Stadium Report Card: Carter-Finley Stadium

I drove about 11 hours total with my dad to see my #3 team in the country lose to his college.

Team: NC State Wolfpack Football
Location: Raleigh, NC
League: Atlantic Coast Conference
Built: 1965(renovated in 2003)
Capacity: 57,583
My event: Regular Season Game vs Florida State

1. Outdoor Design

The school has a large architecture school, so it totally makes sense that it looks state of the art. This was the south side along the sidelines, this is where the pressboxes and everything were. This side and the east side were fairly new, but the north side we sat in you could tell was from the 60s. Still really nice. 7/10  

2. Indoor Design

It was different than what I'm used to which is a HUGE bowl, but the way it was layed out was nice. You could see everything going on at the stadium, and it had nice views to the outside of the stadium. 8/10

3. Prices

Our ticket was 65, which was sold to us by a guy who couldn't make the game at 8. Through FSU, I would've gotten the same deal and sat in the FSU section. The tickets seemed a little high, but the food prices were pretty cheap 5/10

4. Food

Fine Carolina barbecue, and then a selection of stadium food. Also a shout out to the stadium for giving you a cup with ice with your bottle of drink.  6/10

5. Staff

They were orderly and nice, even if I was wearing a FSU shirt! Everyone there was super cool.  8/10

6. Cleanliness

I thought it was actually really clean too. No complaints, seemed just right. 7/10

7. Parking

The stadium splits it's parking lot with the PNC Center, where the Hurricanes/basketball team plays their home games. That was a pretty big development. On top of that, there is a close business park where you can tailgate for about 10 bucks, but my dad and I got there early and parked for free along the road. No traffic on the way out either! 9/10

8. Atmosphere

One thing I can say is that they did leave only down 16-0. About 1/5th of the stadium emptied out, because the fan base is particularly pessimistic. But as soon as they started completing passes and wearing down the D, the fans came alive and it was cool to see. 7/10

9. Playing Surface

No problems with footing that I can remember, Thompson slipped a few times while running, but I think that was his fault. It was pretty clean and treated well. 8/10

10. Scoreboard
                               
The scoreboard was just a small little thing on the West side of the field, but it got the job done. As far as presentation, the PA announcer wasn't great, and the sound was meh. 6/10

Carter Finley gets a 71. Not a bad score at all. I honestly truly liked the stadium, despite the outcome. It was a really fun trip to take, and everyone was so nice. It might be because I wasn't an asshole about my team like some people can be, but I would recommend this stadium if you're ever close on a Saturday.