Basic Information
Stadium: Rynearson Stadium
Location: Ypsilanti, MI (42.25588, -83.64738)
Owner: Eastern Michigan University
Primary sport: football
Year constructed: 1969
Listed capacity: 30,200
Date last visited: October 2024
Stadium information: https://emueagles.com/facilities/rynearson-stadium/2
Summary Review: 2 stars (out of 5)
Eastern Michigan nicknames their stadium "The Factory," and indeed it has a soulless, heartless, manufacturing center feel. When you look around the stadium, you see concrete literally everywhere. Even the turf is grey like concrete. Moreover, some of this concrete is literally falling apart. I thought about grabbing a small chunk of concrete and sticking it in my pocket as a souvenir, but I refrained. Also, there used to be a running track between the stands and the field. While the track has been removed, removing the track did not put fans any closer to the field, and the field area may be the largest I have seen in any college football stadium. There are no concessions on the visitor's side, but there are some nice restrooms on that side. The concessions are cheap. Parking is free and less than a block from the stadium. Wide concourses and many portals ensure good pedestrian flow. While Rynearson Stadium probably won't make any lists of best college football stadiums, I have spent Saturday afternoons in worse stadiums even if this one needs some major reconstruction to be a high quality football venue.
Detailed Review:
Gameday Atmosphere: Like many Mid-American Conference (MAC) football programs, Eastern Michigan is not supported well by its fans. The stadium is separated from main campus by a mile of other athletic fields and private property, an arrangement that ensures low student attendance. Besides, EMU has a large commuter student population, so many of its students are off campus on Saturdays. The marching band has a strong brassy sound, and their high stepping entrance is entertaining. This is not the best gameday atmosphere, even in the MAC.
Seating: seating consists entirely of bench seating, and hence sitting in this stadium for 3 hours is fairly uncomfortable.
Field View: there used to be a running track between the stands and the field. The track was removed a few years ago, but the stands are still a long way from the action. The curvature of the stands relative to the sideline helps with the viewing angle but only a little.
Audio/Video: The public address system kept cutting out. There is 1 decent sized video board at the north end of the stadium.
Concessions/Hot Dogs: regular concessions are located only on the home side, but there are some food trucks on the visitor side. The hot dogs are large and juicy but also greasy and tasteless.
Pedestrian Flow: excellent wide concourses and a large number of portals to get fans in and out of the stands ensure good pedestrian flow.
Parking: lots of free parking right across the street west of the stadium.
No comments:
Post a Comment