From concerts to sporting events, many Americans frequently visit venues all across the U.S. where they often find themselves waiting in line at some point. Whether it be a line to the bathroom, a line to buy beer, or even the line to get into the building, long lines can be frustrating and impact the overall experience. In fact, many of our users resort to a game of Sudoku while they are waiting in line. We understand how important entertainment is, and waiting in line simply gets in the way of it.

That’s why we set out to learn which venues across the country leave visitors waiting the most and least. To do this, we analyzed Google reviews from more than 100 venues and scraped them for mentions of 20+ keywords related to waiting. We then divided this number of mentions by the number of reviews with three or fewer stars to create a percentage of negative experiences that involve waiting around in line. Read on to learn which locations topped our ranking.

Key Takeaways

• Jack Trice Stadium and Geodis Park have the longest lines among venues in the U.S.
• Boone Pickens Stadium and Bryant-Denny Stadium have the shortest lines among venues in the U.S.
• Iowa State University and Jackson State University have the longest lines among the largest college football stadiums.
• The Las Vegas Raiders and San Francisco 49ers have the longest lines among all NFL stadiums.
• The Dallas Stars and New York Islanders have the longest lines among all NHL arenas.
• The Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers have the longest lines among all NBA stadiums.
• The Kansas City Royals and Atlanta Braves have the longest lines among all MLB stadiums.
• The Nashville SC and CF Montreal have the longest lines among all MLS stadiums.

Where Venues Keep Visitors Waiting the Most and Least

Whether you are a die-hard sports fan or an avid concert-goer, many of us know our way around an arena. While some places seem to have their system down to an art, with no waits at all, others frequently leave guests irritated at the length of lines.

Leading the way with the longest lines in the U.S. is Jack Trice Stadium where 44.30% of negative experiences involved waiting in long lines. Home to the Iowa State Cyclones, the stadium was built in 1975, and though it underwent renovations about a decade ago, visitors still complain about long lines.

In second place with 43.16% of experiences relating to long lines is Geodis Park, a fairly new sports and entertainment venue in Nashville, TN. This is followed by Stadium Saputo in Montreal, Quebec. This marks the second Major League Soccer (MLS) stadium to claim a spot in the top five venues with the longest lines.

In fourth place is our second college stadium, Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, which has been home to the Jackson State Tigers football team since 1970. While this ranking included several venues that have been around for decades, long lines are not unique to older locations.

Coming in fifth place is one of the newest venues in the U.S., the Sphere in Las Vegas, NV, which opened its doors for the first time in September of 2023. While no sports team calls this venue home, the Sphere has hosted several music artists like the Backstreet Boys, Eagles, and Carín León. The immersive venue also offers film experiences, leaving many people around the world seeking a trip to the unique venue. While highly anticipated, our research has found that 36.54% of negative experiences at the Sphere are in relation to long lines.

Not all events are plagued by long lines, however, as we turn our attention to the venues with the shortest lines. Leading the way is Boone Pickens Stadium, home to the Oklahoma State Cowboys, where only 2.63% of negative experiences are caused by long lines. This is followed by the historic Bryant-Denny Stadium which opened in 1929. The University of Alabama stadium earns second place for the shortest lines, as just 3.08% of poor reviews were linked to lengthy waits.

Third on our ranking is yet another college football stadium, Kyle Field, where the Texas A&M Aggies play. While we saw several soccer stadiums rank among the worst venues for long lines, one team’s stadium claimed fourth place for the shortest lines: Children's Mercy Park, which is home to Sporting Kansas City. Rounding out the top five, we find another college stadium, Davis Wade Stadium, where the Mississippi State Bulldogs play.

The Professional Sports Stadiums with the Longest Lines

One of the most common venues Americans find themselves in are home to professional sports teams. So we decided to analyze data to determine which teams have the longest lines by sports league, including the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB), and Major League Soccer.

Leading the way for the NFL is another venue in Las Vegas, NV, this time belonging to the Las Vegas Raiders. When looking at all football stadiums, Allegiant Stadium has the highest percentage of negative experiences at 25.35%. This is followed by Levi's Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, with nearly 1 in 4 negative experiences being the result of waiting in long lines. Our third place NFL venue is home to two teams, the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers. Of the negative experiences at SoFi Stadium, 20.92% involved lengthy waits.

Topping the ranking for the NHL is the same arena that tops the NBA list because American Airlines Center is home to both the Dallas Stars and the Dallas Mavericks. When it comes to negative visitor experiences, we learned that nearly 2 in 5 people reported it was due in part to long lines. Coming in second place for the longest lines among hockey arenas is UBS Arena, which is home to the New York Islanders. This is followed by the Seattle Kraken’s home, Climate Pledge Arena, where 18.78% of negative experiences are related to waiting in long lines.

While the top spot in the NBA is a shared arena, the second place venue is only home to one team, the Los Angeles Clippers. Intuit Dome, which is only one mile away from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA, has the second longest lines among basketball venues as 21.13% of negative guest experiences note long lines. Wrapping up the top three in the NBA is Frost Bank Center, home to the San Antonio Spurs, with 20.68% of visits related to lengthy waits.

Switching to the MLB, we discovered the Kansas City Royals’s stadium, Kauffman Stadium, had the highest percentage (27.90%) of negative experiences involving long lines. From there, the ranking remains on the eastern part of the country with the Atlanta Braves’s stadium, Truist Park, ranking second, followed by Nationals Park, home of the Washington Nationals, in third place.

Wrapping up our ranking for professional team venues is the MLS. The top two stadiums for long lines in soccer claimed top spots on the overall ranking as well, Geodis Park (43.16%) and Stadium Saputo (41.07%), but in third place is TQL Stadium, home to FC Cincinnati.

Largest College Football Stadiums with Long Lines

While professional teams have their fair share of die-hard fans, college football fanatics have made college stadiums a gameday atmosphere that you don’t want to miss. But what happens when you need a drink or need to head to the bathroom? In some locations, you’re going to be waiting for a while — and as a result missing out on the action.

Overall, college stadiums claimed 6 of the top 15 spots for venues with the longest lines, with Jack Trice Stadium and Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium leading the way among colleges. After that it’s L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium, home of the University of Louisville’s football team in third place. This is followed by Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, CA, with 1 in 4 fan experiences being brought down by lengthy waits.

If you’re curious to see how your alma mater’s stadium ranks among the rest, check out the interactive table below for the full ranking of the top 30 largest college football stadiums.

Sudoku: Your Line-Time MVP

Heading to get a drink between acts at your favorite artists’ concert? Using halftime at your alma mater to take a bathroom break? It all sounds like a good plan until long lines force you to miss the first song in the set list or a kickoff return touchdown to start the second half of the game.

While Sudoku Bliss can’t reduce your wait times or rewind time to catch those missed moments, we can help get you through the long line. Instead of stressing about how long you’ve been waiting, try out a game of Sudoku to help pass the time. Whether you are a beginner to the game seeking an easy puzzle or you want to crank up the difficulty with a medium, hard, expert, or even evil grid, we have you covered.

Methodology

In this study, we set out to learn which venues across the U.S. have the longest lines. To do this, we collected Google Reviews for more than 100 venues across the country. This included college football stadiums, as well as NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, and MLS venues. We then analyzed reviews with three or fewer stars for mentions of 20+ keywords related to long lines and waiting.

We then divided the total number of mentions by the number of reviews with three or fewer stars to create a percentage of experiences with long lines. We used this percentage to then rank all venues from the longest to shortest lines experienced on average. Finally, using these percentages, we also ranked the largest college football stadiums, as well as stadiums and arenas by professional sports leagues.