How the Snapdragon Stadium seat and sun data is measured

Every number comes from a USGS lidar survey of the stadium, NOAA solar equations, the official seating maps and published row lists. Nothing is estimated from photos.

Sources

Stadium shape: USGS 3DEP lidar, San Diego County survey flown 17 November 2024. First-return points gridded to 1 m, noise removed.
Section numbers and order: the official Snapdragon Stadium 2026 seating maps (general and premium). The maps are not drawn to scale, so they give each section's place round the pitch; distances and heights come from the lidar.
Row lists, team sides and the student section: rateyourseats.com.
Gates, bags, food and policies: the Snapdragon Stadium A-Z guide.
Games and kickoff times: snapdragonstadium.com San Diego FC page, goaztecs.com football schedule and sandiegowavefc.com schedule (checked 2026-10-12).
Sun: NOAA solar position equations. Weather: ERA5 reanalysis and forecast via Open-Meteo.

How shade is computed

Each section is sampled on 3 lines at every row, 5322 seat points in total. For each point the stadium surface is scanned in every direction the sun can come from. A seat is in direct sun when the sun is higher than that horizon. Games are sampled every 10 minutes: 2 hours for MLS and NWSL, 3.5 hours for college football.

How rows are placed

A line is walked out from the pitch through each section and the measured profile is split into rakes at vertical jumps and flat concourses. Tiers are told apart by the height the rake starts at. Rows are spread evenly over each measured rake.

Limits

Section 134 and the Section 334 standing deck have no published row lists and are not modelled.
Loge boxes, suites, the Toyota Terrace and the Sycuan Piers are not modelled as seats.
Sun minutes assume clear skies. Kickoff times can move for TV; the pages update when they do.

Downloads (CC BY 4.0)

sun-by-section.csv: game, kickoff, section, minutes of sun, shade arrival
sections.json: section geometry and row-by-row sightlines