Alright, I have waited a long time for this rant. I am on a bit of a roll today, so here goes...
Anyone who thinks that Edmonton got a great new arena simply hasn't seen much outside of Edmonton. That is pure fact. What we received after years of Katz playing hardball with the city and province is a paint by numbers, half assed attempt of putting out something nice for the least amount of money possible. Corners were cut EVERYWHERE in this build, and it is evident when you see the competition.
First off my pedigree on this topic to show I have a bit of an idea what I speak of. Sports travel is my hobby. And yes, it's an expensive hobby. As of this writing I have been to 18 NHL arenas, 18 NFL stadiums, 14 MLB stadiums, 22 NCAA college football venues, 8 CFL stadiums, and 5 NBA arenas. I have seen the newest and oldest facilities in many sports and find the appeal and charm in most.
I have also been to the two NHL arenas that came after we moved into Rogers Place a few years back... T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. Both are nicer than Rogers Place, but I swear by the fact that Detroit got 50 times the arena we did. Mike Illitch spared no expense building an arena for Red Wings fans. Our nut job owner cut corners at every turn and screwed over local contractors wherever possible (don't believe that? Ask around).
I have been to Rogers Place many times now... many Oilers and Oil Kings games. I have sat pretty much everywhere at this point, upper bowl, lower bowl, loge seating,drink rail seating, Club Access seats, Sportsnet Club seats. So lets list off all the awful going on in the barn we folks here in Edmonton seem to think is so awesome.
- the food is awful. The selection, the quality, the price. All awful. Disgraceful when you see the offering at other arenas and stadiums. The selection was actually better at Rexall Place , where you could at least get a Starbucks Coffee or herbal tea. Here you get old, gas station quality coffee or Red Rose Tea (the only person I ever knew that drank Red Rose Tea was my Baba, I seriously had no clue they still sold it) from the same spot you buy your $7 crappy hot dog.
- the lack of an adequate amount of bathrooms has been well documented and doesn't need to be beat to death here. You are the Oilers. You know that even at $13 you are going to sell thousands of crappy draft beers each night, more on weekends. So why not have more bathrooms? Because those cost money. And Katz wasn't interested in spending more money than needed for his fan base.
- the differential on concourse width between lower concourse and upper concourse. The main concourse is wide and spacious (almost seems big enough in many areas to add more bathrooms?) while the upper bowl where us cretins only paying $85 for a ticket are shoulder to shoulder trying to squeeze through to get to our seats. Then they put a nacho or beer stand across from a Team Store and everything bottlenecks and the human herd comes to a standstill. But at least Katz is making more money there.
- the two "worlds longest escalators" going to the top level. Again, no one her gets shafted more than the second class citizens sitting in the upper bowl. How about two more escalators so I don't have to wait ten minutes to get on the escalator when it's busy? Oh yeah, those cost money. And if you have been there when one breaks down, thats extra special. The old dude giving high fives as you step on is awesome though... I love that guy.
- parking is crap, just like Commonwealth Stadium, but that is more a City of Edmonton thing than Rogers Place.
- how is it even legal how steep the seating in the upper bowl is? How has there not been a drunk fall and break his neck yet? Dead sober I have wonky knees trying to navigate that incline.
- selling beers in Ford Hall for $5 to try to get people there instead of one of the cool pubs in the area, then jacking that to over double the price once you are trapped inside past security is just another fine example of this outfit squeezing you for everything they can take.
- speaking of beer, awesome selection of Molson products (that's called sarcasm) . Just another example of Katz and his team pimping to the highest bidder (see the concessions in my first point) and not being concerned with actually giving the fans some selection. Every other new stadium or arena I can think of has major breweries and local and regional craft selections. Not here. Drink your Coors Light for $12.75 and be quiet.
- don't get me started on the on ice product and ownership/ management. But I continue to pay good money to see this garbage year after year, so who's the fool in this point?
- finally, what is up with the brass band in Super Mario Brothers costumes? Someone thought people would say "oh look, that is cool"? Awful.
My rant is over. Heading to Ticketmaster now to buy tickets for an Oilers game in January. read more