The New Yankee Stadium: A Visual Analysis When walking into Gate 4 of the new Yankee Stadium, a true fan of the blue and white pin strips experiences déjà vu. When building the new stadium the architects designed the new Gate 4 to mirror the Gate 4 of the old stadium right next door. When the initial design plans began, the organization had to think about not only the history of the team, but also how the die-hard fans would react when first walk into the stadium. Including mirroring the old stadium, the outside walls of the new stadium closely resembled the old stadium as well. When you first step into the new facility every idea that you had about what it was going to be like was destroyed except for the field itself. There is a much heavier emphasis on taking a more modern approach when they thought about the design. Everything from food vendors, to team stores, to even the bathrooms were brought from the 20th to the 21st century. Though there are some drastic differences, some aspects of the stadium did stay more along the lines of the original stadium. The seating is generally the same with regard to layout. But the major difference between old and new is the price of a seat. An even more outrageous price is how much it cost to build this monstrosity of a stadium. The average cost to build a stadium is about eight hundred million dollars; the new Yankee Stadium cost 1.5 million dollars to erect. The field has essentially the same look, but the dimensions were changed just a little bit. By paying homage to the history of the Yankee organization, by bringing images and ideas from the past and present together, they successfully merged together the Yankees of old and new together to create an experience that old and new fans can enjoy together. When initially walking up to the stadium fans don’t realize that the new stadium was almost 86 years in the making. From a view from space it looks as if the old stadium has been flipped over a mirror line. Even though it may seem easy for the designer to just take the exact design from the old stadium and make the new stadium, the journey to even be able to build the new stadium spans a couple decades. George Steinbrenner was the owner of the Yankees from 1973, when he bought it from CBS, till his death in Jul of 2010. He initially pushed for a new stadium to be built on a site in the upper west side of Manhattan. That sites stadium ideas were scrapped when the New York Jets moved in to make their home there, but that also failed. So with no where else to go the Bronx Bombers decided to stay where they have been since the 1920’s. Once the decision was made to stay in the Bronx, there was one more obstacle to beat and that was finding funding to build the new facility. In 2001 former New York City mayor Rudy Guliani promised now baseball stadiums for both the Mets and the Yankees. But due to some crucial contract flaws, Guliani’s successor Michael Bloomberg exercised a back out clause in the contract that scrapped any plans at that time. But in 2004 the plans for the new stadium were unveiled and ground broke in 2006. Though the team had to pay for most of the stadium, the overall income from the new stadium would put the team in the plus sooner than expected. The stadium opened in the spring of 2009 to mixed reviews from old fans to new. The exterior of the stadium at first glance looks almost exactly like the old stadium except it is a lot shinier and a tad bit more modern. The inside on the other hand has stirred up more controversy than just about any other sports venue ever built. The old stadium was built on the values of 10 dollars could buy you a Coke a couple of hot dogs. The new stadium however has turned going to see a baseball game from being a blue-collar affair to a black tie affair. Hot dogs used to cost about 2 dollars now they cost 6 dollars. Another controversy inside the facility is just the theme and layout of the building. The seating on the upper deck still has the same old issues that the old one did. The friezes block the view of people sitting in the nosebleeds. Most fans were very upset that the length of the friezes were not changed so that everyone could enjoy the game. Ticket pricing was also another problem with more fans than none. In 1996 the cost of a behind home plate seat was around one hundred dollars. That same seat in the new stadium now costs any where between five hundred and three thousand dollars. Now no worries people will still buy those seats. But the main issues that people are seeing is that the people that buy those seats also have one of the four thousand three hundred club seats or one of the sixty-eight luxury suites. This poses an issue when a game in the ballpark is being shown on national television and there is no one behind home plate. In the old stadium it was just food vendors and a team store separating you and the field. Now there are food vendors, a team store, and a mini Mall of America between you and the diamond. Old fans say that the organization has destroyed what greats like Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, and Yogi Berra gave their careers to build. By taking something as simple as making a new baseball field and having a field day with it to make it appealing to a more younger crowd. The older fans are arguing, that it is not about being more modern, more advanced, or being better than everyone else. They say that it is about paying homage to some of the greatest baseball players to ever swing a bat. Now on the other side of the fence are the younger (ish) fans that have grown up watching Mariano Riviera saving games time and time again, or watching Jorge Posada throw out a runner at second from behind home plate. When they walk into the new facility they see a place that in their mind is creeping up to Disney World as “the most magical place on earth”. These fans love the endless shops, the worlds fair like food selection, or even the sushi bar that is located in the Grand Hall. Younger fans may not be able to tell you every name on the 1961 World Series roster, but at least they’re there showing their support for the pinstripes now. These fans will argue about whether or not the Yankees organization went in the right or wrong direction with stadium until the new fans become the old fans and newer fans come along and decide to trash talk this ballpark and call it old and outdated. Yankees fans old or new would gladly throw away those silly arguments about which stadium was better for one good reason; to watch the Yankees play baseball. After that game is over the older fans will probably be in the souvenir store picking up a new hat or jersey to wear to the next game they attend. That same younger fan will be outside taking a picture on top of one of the many statues outside of the stadium to put as their profile picture on Facebook. One thing about the stadium has a little bit of now and then is the scoreboard. The statistics shown on screen, the names, and the strike zone chart are all shown on a 180-inch LED TV. But the runs scored in each inning are still done by hand, just like in the old stadium. Whether you are a Yankees fan or not there is not denying that the Steinbrenner family has built one of the biggest sports empires of all time. This being said most empires have to have a palace to live in, and boy do they have one now. The Yankees are one the most recognizable teams on Earth, so building a stadium to show off all of their worth was no easy task. But the organization did what needed to be done so that fans for generations to come can have a place to travel to watch their favorite team play for years and years to come.