Soccer Gives You Wings

As you can tell from my San Jose Earthquakes post, the MLS is far from perfect.  For teams without soccer-specific stadiums, Major League Soccer is still very much a second (or third) class sport.  When the league started, that's how it was for the New York / New Jersey Metrostars.  Playing their home games in the massively oversized Giants Stadium, the team struggled to build a following, and I (along with most New Yorkers) never made it to a game.  When Red Bull purchased the New York MLS franchise and built a new soccer-specific stadium in Harrison, NJ last year, things changed for professional soccer in the Big Apple.  I had heard great things, and pledged to make it across the Hudson for a game this summer.

On Saturday night, I went to the New York Red Bulls game vs. D.C. United.  Thanks to a ticketing site called ScoreBig (http://www.scorebig.com/), I was able to secure a bunch of seats for below face value.  Normally I don't like plugging websites, but in this case ScoreBig deserves the plug; for $20 a ticket, we grabbed seats in the first row directly behind one of the goals.  As expected, the view was amazing; it might not be the ideal vantage point from which to watch a soccer game, but the first row at Red Bull Arena puts you so close to the action that you can't help but get hooked into the game.  The ball was kicked into our section a handful of times, and one time a direct kick was blasted just a few feet to my left.  For the price, you really can't beat the view, and the less soccer-savvy members of my group were definitely surprised and impressed.

The view from our very reasonably-priced front row seats.

While Red Bull Arena might lack all of the bells and whistles of other, larger New York-area stadiums such as Citi Field, Yankee Stadium and New Meadowlands Stadium, it's everything an MLS stadium should be.  It's modern looking, but not too futuristic - it will still look good after the novelty has worn off.  The concessions were diverse, plentiful and reasonably priced, and the "stacked" nature of the two decks puts even upper deck seats right on top of the action (see below).  Perhaps most importantly, Red Bull Arena is super-easy to get to from Manhattan.  The park is right across the street from the Harrison PATH station, which goes directly to Lower Manhattan.  If you like downtown, Red Bull Arena is easier, quicker and cheaper to get to than Yankee Stadium or Citi Field.  As a result, crowds are solid; while far from a sellout, the Red Bulls drew good numbers for a Saturday night, including a section of vocal United fans who made the trip from D.C.

Upper deck seats are surprisingly close to the field.

The game at Red Bull Arena was the polar opposite of my Buck Shaw Stadium experience in San Jose.  The weather was beautiful, the stadium is great and, unfortunately, the home team lost.  Quality of play was fair (other than one nicely-timed goal from D.C., the game was filled with a lot of long balls and turnovers), but you go to Red Bull Arena to enjoy a nice night in a great venue, not necessarily to watch high-level soccer.  If you're in the New York area this summer, definitely try and make it down to Harrison for the game.  And let me know if you're interested in going, because I'm definitely looking forward to a return trip some time soon.