CITYPARK - A Soccer Cathedral In St. Louis

CITYPARK Summary

My buddy works at Enterprise, and his boss gave him last-minute tickets to the game. When I got the text at 2 pm for a 7 pm game, I instantly replied.

"I'm in, but let me check with the missus."

She gave me the go-ahead, and I got pumped.

I met my buddies at the northeast pavilion off Olive at 6 pm for a 7:30 pm kickoff. The beautiful pavilion had corn hole going, a merchandise store, and a lot of people wearing pink quietly waiting in line to get into the stadium. When the stadium opened, everyone got inside in under five minutes. The lines move fast.

The beautiful part hits you as soon as you get to the stadium. With construction completed in 2023, CITYPARK will go toe to toe with any other stadium in the country. The 23,000-person stadium's compact form allows for everything to feel welcoming and polished. Spotlessly clean, it would put Disneyworld to shame in that regard.

I parked about seven minutes west on Olive for free and walked. They parked eight minutes north of Olive and walked down. You need to kind of understand where it gets sketchy to park north. I didn't know the area well enough, so I went West with the masses. There are plenty of paid lots close to the stadium, too. Those go for around $20.

After going to a bar named The Pitch across the street, we came back to the stadium around 7 pm. We drank a beer outside before walking in through the southeast gate.

The wide corridors provide plenty of access to food, bathrooms, and even the field. You could, if you wanted, watch the game from standing in the corridors around the first level. I never made it to the second level.

As you step down into the aisle to get to your seats, you realize the seats sit basically on top of the beautiful field. There isn't a bad seat in the house.

Our seats felt undeservedly close to the field. Ten rows back in a special section dedicated to fancy corporate people, my angle felt like a second-person camera video game for the game's second goal.

Just a great cathedral for soccer in St. Louis. Here's to hoping the city can continue to revitalize the area around the stadium.

CITYPARK Things To Do

The FOOD at CITYPARK

CITYPARK has the St. Louis royalty of food vendors in the stadium. UnionLoafers, Pie Guy, Balkan Treat Box, Pastaria, Anthonino's Taverna, and Dewey's Pizza were all I ones I saw.

Amazing.

My buddy's tickets came with $40 of money loaded on them, so we got the pick of the litter. After making a full rotation around the stadium, I settled on the Balkan Treat Box meat kebob pita Think of a really fancy gyro with excellent sauce. It costs $18.99 for a generous stadium portion. A similar sandwich at the restaurant would be bigger and have a side of chips for $16. But, in my opinion, this sandwich would probably be the best deal in the stadium.

For other price point references, a Pie Guy slice was going for $11.95. I'm not sure how big it is, but they would be $20 for a large pie at the restaurant. The most expensive thing we saw was a "Loaded" foot long hot-dog for $37. A UnionLoafers pretzel was $11.95 vs $4 in the store. Most entrees were in the $18 - 25.

Price disclaimer: All prices based on what I remember from last night. Add +/- $2 to everything for the appropriate range.

The DRINKS at CITYPARK

The three price points I noticed when we stopped for drinks were:

• ~$6.95 for a bottle of AquaFina water

• ~$9.95 for unlimited fountain soda

• Beer starting at $10.95 and going up over $!

The unlimited fountain soda gave you a cup that you could use at any of the ~20 fountain soda machines around the stadium. If you wanted to, I bet you could sneak in a cup and soda stealthily across the stadium.

In the same vein, one of the guys who came to the game pocketed two beers in his coat from home and got in without issue. The security didn't do any kind of pat-down or such, so you could smuggle in food and drink if you wanted.

The BATHROOMS at CITYPARK

Figuring out when to pee can be a challenge at a soccer game. Without any real stop in the action except for the fifteen-minute halftime, you either have to sacrifice game time or wait in line.

To my surprise, the lines during half-time for the men's room went thirty people outside the bathroom. Women's bathroom? No line.

Either men bunched all their pee for halftime, or the fanbase skews male.

I decided to pee after the start of the second half. I missed maybe three minutes of game time to skip a line.

The stadium keeps the bathrooms clean. They haven't had the years of St. Looligans writing on the walls.

CITYPARK Details And Info

The huge demand for CITYSC games at CITYPARK makes everything expensive by St. Louis standards. The cheapest seats cost ~$75. A seat with an actual back will go for over $175.

The way to get around the crazy entrance price but still experience the stadium is to opt for a CITY2 game. The backup squad tickets only cost $13 a pop. For 10% of the price, you get about 80% of the experience. You'll miss the supporter section going nuts, but you're guaranteed a front-row seat if you get there an hour early. I did it last season through my son's school. We got two tickets for $20 and sat first-row, mid-pitch. The stadium gets about 1/4 full, which makes parking and bathrooms easier, too.

PARKING at CITYPARK

You have a ton of options for parking. Paid lots liter the area between the stadium and I-64. They usually cost in the $20 range for the game. You can order ahead on several parking websites to secure a slightly cheaper rate.

I opted for street parking. If you get to the stadium an hour before the game starts, you should be able to secure a spot within a ten-minute walk.

CITYPARK Receipt