Here are the current top 8 great sporting theatres for American football, athletics, baseball, cricket, golf, horse racing, motor racing, rugby union, soccer and tennis.
[For the most part – athletics aside - a stadium is included in the category of its primary use. I.e. the Melbourne cricket ground appears in cricket, not soccer; and Eden Park in rugby union, not cricket.]
American Football
Rose Bowl; Louisiana Superdome; Herbert Humphrey Metrodome; Lambeau Field; Raymond James Stadium; Giants Stadium; Soldier Field; Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Monaco; Indianapolis; Hungaroring; Suzuka; Audodromo Carlos Pace; Nurburgring; Monza; Spa-Francorchamps
Rugby Union
Twickenham; Stade de France; Murrayfield; Park des Princes; Millennium Stadium; Eden Park; ANZ Stadium; McLean Park
Soccer
Olympiastadion Berlin; Stadio Olimpico Rome; San Siro; Bernabeu; Nou Camp; Old Trafford; River Plate; Maracana
Tennis
Wimbledon Centre Ct.; Arthur Ashe stadium; Roland Garros Centre Ct.; Palais Omnisports de Paris; Rod Laver Arena; Wimbledon #1 Ct.; Crandon Park Stadium Ct.; Qizhong Forest
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History Of The #1 Spot
Sept 1-6, 2008 Wimbledon Centre Court (6 days) Sept 6-19, 2008 Wrigley Field (14 days) Sept 19-Oct 8, 2008 Panathinaiko Stadium (20 days) Oct 8-Nov 24, 2008 Olympiastadion Berlin (48 days) Nov 24 - Feb 17, 2009 Panathinaiko Stadium (86 days) Feb 17 - April 8, 2009 Wembley Stadium (51 days) April 8 - July 7, 2009 Augusta National GC (91 days) July 7 - April12, 2010 Wimbledon Centre Court (280 days) April 12, 2010 - Augusta National GC
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Newsletter #8, 15/4/10
Augusta Bounces Back – and a thousand-to-one shot
After another mesmerising Masters that had a dozen intriguing plots and subplots, with Woods, Watson, Mickelson, Couples, Westwood and several more serving up a feast of fascinating golf, both Augusta and WGST front-runner Wimbledon Centre Court have come under the strictest of analysis from the WGST panel.
Augusta has never looked better and indeed it is obvious that year on year this icon keeps improving. It is never satisfied; it never stands still – just like Wimbledon, some might say.
So what is the outcome after these two giants have detached themselves from the rest of the pack by 2.5 and 3%? It is that Augusta has reclaimed the illustrious top spot which it lost on July 7th last year, after sitting moodily on the sidelines for 280 days. The question now is will Wimbledon be able to produce any fireworks of its own, in two months time, to fight back?
* * * * *
What an amazing coincidence befell the WGST team today. Two new venues came up for scrutiny: Centre court at the Monte Carlo Country Club which recently saw Rafael Nadal win a 6th straight Monte Carlo Masters; and Vicarage Road the home of Watford Football club of the English Championship, and Saracens – a Premiership Rugby club. Two somewhat subculture venues although both with an established past and with their own important niches in the sporting world.
It is a little difficult to the naked eye to tell which of these would place further up the WGST list. After the marks were in, Monte Carlo Country Club scored 58.70% - a mark that the previous 359 venues had failed to find. Vicarage Road scored completely differing marks over the 12 selection criteria: scoring heavier than Monte Carlo in some areas, and lighter in others. They only tied on one of the 12 criteria. Vicarage Road’s final grade? 58.70%. A spot on tie! Incredibly, two random, totally contrasting venues, had arrived for scrutiny together and both found a mark that no other venue has found in our 20 month existence. Roughly speaking there are about 1,000 different scores that a venue can come in at. Ok, the scores between 55 and 65% are most likely, but still – there are 250 of those.
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Newsletter #7, 17/08/09
Berlin Soars Again
After the magical night of athletics that was Sunday August 16th, 2009, and the mere 41 strides and 9.58 seconds it took the Bolt of lightning to cover 100 metres, the Olympiastadion Berlin has reminded us all why it merits its place in the very upper echelons of the WGST leaderboard. And then just to hammer home the point, the venue became ever more mythical with Bolt's just-beyond-the-imagination 19.19.
73 years ago Jesse Owens cemented this venue's place in sporting history with his 10.3. Aryan Supremacy? Not here. All Hitler's propaganda was made to look like nonsense, and it's why, although the stadium still reflects great sadness and anger for some, it represents defiance and justice for others; a classic example of how sport can be a beacon for how the world really is, far more than the muddy waters of politics ever will.
"It's good that they decided to keep it," said 94-year-old Siegfried Eifrig in 2004, after the future of the Olympiastadion had been debated for years. Eifrig, who still had vivid memories of carrying the Olympic torch through the streets of Berlin back in 1936 noted: "There was euphoria inside the stadium, but the crowds didn't go there to see Hitler. They went for the Games."
In the lead up to the 2006 World Cup, Germany's Interior Minister Otto Schilly said, "the stadium recalls the dark elements present in its creation, but in 2006 the world will look upon a modern, democratic, and open Germany."
For now then, with the memories of Owens, Bolt and not to mention Zinedine Zidane and his World Cup Final histrionics, the Olympiastadion has risen to 3rd place on the WGST leaderboard. It looks majestic and tingles with electric atmosphere, and it could rise yet further in the months and years to come.
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Newsletter #6, 7/07/09
WGST’s Original Ace Back to the Summit
Augusta must have always been fearful of this happening... In a brutal head-to-head showdown after another remarkable Wimbledon final, the fabled Centre Court has grimly reclaimed the WGST lead which it last held on 6th Sept 2008.
The superb roof has added to an already exceptional facility, and Centre Court can no longer be said to suffer from one dreadful Achilles heel – that of a drop of rain turning it into the dampest of damp squibs, and a thoroughly depressing and dreary place.
There is so very little to prise Wimbledon and Augusta apart, but it would appear that Wimbledon just has the edge since tennis is a little less elitist and available to the masses than golf (the Williams sisters’ triumphs pay testament to that) which boosts its international profiles; the venue is some 60 years older; and is in the public eye 14 days a year instead of just four. It should also be noted that Wimbledon entertains both male and female athletes, unlike Augusta’s all male domain. These small details have enabled Wimbledon to take a slim lead which currently stands at 1.39%.
A word about the Links:
As you can see, the WGST venues are slowly but surely being linked up to websites that provide more information about them. We have given you two options: the link on the left takes you to either the venue’s homepage, or, if it does not have one or is only available in a foreign language, then to another website which provides some feedback and analysis. The link on the right takes you to the venue’s Wikipedia entry. In many instances this is just as informative, if not more so, than the official page, since the official page is often eye-wateringly commercial, and expresses more interest in selling you tickets to an upcoming concert or event, than in talking about the venue’s history.
Note, that if you click on a venue, you will not be taken away from the WGST site – the extra window will merely appear as a pop-up (which you can then maximise). When you have finished looking at the external site you have navigated to, simply exit it, and you will still be on the WGST page.
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Newsletter #5, 27/05/09
The Secret Ingredient Is Age
With two of the world's most high profile stadiums taking a real battering at the hands of WGST's strict ranking criteria, it is becoming obvious that it is simply not enough to look dazzling and flash with all the "bells and whistles". To be a great sporting theatre requires real gravitas, and what has happened with Wembley and Yankee Stadiums in the past few weeks, is that underneath all their beauty and bravado on the outside, there lurk some quite serious flaws beneath the surface, which the unforgiving sports fans have been quick to point out.
It has gone to show how just because you're brand new and have cost hundreds of millions of dollars to construct, that won't be enough for you to survive on wgst's illustrious leaderboard.
A glance at the average ages of venues in the top 250 shows some interesting things: the average of venues ranked 151-250 is a mere 24.68 years. For venues 100-150 that figures more than doubles to 53.84. It rises again in the illustrious 51-100 section to 70.96, and the classic venues in the group from 26-50 have an average age of 88.24. In the top 25 list (with the date of Panathinaiko Stadium taken as a mere 1870), the average age is 101.84.
In the top 25 there are only three venues that were opened since 1950 - and what icons they are: The Nou Camp (1957), Madison Square Garden (1968), and the Bird's Nest, Beijing (2008).
It is a good reminder that in today's celebrity-driven, fast-food, reality culture that there's still no substitute for history, tradition and class.
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Newsletter #4, 6/05/09
New Yankee Straight In at #10, and Then Heads South
It is been a fairly busy few weeks with WGST welcoming two big hitters to the fray, and some others either shimmying upwards or heading south. Welcome Yankee Stadium! The venerable old stadium was a big hole in the WGST list as it faced the wrecking ball just as the website was founded. But her successor is here and there's no doubt that it's an impressive sight. Whether an initial positioning of 10th is due to a little hyperbole which could see it dropping a little over the coming months remains to be seen; but with the NY Yankees profile higher than ever, and the stadium providing an eclectic mix of the old and the new, the New Yankee Stadium seems fairly comfortable on such a lofty perch.
There has been less brouhaha about Citi Field although it should be noted that it still makes the super sixes list for Baseball stadia. Citi Field, new home to the New York Mets, currently sits snugly between two famous stadia: the Estadia Centenario in Montevideo, and St. James' Park Newcastle.
Elsewhere, the Panathinaiko Stadium finally makes a departure from the top 5 and settles down into a still impressive 11th place, but the correction was perhaps a long time coming. After the eyes of the football world were on the magnificent Nou Camp, it has flexed its muscles and risen a few pips to rise to 17th, doing grim battle with the Berlin Olympic Stadium just ahead. Old Trafford finds itself booted out of the Super Sixes as a result.
The Emirates Stadium looked magnificent in the Champions League as well and rises around three dozen places. One assumes that all that's really holding this venue back is its youth, and Arsenal's recent lack of success. Its atmosphere appears to be improving.
Finally Wembley Stadium's problems with its pitch quality have surfaced badly again, which has seen it trade places with Centre Court Wimbledon (resplendent with a new roof). If Wembley doesn't sort its problems soon, its days in the the top ten, let alone top 5 are numbered. **
** These fears have proven to be correct, as Wembley subsequently tumbled outside the top 25 and was as low as 37th by May 2010.
Post script: After 3 weeks in the heady heights of the top 10, the reviews and feedback for the Yankee have come in, and it has taken an ugly tumble as a result. There are many flaws, but the two which hurt it most are the rampant, bordering on disgraceful commercialism, which has meant that the VIP seats behind the batsman are often all but empty as very few can afford the sky high prices (circa $2,500), leading to very embarrassing television shots of a seemingly empty stadium. Also, the new Yankee, for reasons possibly due to a wind tunnel effect, is turning into a home run paradise, giving up around four a game, devaluing the worth of a 'homer', and infuriating pitchers. The New Yankee now resides well outside the top 50, in a dead heat with the Louisiana Superdome, which to the naked eye appears quite a neat fit.
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Newsletter #3, 9/04/09
Wembley Bows To An American Classic
It is US Masters week and the Augusta National GC’s chance to shine. And shine it has with an electrifying surge up the leaderboard from 5th to 1st, displacing Wembley stadium by a tantalising 0.07%. Augusta means many different things to sports fans – all of the following could apply: Amen Corner, Arnold, Azaleas, Big Oak Tree, Crow’s Nest, Faldo, Green Jacket, Hogan Bridge, Jack, Lightning greens, Lyle’s bunker, Magnolia Lane, Rae’s Creek, Sarazen Bridge, Seve, Tiger…
Augusta would certainly get full marks if a category existed for ‘sense of self-importance’. It is easy to forget that the course is nearly 200 years younger than its iconic cousin over the Atlantic, St. Andrew’s. The prices charged to those who tread her sacred turf could be seen as exorbitant, with circa $15m generated in revenues on each of the three practice days alone. But they are never questioned and the fans who drive through the night to attend practice, just smile acceptingly at what is asked of them.
Access to the tournament itself is far harder to come by. “Now it is just the patrons,” writes golf reporter Derek Lawrenson. “Fortunate people whose parents or grandparents had badges and have passed them on. It is no exaggeration to say that in Augusta a Masters badge is considered a family heirloom.”
Whether Augusta lasts much beyond Masters week at the head of the WGST field remains to be seen. A thrilling tournament will help and boost its overall grade by another few fractions. But whatever the case, Augusta is worthy of its tenancy of the number one spot. Rarely has a sports venue, or any venue for that matter, appeared so self-assured in its own importance, gravitas and majesty.
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Newsletter #2, 17/02/09
Wembley Surges Into The Lead
The juggernaut that is North West London's Wembley Stadium has roared into top spot on the back of a flurry of public interest, a resurgence in the fortunes of the England football team, and many regrades. Athens' venerable Panathinaiko Stadium enjoyed nearly three months at the head of the field, but it was unable to withstand the onslaught from Wembley which had been lurking far lower than perhaps it might on WGST's list - until recently as low as 20th.
What are the reasons for this, and why is Wembley now suddenly claiming its place at the head of the list? In the early days of WGST Wembley suffered on two counts: it scored poorly on history and tradition because it was a brand new stadium. HOWEVER, perhaps quite rightly, the voters have come to the correct decision that the site is still Wembley, and it still carries a tremendous aura about it, albeit in a brand new shell.
The other reason Wembley stuttered was due to major problems with its playing surface, which now seem largely to have been sorted, and complaints from the fans about the very corporate nature of the venue, the extremely expensive refreshment and concession stands, and the lack of atmosphere compared to the Old Wembley. However, with the England team now flying high under new a new manager, and fans becoming used to the new foibles of the arena, and slowly but surely starting to create an electric atmosphere at the venue, the New Wembley has shaken off the flaws and surged its way through the field.
One or two things are for sure: the stadium looks magnificent, it will host the Champions League Final in 2011, several matches at the 2012 Olympics, and its names conjures images of two iconic sporting events in the 1948 Olympics and the 1966 World Cup, as well as some 75 FA Cup finals. It is still, for any footballer, the place to be.
Wembley's place at the top isn't necessarily secure though. Its grades still see it losing quite a few points for 'history and tradition', time spent in public eye (fairly rare), and esteem of fans. How long will it remain as #1? It'll be intriguing to see who's next to make a charge, and become the sixth tenant of the coveted number one spot.
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Newsletter #1, 10/11/08
The Battle for Supremacy Has Begun
WGST has been online for a month now, and with around 200 entries, its aim to list and rank the world’s most prestigious and popular sporting venues is fast taking shape.
There is still a long way to go though with several hundred sporting venues, each of which mean something particular to a particular someone waiting to stake its claim.
There have been a number of intriguing talking points in this first month. The key of which has been who wins the coveted number one spot. In the early days of the list’s construction, Wrigley Field reigned over all-comers, before being knocked off its perch by the current leader, the Berlin Olympic Stadium. This is, to the naked eye, an unusual and unpredictable leader of the pack, which almost no-one may have seen coming. And yet, on closer inspection, it is clear what the magic ingredients are that has seen it rise to the top…
Most every sports fan would agree that the world’s two largest and greatest sporting events are the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup. Berlin thus, is in a good position: it hosted perhaps the most iconic of all Olympics, those of Jesse Owens and Hitler in 1936, plus the 1974 and 2006 World Cups, including the dramatic 2006 final match. The stadium looks terrific with much of the old architecture still in place around the outside, and an impressive modern setting inside.
However, with all that being said, Berlin’s occupation of the top spot can only be described as fragile – who will take its place, and when? Wimbledon is looking perhaps the likeliest contender and has surged from 7th to 3rd in the past fortnight. The Panathinaiko Stadium would love to be top, but will always suffer from only occasional use, and being out of the public eye (except to tourists) for vast swathes of time. The Melbourne Cricket Ground has surged from 39th to 11th, of late to nick Lord’s as the world’s greatest cricket ground. And there are a host of other venues which would love to claim number one spot, and just require an extra nudge… Augusta and Monaco Grand Prix Circuit to name but two.
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