Improving the experience at M&T Bank Stadium

[ed from Bel Air]

I can live with the prices, I can live with the bathroom situation. I rarely drink beer in the stadium, and I always go down to the bathrooms at the 2 minute warning. I rarely see fights anymore as most of us at the stadium (even in the upper deck) do behave ourselves. I do not call people from the stadium, I only care about the Ravens so as long as they post the losing scores of Pittsburgh and Cincy ( I still don't care about Cleveland), I do not care about texting, cell coverage or phone reception.


The three things that will eventually force me to sell my season tickets and watch the game at home are:

1. The lack of escalators. Climbing up those stairs and ramps as I get older will be the death of me. I know I can take an elevator with all the well-to-do skybox and club level types, but the waits are extremely long at game time, and I should not have to leave my tailgate early to get to an empty stadium early. I shouldn't have to pay extra to get an escalator, which stores, airports, hotels, and other service providers routinely provide for free.

Don't tell me they cannot do it. Houston has one that goes from outside the stadium all the way up to the top of the stadium. Looks great, worked great. The reason I hear most for not adding escalators in the beginning was the accident in the 60's at Memorial stadium. I am pretty sure the safety technology is better now then it was back then.

2. If I do leave my tailgate early to get into the stadium early so I can take an elevator, or climb up the steps at a leisurely pace, then I get to listen and watch the exact same year-after-year pregame routine that has grown more than stale. After climbing up all those stairs I barely have the energy to stand and listen to some lame recording of a redneck anthem.

I love my country.

I love and respect our military.

I hate that song.

Now that Mr. Miller is no longer singing our beautiful National Anthem, they should find someone great to replace him, and replace that other awful song. If we must ( and I think one is enough) sing two songs before the game, they should play Ray Charles classic version of "America the Beautiful".

3. The third thing will be having to wait hours to get out of our parking lot on Sharp to Ostend to Hanover St or Fort Ave. I cannot understand how the Baltimore City police ( who I think otherwise do a terrific job in the City) cannot figure out a way to keep traffic flowing on the East side of the stadium. I guess they only put enough officers around the club level and suite holders' A and B parking lots to get them home at a reasonable hour. The Ravens should somehow invest in a little more police overtime to get us off the lots a little quicker.

I know the Ravens do not have to do these things, but as technology gets better and the stadium experience more expensive and time-consuming, I find myself contemplating something that was unthinkable to me several years ago----giving up my seats for watching the game from the comfort of my couch.

[camdenyard]

Two things must be considered when thinking about this question. First, the Ravens are a for-profit business and second, limitation of liability has obviously become a focus for this business over the last few years.

As a business, growing revenue streams and profit is important. We don't see that side of the organization much as fans, but it exists. For example, it wasn't that long ago that the team made a big deal out of an extension with M&T over naming rights. Most of use shrugged out shoulders and said "so what?", but it was big to them.

The point is that the Ravens are going to make improvements based on the value and competitive advantage (as compared to other local options) that it provides. As long as they can pack 70K people into the stadium, I think you can forget about large capital projects such as a dome and escalators. Liability issues would kill escalators on its own. The $35 million in improvements they are finishing up is mostly cosmetic. The new video boards for example have been used more for ads than improving the fan experience. And don't forget that was the first real work done (aside from adding a few urinals) since the place opened in 1998. They probably have not felt the need to do any more.

So I really don't expect much in the near future. Not unless attendance falls.

[middleriverterp]

Got to agree with Ed about "Proud to be an American" Please get rid of this song as the colors are brought onto the field.

[MarkS]

I love my country.

I love and respect our military.

I hate that song.

Oh man, this. So very much.

Now that Mr. Miller is no longer singing our beautiful National Anthem, they should find someone great to replace him, and replace that other awful song. If we must ( and I think one is enough) sing two songs before the game, they should play Ray Charles classic version of "America the Beautiful".

Can we get a petition started?

[wickedsolo]

TVs in the bathrooms. Better TVs by the concessions. And some sort of cell coverage would be nice. Like the stadium is a dead zone lol. I've had both AT&T and Verizon and neither get service in there.

That has more to do with the number of people in one area than anything. That many cell phones all pinging the same cell tower is going to cause congestion. That's why during an emergency or something the rule of thumb is text, don't call because texting operates on a different frequency band.

M&T would have to get the city of Baltimore to up cell coverage capabilities in the area, which is also cell service providers would have to agree to do.

[wickedsolo]

Wasn't there a story a while back how the league employs inverse wave generators, blocking GSM signals? Meaning, they blocking data with anyone with a GSM phone but folks with CDMA (Verizon) could?

Something along those lines would probably have to be cleared with the city, FAA, and the cell service providers as it would likely impact patrons not in the stadium as well.

[stevez51]

Got to agree with Ed about "Proud to be an American" Please get rid of this song as the colors are brought onto the field.

Maybe we should ask the Vets what they think ??

[HoustonRaven]

Something along those lines would probably have to be cleared with the city, FAA, and the cell service providers as it would likely impact patrons not in the stadium as well.

Musical acts do it frequently so I'm not sure your have to go through that many hoops.

I tried finding the article with no luck so I most likely had it wrong anyway.

[ActualSpamBot]

Maybe we should ask the Vets what they think ??

Why? Its a football game not a memorial day event. One patriotic anthem, complete with color guard and a flyover should be enough.

[wickedsolo]

Musical acts do it frequently so I'm not sure your have to go through that many hoops.

I tried finding the article with no luck so I most likely had it wrong anyway.

This is true, but musical acts do it because they use a lot of wireless technology with the microphones, instruments, and so forth. You can get some interesting white noise and feedback from cell phones receiving or sending messages when nearby a wireless PA system or something.

Though NFL games do indeed use wireless technology with microphones and whatnot, I'm not sure it would be to the degree that a big time musical concert would use.

Now, Wi-Fi bolstering and cell service are two totally different things.

Here is an article from the Super Bowl this past year in New York. They beefed up their cell coverage, but blocked streaming access (which is not terribly difficult to do). However, they had to work with Verizon and AT&T (and likely other cell service providers in the area) because those would be the entities with oversight into the cell towers in the region.

http://www.nj.com/super-bowl/index.s...e_stadium.html

That's all I'm saying. Bisciotti could definitely bump up data and cell service at M&T, but he'd have to strike a deal with cell service providers that own and operate the cell towers in the region. I'd also imagine that would probably have to be reviewed by the city of Baltimore as well as the FAA for legal and other implications. It could definitely be done though.

Installing a robust WiFi system would, IMO, be the way to go. Then charge for the WiFi Network Access.

[HoustonRaven]

Maybe we should ask the Vets what they think ??

I'm ok with the song and know why they play that specific song at that moment.

Many soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen of a certain age hear that song upon graduating from their respective basic training classes.

What bugs me is when fans treat it like the anthem and remove their hats. The removal of hats should only done my the men in the crowd and only for the anthem.

I know that sounds persnickety but I'm a color guard guy from my MP days.

All that said, the thought of playing America the Beautiful might be a nice change of pace.

[wickedsolo]

Maybe we should ask the Vets what they think ??

As a Vet, I can say that song is not at the top of my "Patriotic/Go America" songs.

It is SO 1980's bad country.