FromThisSeat Blog

 

Welcome to the FromThisSeat Blog.

Here our editors will bring you plenty of news coverage on tickets, ballparks, stadiums and arenas as they pertain to the NFL, NHL, MLB and NBA.  If you have any questions or suggestions pertaining to the articles, feel free to 'Contact Us' via the navigation bar.

Aerial photo of Maple Leaf Gardens, former home of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

We recently featured Montreal Forum, former home of the Montreal Canadiens, as the most historic arena in NHL history. It's safe to say that Maple Leaf Gardens, former home of the Toronto Maple Leafs, is a close second. Maple Leaf Gardens was home to the Maple Leafs from 1931 to 1999. During that time frame, the Maple Leafs accumulated 11 Stanley Cup Championships. Elvis Pressley and The Beatles both performed in the building. The arena also hosted the very first NHL All-Star Game in 1947. 

Aerial photo of Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. 

Boston Garden was the long time home of the NBA's Boston Celtics and the NHL's Boston Bruins. The legendary arena opened on November 17th, 1928 as "Boston Madison Square Garden". It was given this name because it was designed by the same man that designed Madison Square Garden, Tex Rickard. Rickard was the founder of the New York Rangers and was also a boxing promoter. Years later, the arena's name was shortened to simply the "Boston Garden". Very few stadiums and arenas in professional sports could top the Boston Garden in regards to it's history and success. The Boston Bruins were one of the "Original Six" charter members of the NHL. The Boston Celtics have won more NBA championships than any other team with 17 NBA titles.

Black and white photo of Montreal Forum, former home of the Montreal Canadiens.

Montreal Forum was the long time home of the most historic hockey team in the NHL, the Montreal Canadiens. Between 1926 and 1996, the building was home to an NHL record 24 Stanley Cup championships. It was the only arena in league history that was home to two NHL teams - the other being the Montreal Maroons. The Montreal Maroons played at the Forum from 1926 until 1938. It was also the first NHL arena to host the NHL draft when it hosted the event in 1980. In 1998, it served as the setting for the Nicholas Cage movie "Snake Eyes". 

Aerial photo of Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Three Rivers Stadium was one of the most storied stadiums in the history of professional sports. Despite having the typical cookie-cutter design like so many other stadiums of the era, Pittsburgh sports fans were sad to see it go. Three Rivers was home to both Major League Baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates and the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers from 1970-2000. After the stadiums demolition in 2001, the Pittsburgh Pirates relocated next door to PNC Park and the Pittsburgh Steelers moved next door to Heinz Field. Three Rivers Stadium played host to four Super Bowl winning Steelers teams in 1974, 1975, 1978 and 1979. It also saw the Pittsburgh Pirates bring home two World Series titles in 1971 and 1979. It's name paid homage to the three rivers that surround the city of Pittsburgh: the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio. Sports fans today would have found that aspect refreshing since corporate America has invaded professional sports so heavily with naming rights and sponsorships.

Aerial photo of Olympic Stadium, former home of the Montreal Expos.

Major League Baseball left Montreal, Quebec in 2004 when the Expos relocated to Washington, DC to become the Washington Nationals.  The Expos had called Montreal home since 1976. However, the team had only been playing at Olympic Stadium since 1977. The team formerly played at Jarry Park Stadium. Olympic Stadium was erected in 1976 for the purpose of housing the 1976 Summer Olympics. Like Turner Field, former home of the Atlanta Braves, the stadium wasn't built specifically for baseball which forced the Montreal Expos organization to explore the possibility for a brand new stadium. It was common knowledge that Olympic Stadium was outdated and many structural issues with it's design. The Montreal taxpayers and government officials objected because Olympic Stadium still hadn't been fully paid for. 

Aerial photo of Shea Stadium in Queens, New York.

Shea Stadium was the former home of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964-2008. The Mets would serve as New York City's replacement organization to the Brooklyn Dodgers who had previously relocated to Los Angeles and became the Los Angeles Dodgers. The New York Baseball Giants had also relocated to California and became the San Francisco Giants. Shea Stadium was named after William A. Shea, a local attorney that was monumental in bringing a second baseball franchise to Flushing, Queens. Shea Stadium was also home to the NFL's New York Jets from 1964 to 1983. Many baseball fans forget that the New York Yankees played their home games at Shea Stadium in 1974 and 1975 while Yankee Stadium was being renovated as did the New York Football Giants.

Exterior black and white photo of Old Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois.

Comiskey Park was the home ballpark to Major League Baseball's Chicago White Sox from 1910 to 1990 and was named after their owner Charles Comiskey. Comiskey purchased the team in 1894 when they were a Minor League baseball team known as the Sioux City Cornhuskers. Six years later, Comiskey moved the team to Chicago where they became one of the 8 charter franchises of the American League. The ballpark also spent a number of years known as "White Sox Park".

Aerial photo of Tiger Stadium, former home of the Detroit Tigers.

Motown is one of the most prolific sports towns in the United States. And for almost a century, Tiger Stadium hosted one of the oldest and most historic franchises in Major League Baseball. Formerly known as Briggs Stadium and Navin Field, Tiger Stadium was the home to the Detroit Tigers baseball club from 1912 to 1999. The stadium was also home to the NFL's Detroit Lions from 1938-1974. In fact, Tiger Stadium opened on the exact same day as Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. With it's location on Trumbull and Michigan Avenues in the city's Corktown neighborhood, the ballpark was nicknamed "The Corner". 

 Exterior view of Cinergy Field in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Every time I walk on Freedom Way and through "The Banks" in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, I smile. The Banks sits on the former site of Riverfront Stadium, the hallowed ball field that served as the home of the Big Red Machine and Cincinnati Reds from 1970-1995. Riverfront Stadium's name changed in 1996 and the stadium became known as Cinergy Field until it's implosion in 2002. Riverfront Stadium is where I saw my first Major League Baseball game at 8 years old between the Reds and the Houston Astros. You may have heard the adage "Cincinnati is a baseball town" before; especially if you're a local. And while that's very true, Cincinnati is very passionate about their Bengals football as well. In 1981 and 1988, the Cincinnati Bengals were AFC champions and appeared in the Super Bowl. With that said, we wanted to give Cincinnati sports fans a little walk down memory lane with this collage. Enjoy!

 

Great American Ball Park has been our staff's home ballpark for many years. A few cool things we've witnessed there was Barry Bonds hitting a home run a few weeks before breaking the league's all-time home run record, the first playoff game at Great American Ball Park (Cincinnati Reds vs. Philadelphia Phillies) and the first series that the Marlins played as the 'Miami Marlins'. It may not have the history of Fenway Park or a swimming pool in the outfield but many Cincinnati Reds fans appreciate it for what it is; a very comfortable place to watch a baseball game. After writing about each and every game we attended, we decided it would be much better to write an official review for Great American Ball Park for our readers. 

 Aerial View of Paul Brown Stadium, home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

For a long time, Paul Brown Stadium was the home stadium for our staff. In fact, we haven't missed a playoff game at Paul Brown Stadium or gone a season without attending at least one Cincinnati Bengals home game since 2004. However, we had never written an official review for it so we decided to finally put one together for our readers. 

Photo of the Rogers Place Construction site in downtown Edmonton, Alberta.

Image Credit: Mack Male (CC BY-SA 2.0)

When the Edmonton Oilers vacate Rexall Place after the 2015-2016 NHL season, a piece of NHL history dies along with it. The "old barn" is one of only two old style hockey arenas that still remain - the other being Joe Louis Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings. Both the Oilers and the Red Wings have brand new arenas in the works. The Rogers Place, future home of the Edmonton Oilers, is less than a year away from opening and will have a capacity of almost 19,000 for hockey. The Rogers Place will join the Barclays Center (Islanders) and PPG Paints Arena (Penguins) as brand new and breakthrough hockey venues that boast amenities that few other NHL arenas can rival. What can Edmonton Oilers fans expect?

Photo of NHL commissioner handing the Stanley Cup championship trophy to Jonathan Quick.

Image Credit: Mark Mauno (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The National Hockey League is expanding once again and I think this growth is excellent for the sport. It's likely that Quebec City, Quebec will get their Nordiques back with the recent completion of the brand new 18,000 seat Videotron Centre. That possibility especially came to fruition when the Atlanta Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg to become the rebirth of the Jets. Winnipeg Jets tickets are some of the hardest tickets to get in the NHL. 

Photo of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell during a press conference. 

Image Credit: WEBN-TV (CC BY-ND 2.0)

The National Football League generated more than $7 billion during the 2014 season and Roger Goodell still isn't happy. The often criticized league commissioner hopes and projects that those numbers will reach $25 billion by the year 2027. Those numbers may seem unreachable because let's be honest, how much more popular can the NFL get? This projection is why there is so much commotion to get the correct NFL franchise in it's ideal city and market. Los Angeles is the only American city to lose two NFL franchises to other cities when they lost the Rams to St. Louis and the Raiders to Oakland. Let's not kid ourselves, there is some risk involved with experimenting with professional football in Los Angeles again. But the NFL and it's popularity and revenue streams are vastly different in 2015 than in 1995. 

Photo of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium construction site in downtown Atlanta, Georgia.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium Construction

Image Credit: Paul Sableman (CC BY 2.0)

The Atlanta Braves aren't the only Atlanta sports franchise having a shiny new home built. The Atlanta Falcons are leaving the aging Georgia Dome for the high tech Mercedes-Benz Stadium next door. Like Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner, Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank didn't see the Georgia Dome as being adequate for another 20 plus years of professional football. The partnership with Mercedes-Benz secures their naming rights of the stadium for 25 years from 2017 to 2042. See how the stadium's progress is coming along. 

Photo of the SunTrust Park construction site in Georgia. Future home of the Atlanta Braves. 

SunTrust Park Construction

Image Credit: Thomson200

No, it hasn't even been 20 years since the Atlanta Braves began play at Turner Field on Atlanta's south side. A stadium originally created for the 1996 Olympics, Turner Field never really felt like the home of the Atlanta Braves. At least not like Fulton County stadium did many years ago. That's the perception from a fan that has been to both ballparks. The Braves will begin play at Suntrust Park at the beginning of the 2017 Major League Baseball season. Check out the progress thus far.

Exterior View of the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario

Brookfield Place

30 Yonge Street

Toronto, Ontario

Canada M5E 1X8

 

The Hockey Hall of Fame was first founded in the town of Kingston, Ontario in 1943 despite not having an actual home until 1961. Kingston is halfway between the cities of Toronto and Montreal and many argue that this city was where hockey was founded back in 1886. The Hall of Fame only lasted in Kingston for 15 years before being moved to Toronto, Ontario in 1958. From 1961 until 1993, the Hockey Hall of Fame was headquartered at Exhibition Place, a fairground in Toronto near Lake Ontario. In 1993, the Hall of Fame was moved to beautiful downtown Toronto into a former bank building on Yonge Street, it's current location.

Pro Football Hall of Fame Main Entrance in Canton, Ohio 

2121 George Halas Drive NW

Canton, Ohio 44708

330-456-8207

 

Canton, Ohio seems like the most unlikely home for the Pro Football Hall of Fame considering the popularity of today’s game, right? That may be true. But did you know that the NFL was founded in Canton, Ohio in 1920? Did you know that the Canton Bulldogs were once an NFL team? These are two factors that helped the city of Canton land the Pro Football Hall of Fame back in September of 1963.

Exterior View of The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York

25 Main Street

Cooperstown, New York 13326

(888) 425-5633

 

The National Baseball Hall of Fame was founded in 1939 by local hotel owner Stephen Carlton Clark. After the Great Depression decimated Cooperstown's local economy, Clark wanted an attraction that would bring tourists to Cooperstown, New York for years to come. Many baseball fans refer to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as simply "Cooperstown". More than 300,000 baseball fans make the trek to this small and beautiful village to see the museum annually. For you baseball fans that haven't made the trip to Cooperstown, we wanted to give you as many tips as we can to make sure your trip is a success. 

Bridgestone Arena Exterior, Home of the Nashville Predators

Our staff’s trip to Bridgestone Arena, home of the NHL’s Nashville Predators, was kind of last minute. It was a weeknight and the Predators were hosting the Anaheim Ducks, two great teams but not what anyone would call a heated rivalry. Nashville, Tennessee has become a destination city being that it’s the country music capital of the world and the home to many celebrities. It was our second trip to the city, the first trip was to see Nissan Stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans. (See our Nissan Stadium Review at the bottom of the page). 

Exterior view of Joe Louis Arena, Home of the Detroit Red Wings.

Joe Louis Arena is arguably the most storied arena in the National Hockey League now that the Montreal Forum and Maple Leaf Gardens are defunct. (Strangely, it’s named after boxer and Detroit icon Joe Louis). No team has been more consistent in the Stanley Cup Playoffs over the last thirty years than the Detroit Red Wings. And when rumors started circulating that the Detroit Pistons could be moving downtown to share an arena with the Red Wings, I knew I had to rush to Michigan to see Joe Louis Arena in person. It didn’t take long after our visit for the city of Detroit to break ground on Little Caesars Arena which is scheduled to open in 2017. The rumors were true.