Being my first time at a New Orleans VooDoo game, I wasn't sure what to expect. On top of that, it was the team final home game of the season, which they had decided to move from their normal facility (The New Orleans Arena) to the Superdome in order to spur some additional attendance. I thought this was pretty neat, as I had never been to the famed stadium; however, I soon found that bigger isn't always better.
When we arrived and took our seats, we were appalled to see that we were placed a good 10 yards past the end of the field. Since the Superdome is built to accommodate an NFL-sized field, the Arena-sized field had to be pushed into a corner of the open floor area (in this case, the North-West corner). Now, there was really nothing wrong with the placement of the field; after all, putting the field in the corner of the floor area allowed the facility to use the build-in seats on the north and west sides of the stadium. However, the issue was that the organizers sold tickets down the entire 100-yard length of the west grandstands, even though the field itself was only 50 yards long. The result was that many people (myself included) were seated way past the end of the field, so we had to turn left about 45 degrees to see the game, which was highly uncomfortable.
In addition, I couldn't help but notice that the PA system was a little overpowering. I understand the need to crank up the volume for a NFL game with tens of thousands of screaming fans, but it was a little much this time. However, we moved around for a bit and found some seats that provided a decent view and weren't right next to a speaker; from that point on, I found the game highly enjoyable.
In conclusion, I'd recommend anyone wanting to give the VooDoo a shot to do so, as long as the game is held in the Arena (which seems to be more appropriately-sized for the event). I certainly want to give the team another try there next season.
