Venue – good sized dedicated venue, helpful staff, the upper level seats are padded and comfortable. There is no obvious ‘kids zone’ unlike some other d-league venues, the children who were present were actually paying attention to the game.The fans were really involved with the game and this made for a good atmosphere.
Accessible – ample parking, close to town and easy to access via train from Manhattan
Concessions – usual range of hotdogs, popcorn, soft drinks on sale.
Venue – Good sized venue in a Uni gym. It’s not like the NBA venues but it is a big improvement on UK venues.
Access – We drove to the venue, they have a large free car park. I did not see any nearby bus stops but there is an AMTRAK station near by.
Concessions – There are a couple of stalls, with what seems to be a good range of food and drinks available but the staff do not seem to know what is on offer or what prices to charge. The hot food really isn’t worth it.
Merchandise – they have a small merchandise stall with a surprisingly large range.
Venue – it is a good size venue, the internal layout is not very well signposted and it takes a very long time to leave the venue.
Accessible – Another very accessible North American venue, you can get there by train, subway or walking (either overground or using the PATH system).
Seats – pretty comfortable. The lower level seats were very good as would be expected in the lower level. They provide in seat service in the lower level which is a nice touch.
Merchandise – there is a large store just before you enter the venue and several smaller stalls within the venue.
Concessions – a good range of food is available pizza, poutine, hotdogs etc. The prices are similar to what you would find at other similar sized venues. Reassuringly they did not seem to put the prices up during All Star.
The best thing about Basketball venues in North America is that, for the most part, they are centrally located in cities.
The TD Garden is one of these easily accessible venues. You can chose to drive the venue, though I would not recommend that as the traffic before and after the game was insanely busy.
Boston has a good public transport network and there is a T stop just outside the venue.
The venue seems to be mainly fitted with plastic seats, except in the box areas and court-side. The seats are not the most comfortable.
The lower bowl has a large range of food and beverages available, the upper bowl has a smaller range. My personal highlight was the fact that Sam Adams is available in the venue.
The signposting in the venue needs some work, but I guess if you are a regular attendee you know where you are going. If you are intending to go, make sure you leave yourself time to find your seat before the start of the game.
The atmosphere at the TD Garden is great, the fans are loud and stay behind their team.
The Leicester Riders have a new dedicated venue in Leicester. It’s pretty impressive.
The red and black seats are padded and more comfortable than most UK basketball venue seats. The venue is a good size, but perhaps could do with some work on the entrance/exit area as exiting the venue did take some time.
There is a bar in the venue selling beer, wine and soft drinks. There is also a stall selling hot dogs and burgers, and a stall selling popcorn, sweets, soft drinks and water. The prices are reasonable, I got two hot dogs and two cans of soft drink for £8.
The venue is close to the bus station making it relatively easy for away fans to attend. There does not appear to be a dedicated parking lot for the venue but they have free parking available in the industrial estate beside the venue.
The Basketball Tourist 