Facebook has an application called "Stadium Tour" that allows you to quickly tally how many sporting venues you have been to. They cover all the major sports plus minor league baseball, some minor league hockey, and even college games. After spending a couple of hours going through my past schedules online, I totaled 209 stadiums that I have been to. Some of these are counted multiple times; for example I saw the Phoenix Suns, Coyotes, and Roadrunners all play in the US Airways Center, so that adds 3 to the tally.
Unfortunately, Stadium Tour doesn't list sports facilities outside North America, where I've lived for the past 14 years. They also lack junior hockey and lacrosse, among other sports. I had to do some serious wracking of my fading memory to remember all the places I've been and also what rules to apply. I've seen dozens of different events in the Tokyo Dome, but I only count Fighters and Giants games there, not the WBC, MLB, all-star, or college games. Essentially the rule is that the stadium can only be counted more than once if it is a professional event that involves a different home team that regularly plays there, such as the Giants and Jets at the Meadowlands.
Going back to my university days, I counted 94 places I've been to that are not listed in the Stadium Tour application. Most of these are in Japan, but there are a few in Europe, Australia, and even Asia. So the grand total right now is 303 sports venues with the total set to rise a bit when I hit Target Field and a few new minor league parks in Iowa next month.
There's not much point to this post other than to perhaps get other road trippers to think about their stadium count. I know some friends of mine are over 400, so I've got some catching up to do. With 80 minor league teams still to visit plus nearly 30 NFL stadiums and lots of minor league hockey to see, I'll be busy road tripping for a while.
Best,
Sean
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