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    Sports Guides

    Pick the seat first, then check resale timing and bag rules

    Where to sit, when to buy and what to bring, for football stadiums, ballparks and arenas.

    Sports guides

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    Guide

    Are Resale Tickets Legit?

    Resale tickets are real tickets sold by fans and brokers. What makes a listing trustworthy, what state and federal law require, and what to avoid.

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    Guide

    Arena vs. Stadium

    What separates an arena from a stadium, from floor size and roofs to concerts, seat choice and getting in and out on event day.

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    Guide

    Buying Event Tickets

    A plain-language map of ticket buying: primary sales, presales, resale, fees, the FTC all-in price rule, mobile delivery and scam risk.

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    Guide

    Event Day: What to Know Before You Go

    What to sort out before a game or show: mobile tickets, bag rules, gate times, transit, parking, cashless venues and re-entry.

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    Guide

    Floor Seats vs. Lower Bowl

    Floor or lower bowl? What each actually gives you at a concert, who should pick which, and the floor rows that are rarely worth it.

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    Guide

    How Mobile Ticket Transfer Works

    What happens when tickets are transferred to you, how to accept and store them, and how to fix a transfer that has not arrived.

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    Guide

    How to Avoid Ticket Scams

    The common ticket scams, from social media sellers to look-alike sites, plus how to pay safely and what to do if a ticket will not scan.

    Abstract event ticket illustration representing How to Choose Seats at Any Venue
    Guide

    How to Choose Seats at Any Venue

    The seat-picking framework behind every GoodSeats venue guide: venue types, sightlines, obstructions, sun, comfort and where value usually hides.

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    Guide

    How to Read a Seating Chart

    How levels, sections, rows and seat numbers work on stadium, arena and theater charts, plus the exceptions that catch buyers out.

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    Guide

    NFL Stadiums by Capacity

    The biggest and smallest NFL stadiums in 2026, all 30 ranked by seating capacity, and why the numbers differ between sources.

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    Guide

    Obstructed and Limited View Seats

    What obstructed, limited and side-view labels mean, the columns and overhangs behind them, and how to tell a minor obstruction from a bad seat.

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    Guide

    Stadium Bag Policies

    The NFL's clear-bag dimensions, how stadiums, ballparks and arenas differ, and what to do if you arrive with the wrong bag.

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    Guide

    The Best Seats at a Baseball Game

    Where to sit at a ballpark: infield vs. outfield, which base line gets the shade, poles and overhangs, and the seats that face the wrong way.

    Abstract seating chart illustration representing The Best Seats at an NFL Game
    Guide

    The Best Seats at an NFL Game

    Why the front row is rarely the best seat at an NFL game, and how to choose a sideline, row, level and sun side before you buy.

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    Guide

    Ticket Fees Explained

    Service, facility and processing fees explained, plus what the FTC all-in price rule requires and what can still be added before you pay.

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    Guide

    View From Your Seat

    Official 3D seat viewers, fan photo sites and a simple routine for judging distance, angle, height and obstructions before you buy.

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    Guide

    When Do Ticket Prices Drop?

    Why there is no magic day to buy, what economists found about late resale price cuts, and how to decide when waiting is worth the risk.

    By the Good Seats editorial teamUpdated How we research

    What the Sports Guides Cover

    The sports guides answer three questions in the order a fan faces them: where to sit, how to buy safely, and how to get through the gate. They apply to any football stadium, ballpark or arena, so read them before you open a single team or venue page.

    Each question has a pillar guide that explains the whole subject. How to Choose Seats at Any Venue covers seating logic, Buying Event Tickets covers the primary and resale markets, and Event Day: What to Know Before You Go covers entry, bags and travel. The focused guides below go deeper on one decision each.

    The audience is large and growing. Major League Baseball reported 71,409,421 fans for the 2025 season, its third straight season above 70 million, and federal data put U.S. spending on spectator sports admissions at about 43.5 billion dollars in 2025.

    Seat Guides for Football, Baseball and Arena Sports

    Seat choice is sport-specific, which is why the seat guides are split by sport.

    • Football. The Best Seats at an NFL Game explains why the sideline between the 20-yard lines, roughly 15 to 30 rows up, beats the front rows, and how the shade side changes with kickoff time.
    • Baseball. The Best Seats at a Baseball Game covers infield vs. outfield, the home and visiting dugouts, foul-pole angles and which side of each park falls into shade first.
    • Arena sports. Floor Seats vs. Lower Bowl compares courtside and floor-level seats with raised seats in the lower bowl (the first ring of sections above the playing surface).

    Three general guides support all of them. How to Read a Seating Chart decodes section, row and seat numbering. View From Your Seat shows how to preview a sightline before you buy. Obstructed and Limited View Seats explains what a partial-view label means; at older parks it matters, since the steel columns in the grandstand at Fenway Park sit in front of some rows.

    Know the Building Before You Buy

    The venue shapes the experience as much as the matchup. Arena vs. Stadium explains the difference in size, roof and sightlines, and NFL Stadiums by Capacity ranks every league building from largest to smallest.

    For section-level detail, the seating-chart pages go further than any general guide: Lambeau Field Seating Chart, AT&T Stadium Seating Chart, SoFi Stadium Seating Chart, Yankee Stadium Seating Chart, Wrigley Field Seating Chart, Fenway Park Seating Chart and Madison Square Garden Seating Chart each map levels, section ranges and the seats to avoid.

    League and event hubs then connect the guides to the teams themselves: NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, College Bowl Games and Major Sporting Events.

    Timing, Resale and Fees for Game Tickets

    Most single-game seats for popular teams are bought on the resale market, where prices move with demand. When Do Ticket Prices Drop? explains the pattern. In a study of resale tickets for regular-season baseball games, economist Andrew Sweeting found that sellers cut prices by 40 percent or more as game day approached. That research used 2012 data, and playoff games, rivalry weekends and sellouts often behave differently, so treat it as a tendency, not a rule.

    Four more guides cover the purchase itself:

    • Are Resale Tickets Legit? explains how the secondary market works and what protects a buyer.
    • Ticket Fees Explained covers the FTC rule requiring live-event sellers to show the total price, which took effect May 12, 2025.
    • How to Avoid Ticket Scams lists the warning signs of a fake listing or seller.
    • How Mobile Ticket Transfer Works shows how a seat moves from one account to another in a team app.

    Gameday: Bags, Gates and Travel

    Entry rules catch more fans than any seating mistake. Stadium Bag Policies explains the clear-bag rule: as of 2026, the NFL clear-bag policy allows a transparent plastic, vinyl or PVC bag up to 12 by 6 by 12 inches, or a small clutch about 4.5 by 6.5 inches. Ballparks set their own rules, and they differ; Yankee Stadium allows a soft-sided bag up to 16 by 16 by 8 inches, while Wrigley Field bans backpacks. Check the venue's current policy before you go.

    Many fans also travel. Sports ETA estimated that 109.7 million people traveled 50 miles or more to attend a sporting event in 2024. If that describes your trip, read the pillar on event day for arrival timing, transit and parking, and use the team page for the stadium's own guidance.

    Frequently asked questions

    Which sports guide should I read first?

    Start with How to Choose Seats at Any Venue, then read the guide for your sport: The Best Seats at an NFL Game or The Best Seats at a Baseball Game. Read Stadium Bag Policies before game day.

    Are the best seats at a football game in the front row?

    Usually not. Front-row seats sit below the level of the players on the sideline, so many fans prefer rows 15 to 30 between the 20-yard lines, where the whole field is visible.

    Do ticket prices for games drop before the event?

    Often, for regular-season games with plenty of supply, resale prices fall as the date nears. High-demand games such as rivalries and playoffs may not follow that pattern.

    Can I bring a bag into an NFL stadium?

    As of 2026, NFL stadiums allow a clear bag up to 12 by 6 by 12 inches or a small clutch. Rules change, so check the stadium's current policy before you go.

    Sources