The Truth About Boston’s Fenway Park: Why It’s Overrated

It's that time of year again—baseball season is nearly here.

As the excitement builds, stadiums across the nation are preparing for the return of eager fans. With the season just around the corner, expect a wave of articles highlighting the best ballparks in the country.

America's Best MLB Ballparks

Here's some real talk: Fenway Park is just okay.

Let us break down why.

Fenway Park's Major Issues

Parking: Horrendous. If you decide to build a stadium in the city, you’re bound to face criticism for failing to understand the evolution of urban development. Parking is awful. There’s nothing worse than parking in a different town and having to take a train in.

Gates: They're too tight, too few, and strangely not in alphabetical order. It makes zero sense.

Concourse: Tragically bad. Do you enjoy feeling like a sardine? Well, Fenway is for you. My favorite feature is when you're walking and come across a section of seats that blocks your way to the next part of the park. What a brilliant design.

Seats: Hahahaha (deep breath) hahahahaha. Unless you’re paying hundreds of dollars for a prime seat, you’ll need to see a physical therapist by the 7th inning. The seats are amazingly uncomfortable. I’m pretty sure some of them are still from the 1920s. On top of that, there are basically ZERO seats that actually line up correctly with the field. It’s quite astonishing

Obstructed View: It’s 2025, and you can still buy a seat at Fenway where you have to watch the game on a monitor. "It's all part of the experience!" Not for $80 a pop, buddy.

Bathrooms: Listen, they could be worse. I'll give them that.

Field Dimensions: You know what? I dig them. The Green Monster is wonderful. The unique centerfield and short right-field pole are great. I fully admit that the field dimensions are outstanding. Easily the best part of this park.

While there are some bright spots, it's clear that the negatives heavily outweigh the positives. I'm sorry, but Fenway has no business being ranked this high.

MLB Ballparks Better Than Fenway Park

Here are stadiums I have been to that are better than Fenway:

PNC Park - Pirates (Easily the best park)
Oriole Park at Camden Yards - Orioles (The most influential "new" park)
New Yankees Stadium - Yankees (It's giant, like the city)
Wrigley Field - Cubs (Many of the same issues as Fenway, but a more fun crowd)

Here are stadiums I haven't been to, but after extensive research, I'm confident they're better than Fenway.

Citi Field - Mets (Looks tremendous on television)
Dodger Stadium - Dodgers (Looks even better on television)
Kaufman Stadium - Royals (It has a sweet waterfall)
Oracle Park - Giants (Can't beat the views)
Coors Field - Rockies (Party deck central)
Petco Park - Padres (Perfect weather + modern stadium)
American Family Field - Brewers (Retractable roof with a slide for the mascot)
T-Mobile Park - Mariners (Incredible views, location and a retractable roof)
Truist Park - Braves (The team seems to have finally got it right with this intimate spot)
Target Field - Twins (Beautiful stadium, with great sightlines)

By the way, the worst stadium I have ever been to is Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago. What a waste of money that was.

READ MORE: Patriots Legend Tom Brady Got Roasted: Who Performed the Best?

After compiling these points, it seems I’d place Fenway around the middle of the pack. I think that’s a fair spot. It’s clearly not the worst, but there’s no real reason it should be close to the top.

What this really comes down to is that Fenway is a dinosaur. It will always have a unique history, but it also has limitations and should be extinct.

Red Sox fans deserve better amenities, comfort, and accessibility. Heck, you could even use the same dimensions at a new park and bring the Green Monster along, too. However, until that happens, the only folks who will continue to truly enjoy Fenway are Boston's area physical therapists.