Running a New York centric website creating its own exclusive content does come with many privileges. Apparently, so does being a New York Jets season ticket holder, as LocalBozo.com was given a First Look at the newly constructed “New Meadowlands Stadium.” Currently without naming rights and built at an estimated price tag of $1.6 billion, the Giants & Jets will begin sharing the new structure beginning this year. But before Mark Sanchez or Eli Manning step onto the playing field, LocoBozo was invited inside for a glimpse and we were not disappointed.

The first thing you notice about the new stadium from the outside is that the structure itself resembles the old-fashioned circular stadiums of years past- something we may have seen built in the 1970s (Veteran’s Stadium) rather than the open-air fields built more recently (like Lincoln Financial Field, also in Philadelphia). In fact, the exterior looks more like a massive parking garage than the House for fans of Big Blue & Gang Green. We’ve been told that the outside has been lined with colored lights, so that when teams like the Jets play at home, the entire exterior will be Green, proclaiming this to be “Our House.” Regardless, the design of the stadium’s outer bowl, which is both primitive and unappealing, is our one bone of contention with an otherwise tremendous looking construction.

The time-honored entrances to the stadium, formerly named Gates A,B,C, & D, have been replaced with corporate sponsors like MetLife, Verizon, Bud Light, and Pepsi. Upon entering the stadium, it feels like a truly new experience- from the brand new transportation center providing NJ Transit rail service (which actually began in 2009), to the long escalators replacing the seemingly endless roundabout walkways to the upper bowl, and extra large concourses (actually doubling in size) to accommodate a 56% increase in the amount of new bathrooms and roughly triple the amount of new concession stands in the new building.

Stepping through the open hallway to your section for the first time is a fantastic experience. The seats have been changed to different shades of gray, from charcoal to light gray, which cleverly gives off the illusion of filled seats on television, even though some may actually be unoccupied. This is also coupled with an extra 1-5 inches of legroom for fans, as compared with seats from the old Giants Stadium, not to mention the new capacity of approximately 82,500, up from almost 79,000. The cup-holders on the back of the seats, a staple in new buildings, are also a nice touch. And even the highest seats (the only ones we could afford) upstairs feel much closer to the field than in the old stadium, which will definitely be a perk come December.

The true standouts when looking out at the field are the beautiful new HD scoreboards, located in each of the four corners of the stadium, situated so that fans can see at least 2 and sometimes 3 scoreboards at any time during the game. Additionally, with 4 levels and over 220 suites, with sideline views, and seats outside the suite for special outdoor seating, the new stadium is fully equipped for high end corporate types.

Unfortunately, the costs of attending a game at the new stadium may be prohibitive for the real Jets fans. With costly personal seat licenses (PSLs- ranging from the just reduced by up to 50%- $2,500 to $30,000 per seat) removing many long time fans from the lower level and club seats in the new stadium, ticket prices have also increased accordingly (ranging from $95 for an upper level endzone seat to $700 for midfield seats, directly behind the Jets bench). And even with pricing options to finance the PSLs over 5 or 15 years, the teams have had considerable trouble selling them out- to the point that our stadium tour turned into an all out sales pitch for PSL upgrades.

Despite the push for some more LocalBozo cash, the takeaway from our visit to the New Meadowlands Stadium was overall very positive. Although the exhibition field from a soccer game played a few days prior was being removed, it was clear that the innovations made to address some of the issues at Giants Stadium are absolutely impressive; although only time will tell if the long bathroom and concession lines are actually improved. Both teams are scheduled to open at home in September- the Giants will open on Sunday, and the Jets will open the first Monday Night game of the year in the new building. And after a successful pitch by both teams, it was announced weeks ago that the stadium will host the 2014 Super Bowl in (gulp) New Jersey, even though the Jets & Giants ticket holders will only have access to about 6% of the seats for the Big Game.

Increased stadium capacity? Check. More food vendors? Check. More bathrooms to reduce lengthy lines? Check. Larger scoreboards? Check. More room between seats? Check. They say Bigger is Better, and in the New Meadowlands Stadium our LocalBozo First Look proves that sentiment to be spot on.

- Jane Van Arsdale