible infrastructure and the people don’t really seem to want you there.
