Poll: Best Stadium In The Belt

Mean'n'Green07 · May 9, 2007

I've haven't been to many NT road games because of school, but FAU and FIU stadiums look big enough for a pee wee football game, and Malone Stadium of ULM looks like it might rival Fouts for being the crappiest standing structure in the south. I personally like Troy's Movie Gallery stadium and Arkie State's Indian Stadium.

For all of you that have been to a lot of road games, who has the best stadium, atmosphere, etc.?

Green Lantern · May 9, 2007

ULL's Cajun field by far. Great tailgate atmosphere w/friendly people and great food. Their stadium is well set up.

I haven't been to Movie Gallery in Troy yet...but I've heard several people mention that it is a great facility/atmosphere since it's renovation a few years back.

FirefightnRick · May 9, 2007

We have some of the nicest sightline stadiums I have ever been to in the Sun Belt Conference. Those I have been to in order of my favorite.

1. MTSU. Great sightlines. The fanbase in the stands are part of the game. Parking is easy, food was good, restroom facilities good. But my favorite part about this stadium was their suites that their fans have the opportunity to be a part of. They are open concepted with no barriers to the rest of the stadium, are located just above the last row in the lower deck of the bowl and come with TV hook ups and storage closests. Very cool.

2. Arkansas State. Great sightlines, again, your part of the game. Food is good, restrooms were nice and parking was easy.

3. ULL Cajun Field. Awesome bowl feeling, great sightlines. You can sit on the front row and listen to the coaches and players discuss strategy on the sidelines. Tons of parking. Restrooms are ok. Food is great of course. The alumni and fans are the best. This place is one of my all time favorite road trips. The football game is only a small part of the trip down there and I feel very fortunate that we have ULL as a conference mate.

4. ULM Malone Stadium. Great sightlines. The angle of the seating on the home side is steep, which puts you on top of the field. Fans are great, restrooms are nice and the food pretty good. Easy parking, never had a problem at all. The remainder of the stadium other than the home side is metal bleacher. But the only reason that stands out is that they were added and that they don't match the original concrete home side structure. Still, all the seating in Malone is hands down better than fouts because of the close proximity all seats have to the field.

*******Possibly the nicest, yet I have not had the chance to get there, may be Troy's Movie Gallery Stadium. This was nothing more than a horrible highschool field only a few short years ago before Troy went out and got the money to improve the place. Those I have talked to who have been there say's the place is just as damn nice as it comes now. Ol' Green Guts will tell you what it used to look like when they played there in '01. Compare that to now and it's day and night. From the looks of the pictures it looks like a dream to me. Great sightlines, wonderful suite ameneties etc. I'm sure there is someone here on GMG.com who has been there since the upgrade who can give a better evaluation of the place. But to me, this looks like the place for us to shoot for.

Rick

Edited May 9, 2007 by FirefightnRick

NCMeanGreen · May 9, 2007

FOUTS FIELD!!! :surrender:

UNTLifer · May 9, 2007

Fouts:

Arkansas State

U-LaLa

U-Lm

MUTS

Troy

FAU

FIU

UNT_playmaker · May 9, 2007

From looking at the pics Troy and La La

Two-tiers are nice

Edited May 9, 2007 by UNT_playmaker

greenminer · May 9, 2007

FIU

Seeing FIU's at night reminded me of the Rutgers-Louisville game last year on TV.

eppy4life · May 9, 2007

ULALA

KRAM1 · May 9, 2007

My favorite....any one of the SBC fields including Fouts after a MEAN GREEN VICTORY! Even a pig sty would be fine with me after a UNT win on the road or at home. But, if I gotta pick one...hey, I like the drawings of the "new" Fouts Field...oops...probably not going to be the name, right? So, when do we break ground????? GO MEAN GREEN! Yep, I'm a homer! By the way, the new Oklahoma State stadium is going to be one fantastic stadium....a little of Boone's money would sure help us break ground on a new complex too. Boone...where are ya when we need ya!

ForneyGreen · May 9, 2007

I think the MUTS have a very nice stadium.

Not quite as nice as Fouts, but a close second...

KAjunRaider · May 9, 2007

We have some of the nicest sightline stadiums I have ever been to in the Sun Belt Conference. Those I have been to in order of my favorite.
1. MTSU. Great sightlines. The fanbase in the stands are part of the game. Parking is easy, food was good, restroom facilities good. But my favorite part about this stadium was their suites that their fans have the opportunity to be a part of. They are open concepted with no barriers to the rest of the stadium, are located just above the last row in the lower deck of the bowl and come with TV hook ups and storage closests. Very cool.
2. Arkansas State. Great sightlines, again, your part of the game. Food is good, restrooms were nice and parking was easy.
3. ULL Cajun Field. Awesome bowl feeling, great sightlines. You can sit on the front row and listen to the coaches and players discuss strategy on the sidelines. Tons of parking. Restrooms are ok. Food is great of course. The alumni and fans are the best. This place is one of my all time favorite road trips. The football game is only a small part of the trip down there and I feel very fortunate that we have ULL as a conference mate.
4. ULM Malone Stadium. Great sightlines. The angle of the seating on the home side is steep, which puts you on top of the field. Fans are great, restrooms are nice and the food pretty good. Easy parking, never had a problem at all. The remainder of the stadium other than the home side is metal bleacher. But the only reason that stands out is that they were added and that they don't match the original concrete home side structure. Still, all the seating in Malone is hands down better than fouts because of the close proximity all seats have to the field.
*******Possibly the nicest, yet I have not had the chance to get there, may be Troy's Movie Gallery Stadium. This was nothing more than a horrible highschool field only a few short years ago before Troy went out and got the money to improve the place. Those I have talked to who have been there say's the place is just as damn nice as it comes now. Ol' Green Guts will tell you what it used to look like when they played there in '01. Compare that to now and it's day and night. From the looks of the pictures it looks like a dream to me. Great sightlines, wonderful suite ameneties etc. I'm sure there is someone here on GMG.com who has been there since the upgrade who can give a better evaluation of the place. But to me, this looks like the place for us to shoot for.
Rick

FFRick, I own one of the open air boxes, and ya'll are welcome any time to come join us for a while (next time UNT comes to the 'Boro). I think hands down, atmosphere-wise, that the Cajuns are the best.

Troy has an absolutely huge press box, and a helluva nice jumbotron, but I hear their pressbox facilities are plain Jane-- they don't even have phone lines connected to have lockerroom interviews. I was also disppointed with their big donor parking lot-- which is a mud lot. Other than that, I think Troy has the nicest.

Interested to see what FIU and WKU will have in the coming years.

One perk at ULM, if you can get up there, is their club level inside the press box. It is very nice, with stadium seating (no seats assigned to any one person so you can sit anywhere). The game is pumped in via speakers, and all the free beer, mixed drinks, and food that you want. You just have to tip the bartenders.

FAU's stadium is a rathole, but some nice scenery-- their cheerleaders!

Stan R · May 9, 2007

Thanks for gathering the pics, Lifer. Nice side by side comparison.

Stan R · May 9, 2007

I was also disppointed with their big donor parking lot-- which is a mud lot.

Are you sure that wasn't the pig parking area?

DeepGreen · May 9, 2007

FOUTS FIELD!!!

:whip:

DeepGreen · May 9, 2007

I've only been to Cajun Field. I agree with the sitelines and "almost bowl" look, but the place is old and really needs a facelift. Too much grass growing through the cement cracks and the whole place could use a good pressure washing/sand blasting job. Still a nice stadium.

GoMTBlue · May 9, 2007

I will have to reserve judgement until after this season. I have made it to Jonesboro and Troy, but I haven't made the full circuit yet. I was not very impressed with ASU's stadium. It was ok and the jumbotron is nice. I did think the tailgating atmosphere was good.

Troy has a nice stadium. Besides the overall look, I like the way te concession stands are set up. They are against the back wall, so while you are standing in line you can still get a glimpse of the game.

One point of clarification. MT's stadium is a two-tierd stadium as well. I do share an open-air box with KAjun and I agree with his sentiments about the open invite to North Texas fans.

www.BlueRaiderZone.com

emmitt01 · May 9, 2007

I would trade with either ULL or MUTS any day of the week.

MUTS- great stadium feel. The all aluminum seating may be a detractor for some but I've always felt that the more "posh" the stadium the less football friendly it was. I would kill for NT to have a 45,000 seat aluminum stadium. As FFR stated the open air boxes are awesome. After a lil' back and forth between myself and a few of the MUTS fans last trip down there they were nice enough to invite me into one of their boxes. I would love to have a box just like this at Fouts with the sightlines and beer!

ULL- If we could trade straight up with anyone in the belt I would take their stadium. The dug in bowl is great for noise, sightlines and atmosphere. It's also expandable if you fill in the endzones and the food there is unbeatable. I will never forget two years ago when I went with Zeke and Med to the N.O. Bowl there. Great hospitality and fans...but no tailgating? What? I am sure that was just a bowl thing, right?

kmb0204 · May 9, 2007

If it helps anybody, in 2004, 2005 seasons FIU played at a high school!

BlueRaiderFan · May 9, 2007

Sadly, I've never been to an opposing team's stadium (in conference). I have sat just above FireFightinRick though when he came to an MT game Fouts looks good to me. I don't really see what the beef is about. BTW You can't see it in the picture of Floyd Stadium above, but we have two tiers on three sides.

KAjunRaider · May 9, 2007

I would trade with either ULL or MUTS any day of the week.
MUTS- great stadium feel. The all aluminum seating may be a detractor for some but I've always felt that the more "posh" the stadium the less football friendly it was. I would kill for NT to have a 45,000 seat aluminum stadium. As FFR stated the open air boxes are awesome. After a lil' back and forth between myself and a few of the MUTS fans last trip down there they were nice enough to invite me into one of their boxes. I would love to have a box just like this at Fouts with the sightlines and beer!
ULL- If we could trade straight up with anyone in the belt I would take their stadium. The dug in bowl is great for noise, sightlines and atmosphere. It's also expandable if you fill in the endzones and the food there is unbeatable. I will never forget two years ago when I went with Zeke and Med to the N.O. Bowl there. Great hospitality and fans...but no tailgating? What? I am sure that was just a bowl thing, right?

And I thought MeanGreen fans said MT fans were arseholes. We do have our share, I must admit, but you haven't seen arseholes until you've dealt with Troy State fans. They are the worst in the Belt, IMO.

BlueRaiderFan · May 9, 2007

And I thought MeanGreen fans said MT fans were arseholes. We do have our share, I must admit, but you haven't seen arseholes until you've dealt with Troy State fans. They are the worst in the Belt, IMO.

We should come up with an arsehole rating system. We could grade each other and see who wins.

LAZER · May 10, 2007

The Muts looks the best to me. Honestly if fouts did not have the track I wouldn't hate it nearly as much.

May 10, 2007

The ones to which I've been, I rate as follows:

Middle. It's nice and it's framed well around the field. Tennessee girls are better looking than Louisiana and Arkansas girls.

stAte. When you are in it, it feels much bigger than any of the others, even Lafayette, though I hate the way the field is so far below the lowest stands.

Lafayette. It was kind of a big concrete turd in a hole in the ground. Most active fans I have seen in our conference by far, though.

Northeast. Apparently constructed by native islanders from New Guinea. However, a cool thing about it is that when you are at the top of it, you may well be at the highest point in Louisiana.

Where would I put Fouts in this list? At the bottom. That makes it worse than a concrete turd in a hole made by natives from New Guinea. For sheer insanity of putting seats so far from the action. However, Texas girls are better looking than Tennessee girls.