Bob CollinsSure, the New Orleans Saints beat the Vikings in last winter’s NFC championship game. And, sure, the experts — that’s another word for sportswriters — are picking the Saints to beat the Vikings in the season opener tonight. But Saints fans will spend more time stuck in traffic this year than Vikings fans, apparently. Crunch dat, Saints.
The survey, taken from data supplied by TomTom GPS units (people voluntarily allowed the company to mine their driving data) , found that fans in New Orleans and St. Louis experience the overall slowest speeds an hour before the game, as they drive at roughly 10 miles per hour.
The slowest traffic in most NFL cities is two hours before gametime, according to the survey. But in Cincinnati, Oakland, and Miami, the slowest traffic is four hours before the start of the game. That might indicate that more fans are heading for tailgate parties. But, c’mon, it’s Cincinnati. And Oakland.
The 10 professional football stadiums with the greatest traffic delays were based in Washington D.C., New England, Buffalo, Dallas, Jacksonville, Carolina, Miami, Tennessee, Green Bay, and Atlanta, respectively, the survey said.
Minnesota? Solidly average. Typically.
Stadium Game Day Reduction in Speed
1 Washington DC 57%
2 New England 55%
3 Buffalo 55%
4 Dallas 41%
5 Jacksonville 39%
6 Carolina 37%
7 Miami 36%
8 Tennessee 35%
9 Green Bay 33%
10 Atlanta 31%
11 Philadelphia 29%
12 New Orleans 29%
13 Houston 27%
14 Minnesota 27%
15 St. Louis 27%
16 Cincinnati 26%
17 Detroit 24%
18 Indianapolis 24%
19 Pittsburgh 21%
20 New York 21%
21 Chicago 20%
22 Denver 20%
23 Baltimore 17%
24 Cleveland 14%
25 San Francisco 13%
26 Seattle 9%
27 New York 8%
28 San Diego 1%
29 Oakland -10%
