The Best U.S. Stadiums With Nearby Public Transit
By
Richard Janvrin
Contributor Updated: 08 January 2025
Richard Janvrin Contributor
Richard has been writing about sports since he was a teenager. Still, his first professional role came in 2015, covering all things NFL and fantasy football-related. From there, in December 2018, he started in the sports betting industry, covering sportsbook reviews before arriving to where he is today.
The Best U.S. Stadiums
There are well over 100 professional sports teams throughout the United States, and generally speaking, these stadiums are in high-traffic areas that aren’t always conducive to driving, parking, getting out, and walking in.
While that’s my ideal stadium, it’s just not the case in many major cities.
Thus, going to an arena or stadium with good transit to take the burden off of finding somewhere to park at an egregious rate and far away from the stadium can be vital.
It can get really bad if you’re in a major city with limited public transit, which makes it even more difficult to get inside the stadium.
Here, though, I’m focusing on the areas that do it right and make taking public transportation easy.
Below is the best of the best for stadium public transit.
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden is home to the New York Knicks of the NBA, the New York Rangers in the NHL, and also the St. John’s college basketball team.
Madison Square Garden was also responsible for the first-ever artificial ice rink. It was built in 1879.
Madison Square Garden is located right above Penn Station, making it incredibly easy to get to the stadium by public transportation.
According to MTA, there are multiple transportation options for sporting events.
- Option 1: Take the subway. You can take multiple lines and get off at 34 St-Penn Station, which is below the place. Additionally, you can take other lines to 34 St-Herald Square, which is also nearby. After exiting the station, you’ll walk one block west Seventh Avenue. This costs about $2.90 per person.
- Option 2: All Long Island Rail Road branches connect directly to Penn Station. After exiting, follow the signs to go right to Madison Square Garden. The fare depends on where your origin point begins.
- Option 3: You can also take the bus. You can take multiple routes to stop near Madison Square Garden. This costs $2.90 per person.
You can also look at the MTA website to see the service status of these various lines.
Barclays Center
Barclay’s Center is one of the newest arenas, breaking ground in 2010 and opening in 2012. It cost about $1 billion to build and is home to the Brooklyn Nets of the NBA.
Madison Square Garden isn’t that far from Barclay’s Center—about five miles or so—but it can take upward of 30 minutes to drive there.
Once again, like MSG, you can get to Barclay’s Center via the subway and Long Island Rail Road.
With the subway, you can get there in numerous ways to Atlantic Terminal-Barclays Center Station. You can also take a path to Lafayette Avenue Station or Fulton Street Station.
For the Long Island Rail Road, Barclay’s Center coordinates with the MTTA and LIRR subway/rail service.
Barclay’s Center/Atlantic Terminal is a mere 20 minutes from Jamaica Station.
With Atlantic Terminal, this can be used up until about 2 am.
Fenway Park
Fenway Park is home to the Boston Red Sox in the MLB and is the oldest stadium in the league. It opened in 1912 and was built for $650,000 at the time.
It was also the site of Franklin Roosevelt’s final campaign speech before the 1944 Presidential election.
While there isn’t a way to take stadium public transit right under Fenway Park like you can with Madison Square Garden or TD Garden (spoiler alert), getting to Fenway via public transportation makes for a short walk after you get a shuttle to the game.
In Boston, the “T” public transportation system has multiple routes.
With the Green Line, here’s the ETA depending on where you start from to get to Kenmore.
- From North Station: 20 minutes
- From Haymarket: 17 minutes
- From Government Center: 15 minutes
- From Park St: 12 minutes
- From Boylston: 11 minutes
Now, if you’re not near a Green line, you can take these paths:
- If Red Line, get off at Park Street.
- If Orange Line, get off at Downtown Crossing and follow signs for Winter St. Concourse to Park St.
- If Blue Line, get off at State Street, go to Orange Line toward Forest Hills, get off at Downtown Crossing, and follow signs to Winter St. Concourse to Park St.
There are several other paths, including the Silver Line.
If you need assistance, you can check out the MBTA trip planner.
You need a CharlieCard or CharlieTicket to take the T, which costs about $2.40 per one-way trip.
From Kenmore, it’s about a six-minute walk to Fenway, and you can stay on one side of the road the whole time.
TD Garden
Formerly known as the FleetCenter, the TD Garden name arrived in 2005. It was technically known as “TD Banknorth Garden” through 2009, but is now known as the TD Garden. It’s home to the Boston Bruins in the NHL and Boston Celtics in the NBA. It also played home to the Connecticut Sun in the WNBA in 2024.
To get to the TD Garden, it’s quite easy. You can take the Commuter Rail or T directly into the arena.
There are 13 Commuter Rail locations in and around Boston, and the Green Line has 70 options.
Upon getting off at the Commuter Rail or Green Line, you go through a set of doors, and you’re immediately inside the TD Garden. You can hit up a Dunkin’ Donuts before heading off into the game. You can also check out online sportsbooks in Massachusetts to make the game even more exciting.
In a way, the T when going to the TD Garden are like stadium trains as you enter the building.
There’s a fair amount of seating while you’re waiting for stadium public transit to leave.
Additionally, there are multiple paths, like with Fenway Park, to take the Green Line, whether you start at the Orange, Blue, or Red Line.
Wrigley Field
Wrigley Fields is the second-oldest MLB stadium, opening in 1914. It’s home to the Chicago Cubs.
It’s been the site of numerous historic MLB events, including Kerry Wood’s 20 strikeouts, Tom Glavine getting his 300th win, and has played host to three All-Star Games.
There are several transportation hubs. These include LaSalle St. Station, Midway Airport, Ogilvie Transportation Center, O’Hare Airport, and Union Station.
Here’s how to get to Wrigley with sporting events transportation from various locations: LaSalle St. Station, Midway Airport, Ogilvie Transportation Center, O’Hare Airport, and Union Station. Check Cubs.com for exact routes.
Using the Chicago Transit Authority, it’s about $2 per ride. You can get directly to Wrigley Field to enjoy the most legendary and oldest baseball stadium still standing.
And yes, you can do online betting in Illinois, including for Cubs games.
