Stadium seat statistics: steepest stands, highest and closest seats

We measured 6,223 seating sections at 62 stadiums and ballparks from lidar. The steepest stands are at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium (a typical section rises at 28.3 degrees); the highest seats are in Tiger Stadium, Section 611, 187 ft above the field.

The steepest stadiums

The typical rake is the median slope of a stadium's sections. Upper decks are steeper than lower bowls, so the steepest single section is usually in the top deck.

The highest seats

Football stadiums with the closest seats to the field

Ballparks with the closest seats to home plate

The farthest seats from midfield

Which stadium has the steepest seats?

GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium: a typical section rises at 28.3 degrees, against 20.3 degrees for the median stadium we measured. The single steepest section is Empower Field at Mile High Section 523 at 36.7 degrees.

Which stadium has the highest seats?

Tiger Stadium, Section 611: the top row is 187 ft above the field.

Which football stadium puts fans closest to the field?

Oklahoma Memorial Stadium: the front row of Section 31 is 102 ft from midfield.

Which ballpark has the closest seats to home plate?

Angel Stadium: the front row of Section 111 is 38 ft from home plate.

Why are ballparks less steep than football stadiums?

Ballpark lower bowls rise gently from the field to keep fans close along the baselines; the median ballpark here rises at 13.5 degrees, the median football stadium at 21.1.

How these numbers are measured

Every number comes from USGS lidar surveys of each stadium: we place each section's rows on the measured surface, then take each section's rake as the total rise over the total run of its open seating rows. Steps onto a walkway and the jump up a deck's front wall are left out, so a walkway does not make a section look flat and a deck edge does not make it look like a cliff. Rows under a roof or deck that the lidar cannot see are left out of the rake. Heights are eye height above the playing field; distances are straight-line to midfield (football) or home plate (baseball). Each stadium's own method page has the details.

Free to use with a link to this page. Stadium photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited under each photo and on our photo credits page.