Opening and public perception Although Yankee Stadium has been praised for its amenities, it also has been widely criticized for high ticket prices. Seats within the first eight rows in the lower bowl, called the "Legends Suite", are among the highest-priced tickets in professional sports. Tickets cost $510 on average; the most expensive tickets cost $2,600 each. Overall, the average ticket price is $63, the highest in baseball. Legends Suite seats are also separate from the other lower bowl seating and are vigorously patrolled by stadium security, with the divider being described as a "concrete moat." The Yankee Stadium staff was also criticized for an incident during a May 4, 2009 game, which was interrupted by a rain delay. Fans were told by some staff members that the game was unlikely to resume and consequently, many fans exited the stadium, only for the game to eventually resume play. The stadium has also been criticized for its lack of fan noise. During a
Sunday Night Baseball telecast in 2012, commentator and former Red Sox
manager Terry Francona spoke about the different atmospheres in the old and new stadiums saying that "As a visiting team, especially for the Red Sox, by the time the (national) anthem was over, you couldn't wait to get back in the dugout. Now (there is) a little different (kind) of fan sitting around down there by the dugout." Games at the new stadium do not feature the same deafening crowd moments and often sound eerily silent. The lack of fan noise was noticeable in the 2012 playoffs as well, with thousands of unsold seats for Game 5 of the
ALDS and Games 1 and 2 of the
ALCS. "This is a very easy place to play now," said
Quintin Berry of the
Detroit Tigers, the Yankees' ALCS opponents. "Coming from
Oakland, the fans there were so rowdy. It was easier to come here." In his autobiography
The Closer, the Yankees' longtime relief pitcher
Mariano Rivera wrote about the new stadium's atmosphere: "It doesn't hold noise, or home-team fervor, anywhere near the way the old place did. The old Stadium was our 10th man—a loud and frenzied cauldron of pinstriped passion, with a lot of lifers in the stands. Maybe I'm wrong, but it's hard to see that the new place can ever quite duplicate that."
Derek Jeter echoed this sentiment in a September 2014 article in
New York magazine, in which he said he missed the original Yankee Stadium: "It was a different feel. The new stadium, its second to none—all the amenities. For the players, it really doesn't get any better. The old stadium, if you were at the stadium, in the stands, the only place you could see the game was in your seat. Now there's so many suites and places people can go. So a lot of times it looks like it's empty, but it's really not. The old stadium, it was more intimidating. The fans were right on top of you." Starting in 2017, the new stadium began to sound like the old stadium especially during the
2017 American League Championship Series against the
Houston Astros. In Game 4 specifically, the stadium was raucous and loud where the Yankees rallied and won 6–4. The crowd noise and atmosphere may have even caused an Astros miscue in the eighth inning. After the game, several Yankees commented on the crowd noise and the atmosphere it created. In a
New York Times article following the game,
CC Sabathia said "It felt like the old stadium tonight" and "This is as loud as I’ve ever heard it".
Aaron Judge said "Deafening, just deafening." He went on to say "You try to talk to the person next to you, but you can’t hear a thing. It was crazy."
Todd Frazier said "We still felt confident, and the crowd played a huge part in it." and
Brett Gardner, a Yankee since 2008, said "Tonight was about as loud as it gets."
Early propensity for home runs circles the bases after hitting his first home run of the 2022 season against the
Toronto Blue Jays In its first season, Yankee Stadium quickly acquired a reputation as a "bandbox" and a "launching pad" because of the high number of home runs hit at the new ballpark. Through its first 23 games, 87 home runs were hit at the venue, easily besting
Enron Field's (now called Daikin Park) previous record set in 2000. Early in the season, Yankee Stadium was on pace to break
Coors Field's 1999 single-season record of 303 home runs allowed, and the hometown
Daily News (using the back-page headline "
HOMERS ODYSSEY") started publishing a daily graphic comparing each stadium's home run totals through a similar number of games.
ESPN commentator
Peter Gammons denounced the new facility as "one of the biggest jokes in baseball" during an appearance on
Mike and Mike in the Morning, and concluded that "[it] was not a very well-planned ballpark".
Newsday columnist Wallace Matthews joined in the criticism, labeling the stadium "ridiculous" and accused "the franchise that took ownership of the home run" of cheapening it. He suggested that
Babe Ruth could have potentially hit 120 or more homers if he played in the new Stadium. For his column, Matthews interviewed former Yankee
Reggie Jackson, who termed the park "too small" to contain current player
Alex Rodriguez. Jackson estimated that the park might enable the third baseman to hit 75 home runs in a season. The franchise planned a second study, but Major League rules prohibit a team from making any changes to the playing field until the off-season. AccuWeather's analysis found that roughly 20% of the home runs hit at the new ballpark would not have been home runs at the old ballpark due to the gentle curve of its right field corner, and its wall height. but a new single-season record for most home runs hit at a Yankee home ballpark was nonetheless set in the Yankees' 73rd home game of 2009 when
Vladimir Guerrero of the
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim hit the 216th home run of the season at the venue, surpassing the previous record of 215 set at the original Yankee Stadium in 2005. However, the Yankees offense, as in previous years, had employed many home run hitters in 2009. The Yankees hit 108 home runs while playing on the road, the second most in baseball behind the
Philadelphia Phillies. In 2010, the early rate of home runs were markedly less through May 15, 2010, with 35 home runs hit in 14 games for 2.5 per game (a projection of 205—in 2009, the stadium finished at 2.93 per game for a total of 237). Even though the stadium's home run rate decreased slightly for the 2010 season to 2.73 per game, it was still the highest figure in the majors. However, the prolific home run rate of April and May 2009 that drew criticism has not sustained itself over any season thus far, and while through the first two months of the 2011 season the Yankees hit far more homers than any other team in the majors, Yankee Stadium was not the top home run park. ==Stadium firsts==