Food - 6/10

Pretty average food, has your typical hot dogs, nachos, pretzels, candy, beer. Also pretty in line with stadium food pricing, $8 for a drink, $13 if you want the souvenir cup. The quality item they have is Rendezvous BBQ right as you walk in the main entrance. It’s a Memphis classic, which arguably has the best BBQ in the country.

Atmosphere - 8/10

I went for the the round of 64 in the NCAA Basketball Tournament, Houston vs Longwood and Texas A&M vs Nebraska. I got there with about 10 minutes left in the first half of the Nebraska game and you could hear the crowd by the metal detectors, so it is definitely a good atmosphere to be a part of in a big, meaningful game. Sat in the upper level in one of corners, everything is very easy to be seen, the jumbotron, the crawlers in between the lower and upper level and the stat boards in each corner. Really not a bad view of the court from up there either. Overall, was a pretty solid crowd up until Houston started running up the score of Longwood.

Stadium - 6.5/10

The arena was built in the early 2000’s, and you can kind of tell. Easy to navigate, escalators and elevators with a parking garage that can take straight into the arena or lead you right outside the main entrance to go hit up the local bars. From my understanding it hasn’t had many upgrades, as Drake was supposed to have 2 concerts there over the past year and it couldn’t handle what he wanted. Still relatively clean, security all over the place and a spot on every corner of the stadium if you need help with something.

City - 3.5/10

It’s Memphis. And downtown Memphis. A dirty, stinky city with homeless people around pretty much every street you would walk down to get around the popular places near the Forum. Beale Street can fun if you’re looking to get drunk or before sundown. However, the restaurant selection is a great positive, just about any cuisine is within walking distance, plus pretty much anywhere you go will be good food. As a tourist, the Bass Pro in the Pyramid is a must see, especially the rooftop. You could spend multiple hours in there and not run out of things to do in there.

Overall - 7/10

As a whole, if you’re going strictly for a game, it can be a great experience. But, if the game isn’t a big game I can see it being a bust. If you’re going for the experience of the game and the city, the city will bring that experience down a couple notches just due to the locals and the uncleanliness.

*Will be re-reviewed in the future.