NBA Arena Rankings

[Trueblood]

Check this site out. These guys have visited just about every arena in the NFL, NBA, MLB and the NHL. Here is how they rank the NBA arenas that they've been to. It looks as though they need to find a Thunder logo or they are going to be visiting again since there will be a new team in place.

http://www.thesportsroadtrip.com/nbafavorites.html

I've been everywhere but Ford Center and Toronto. Here is how I see them. Anyone who has been to some of these places, feel free to chime in.

1. Conseco Fieldhouse, Indiana
2. American Airlines Arena, Miami
3. Phillips Arena, Atlanta
4. Fed Ex Forum, Memphis
5. Air Canada Centre, Toronto
6. American Airlines Center, Dallas
7. Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte
8. Rose Garden, Portland
9. Toyota Center, Houston
10. United Center, Chicago
11. Target Center, Minneapolis
12. Pepsi Center, Denver
13. Energy Solutions Arena, Utah
14. Staples Center, Los Angeles
15. Verizon Center, DC
16. TD Banknorth Garden, Boston
17. Wachovia Center, Philadelphia
18. Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit
19. US Airways Center, Phoenix
20. Madison Square Garden, New York
21. Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland
22. AT&T Center, San Antonio
23. Ford Center, Oklahoma City
24. New Orleans Arena, New Orleans
25. Oracle Arena, Golden State
26. Bradley Center, Milwaukee
27. Izod Center, New Jersey
28. Amway Arena, Orlando
29. Arco Arena, Sacramento

[SPARTAN]

The AA Center in Dallas is probably the nicest. Quicken Loans Arena isn't that bad, and they just renovated the Verizon Center I think. I've heard the Pepsi Center was one of the nicest. That's a list Key Arena would easily be left behind by. The Ford will probably fit in the Top Ten after the renovations. Right now I think it's 15-20.

[COCajun]

I myself have had the privilege of seeing the NBA in six HOME arenas and rank them as follows:

1) AA Center - Dallas
2) Toyota Center
3) Staples Center
4) Pepsi Center
5) New Orleans Arena
6) AT&T Center

I say HOME arenas because I went to the the Hornets/Suns game at LSU's Pete Maravich Assembly Center (PMAC) in 2005-06. As you already know the Hornets also played a single game at Lloyd Noble on OU campus as well.

Anyway, the concourses at both AA & Toyota were expansive and very well-lit. You get the feeling you're in some sort of palace - plenty of walking room as well as plenty of family-friendly activities all around these facilities. At Toyota you can also see the Rockets' practice court from the outside. No disrespect to my beloved NOLA but seeing those two arenas up close and personal were the highlight of my Texas Triangle trip last year (well, a close second to reuniting with a certain member of this board ;) ).

Staples? Also saw that with Trueblood. Classy, spacious, and yes verrrry expensive seats as you've come to expect for Lakers game. Would enjoy attending a Clippers game there sometime since Sterling apparently has no inclination to consider an already up-and-running Honda Center in Anaheim. Cannot thank TB enough for the privilege of having seen the Lakers play at Staples.

Pepsi Center? I've only attended one game there - a Nuggets home finale vs Stockton/Malone/Hornacek and the rest of the Utah Jazz back when Nick Van Exel and Antonio McDyess were the name Nugz. I'm sure plenty of improvements have been made since my visit there nearly 10 years ago.

NO Arena? My "hometown" facility is - in a word - adequate. It's not that it's a low-quality arena to visit, don't misconstrue my words, but more that the others listed above are just that much better-built, more recent, etc. Plus NO Arena is like Ford Center in that it was constructed with no promises of ever having an NBA tenant. Don't know about the Ford Center, but IMHO there's no such thing as a bad seat in the Arena - excellent sight lines abound.

AT&T Center? Yikes. The highlight of my visit there was seeing all SA's Larry O'Brien Trophies immediately upon entering the facility. I dunno, but you get the feeling you're at a well-to-do rodeo arena and it's practically in the middle of nowhere although of course it's technically within the San Antonio city limits.

******

TB, I sure hope you've bought a digital camera by now so we can see shots from your upcoming getaway to the East Coast! Join the 21st century!! :D:p:D

[Trueblood]

Well, I have a camera phone. Better than nothing.:o

Good takes on the arenas. I always say that dollar for dollar, places like Oracle Arena and NO Arena are great but compared to the more modern and expensive cribs, they come up way short.

The great thing about Ford Center is that it was built as a bare bones arena that could be upgraded to be like the more modern places which is what is happening now thanks to the vote that went through in March.

[RIP City]

Rose Garden is #1, #1A, and #1B. The only thing bad about the Rose Garden is it's location. It's right next to the river but in the seedy side of Ptown and there is literally nothing there except for the river and vacant lots.

There is plenty of stuff uphill past the freeway which is about a 5 minute drive but it's steep and far to walk. On the other side of the river is the brewery blocks with the best alehouses in the country which almost all have won awards but it's another 5 minute drive or a 30 minute walk at least to the closest pedestrian friendly bridge.

GM Place was a great venue but it's the same as the Rose, there is nothing there.

Key Arena, that's where the non attendees have no input whatsoever. You either get your info from Clay Bennett or David Stern. It's small in the concourses, has bad points of purchase, and not many club seats.

Who cares? If you go to games to buy stuffed animals, are a yuppie who needs to sit in the la-te-da boxes, or considers how big the aisles are then your not a fan. Key had the best sight lines in the NBA. It's 17,000 but all of those seats even the nose bleeds had a perfect view of the court and you felt like you were in the action. I've been there on more than a few occasions to watch the Blazers and it was a much better venue to watch a game than the Rose Garden. Now, the Rose Garden has it beat on everything else but, the point of being there is to watch a game. If you need the extras, go to a mall before the game then go home and watch it on TV, it's the same experience you'd get at some of those arenas.

[ThunderCover]

I've read a lot of comments about what a great venue the Key is for watching Basketball. I wish I could have had the privilege of catching a game there. But if you want to talk about a great basketball venue, let me tell you about G-I arena on the campus of OSU in Stillwater.

Gallagher-Iba Arena seats 13,611 packed in tight. It's quite steep with seemingly every seat close to the action. There is not a bad view from any seat and the roof is very low making it deafening when the place is packed and loud.

CBS Sportsline rated it as the best venue in the country to see a college basketball game, if you can imagine that...

"1. Gallagher-Iba Arena, Oklahoma State (13,611) -- The ultimate combination of history, uniqueness, location and excitement, Gallagher-Iba has even survived a recent expansion to remain the nation's best facility to catch a game. How much tradition does the old barn out where the wind comes sweeping down the plains have? The first game, in 1938, featured Henry Iba's Cowboys besting Phog Allen's Kansas Jayhawks 21-15. The maple playing surface is the building's original and it has not only seen countless great games, it has seen practice sessions where Iba literally invented concepts such as motion offense and man-to-man defense.

It is truly college hoops hallowed ground. Before expansion, when Gallagher-Iba held just 6,381 fans, this was easily the loudest arena in the nation. A well-planned expansion called "Raise the Roof" changed none of the ambiance, kept all the original seats and sight lines and somehow increased the noise. The renovation of the building, once called the "Madison Square Garden of the Plains," has opened up the experience to even more of the passionate, loyal and down-to-earth Cowboys fans that have made this college basketball's best for 63 years."

But as great as G-I arena is, if you compared it to the venues used by the NBA teams, it would be the smallest arena with the fewest seats and the lowest revenues of the bunch.

G-I arena may be one of the greatest places on the planet, to watch a basketball game but it would be financially unviable as a modern, NBA arena.