February 02, 2018 – Tim Winterich -

The Parking Super Bowl!

Yes parking and sports fans, it’s time for the big game in which we pit this year’s Super Bowl teams against each other based on their stadium’s parking experience!

This year we have the heavily favorite New England Patriots and their Gillette Stadium (“The Razor”) taking on the surprising Philadelphia Eagles who make their home at Lincoln Financial Field (“The Linc”). So let’s kick this off and get down to the head-to-head parking matching up!

Capacity:

  • Eagles: There are 22,000 spots available at The Linc.
  • Patriots: There are more than 16,500 parking spaces around Gillette stadium.

Eagles kick a field goal! Eagles 3 Patriots 0

Price:

  • Both teams advertise $40 to park cars at stadium lots.

No change in score: Eagles 3 Patriots 0

What time do the parking lots open?

  • Eagles: 5 hours before kick-off for Eagles games.
  • Patriots: 4 hours before kick-off for Patriots games.

Eagles score a touchdown, they get an extra hour to tailgate! Eagles 10 Patriots 0

Tailgating:

  • Eagles: Only a third of the parking lots at the stadium are designated for tailgating.
  • Patriots: Tailgating is allowed in all general parking lots!

Patriots score a touchdown, they can tailgate anywhere!  Eagles 10 Patriots 7

  • Reservations:
  • Eagles: Yes! You can use SpotHero to park at the “Closest to the Exit” lot, which should allow easy exit to the interstate after the game.  Many other fine mobile apps available to find spots near the stadium as well.
  • Patriots: You cannot make reservations at the Gillette Stadium lots. But SpotHero has agreements with lots that are just blocks from the stadium where you can reserve spots.  And there are many other fine mobile apps available to find spots near the stadium as well.

It's a wash, there is no change in the score!   Eagles 10 Patriots 7

  • Parking Information:
  • Eagles: The Linc websites offers a detailed parking guide with excellent maps showing locations, directions and traffic patterns for specific parkings lots!
  • Patriots: Their official website for Gillette parking is very basic. It has 1 map that, although visually pleasing, lacks the interactivity and details of the Eagles guide.

Eagles score a touchdown!   Eagles 17 Patriots 7

In and Out experience:

  • Both teams say it can take up to an hour to exit their lots after a game. However, Eagle fans should take more advantage of all that great website data on traffic patterns to speed up their exit.

The Patriots score a safety!    Eagles 17 Patriots 9

Parking fun fact:

  • The movie, “Silver Linings Playbook” has a tailgate scene that starts out fun in a festive parking lot, but then Bradley Cooper ends up getting in a fight.
  • When Gillette stadium was constructed they placed a plaque in a parking lot to mark the spot where Adam Vinatieri kicked the two famous “Snow Bowl” field goals in the old stadium that was torn down. A retail center, Patriot Place, was built over this lot but the Patriots say they will still mark this spot with a future tribute.

Patriots score another touchdown for creativity!    Eagles 17 Patriots 16

Now the Patriots are going for 2 extra points to win the game outright and to avoid overtime.  But mysteriously Tom Brady's pass doesn't make it to the receiver as the ball deflates in mid-air and falls harmlessley to the turf, the Eagles win!