If they could, they would have drive-in stadiums

HITC Sevens urbanist YouTube arc, call it Not Just Football

The main reason the stadiums will feel dystopian is because they'll be without Freddy Adu, who is no longer playing football, having retired several years ago.

the word “tailgating” is used in both contexts in America. you can tailgate the person in front of you while driving as well as while parked at a college gameday

As an American, I do really wish that the World Cup games here were played at College stadiums. Not only are they bigger, but college campuses are the few places we have that have walkability akin to European cities. Plus, the stadiums are also quite old (yet modern through renovations of course) and have a much more prestigious and unique feeling to each of them that you don’t find at cookie cutter modern stadiums. Of course, I’m very biased given that I’m an Ohio State University alumni and would love to see a World Cup game in my hometown of Columbus

As an American who just went to a few premier league games, I couldn’t believe how easy it was to take public transportation and not have to sit in 2+ hours of traffic instead! Very jealous

To be fair, not all of the stadia that will host WC26 matches are located in suburban wastelands.

Some of them are located in urban wastelands.

As an American, the even more dystopian part of American stadiums is that they are basically used as hostage situations.  You mentioned it a bit, but billionaire owners of American sports franchises will use relocation as a threat to get new venues.  Basically, if you (the community) don't pay hundreds of millions (if not over a billion) dollars towards a new venue, we will move the team that has been here for decades to a location that will.


I'm from west of Chicago in Illinois, and there are multiple examples going on RIGHT NOW just here.  The Bears are threatening to move to Arlington heights (30 miles northwest of Chicago) if the city/state don't pay significant portions of 5 billion stadium/infrastructure project.  Soldier field was extensively renovated (for the worse) in the early 2000s.  The White Sox are also looking to get about half of a $2 billion stadium paid for at the same time, but they may leave for Nashville or another unknown city if they don't get what they want.  Keep in mind that they stadium the White Sox play in is slightly more than 30 years old and has undergone significant renovations since.  In the late 1980s, the owner threatened to move the Sox to Tampa, Florida if the current stadium was not built.  

Basically legal extortion, YAY!

I feel like Seattle is a great example of stadiums being in downtown. Pittsburgh as well but I’ve only ever been to seattle.

Should be noted Madison Square Garden actually was built on top of a train station. The station is still there but is now incredibly cramped and annoying to use, due to the arena above

I love how Lambeau Field is the almost complete opposite of this. It's so built into the neighborhood, almost like most PL stadiums

With tailgating, it started with college teams so alumni could get together and mingle.  In the US, public flagship universities were typically founded and built away from the major cities, so driving a few hours to get an entire weekend in in one day and back home for bed was typical.  Basically like having a little picnic instead of trying to find a place to eat during a massively busy time before fast food was so prevalent.

I am so ready for Alfie's urbanist arc

It's where the public money has gone for my entire lifetime in America. We didn't build very many airports or dams or high-speed rail or new postal roads back when money was free. We sure did build sports stadiums.

The key thing is is that Americans simply don't consider this level of car use to be "dystopian", which is the most dystopian thing of all.

In the USA, the parking lot tailgate party is an important part of the stadium experience.

If I had to guess:
Short answer: the car lobby (and by extension, the oil lobby)

I am an American whose family had season tickets to the New York Giants for generations, but who has completely abandoned American football. This video covers a big piece of what turned me off. Meanwhile, I spent 3 weeks in London last spring and my AirBnB was on Loftus Road. I walked to a QPR match from my flat, saw club staff coming and going around the neighborhood all the time, and it made them feel like "my" club. I follow every match now. (What Marti has accomplished on the pitch in that time hasn't hurt either.) I hope English football is always played by hundreds of clubs representing sections of cities and little towns in 100+ year-old stadiums.

in my own defense,
if i owned a large arena i would build an entire self contained entertainment district and hotels around it with a proposed light rail and metro station planned. Reduce car usages

Just to add for those who dont know: the thing about teams just up and moving from city to city isnt some normalized occurance here. Everybody hates it, even the people of the city thats getting a new team.