Few leagues across North American professional sports have blossomed the way that the MLS has this century, with the professional soccer league going from 10 original clubs in 1996 to 29 clubs ahead of the 2024 season.
One of the MLS’ newer clubs is Nashville SC, which began play in the Music City in 2020, with the franchise finishing third in the Western Conference league table in 2021, while finishing fifth in 2022 and fourth in 2023.
Nashville’s association football attendance has climbed alongside the franchise’s success rate on the pitch, going from averaging 12,925 fans per match in their first MLS season in 2020 to 28,604 per match in 2023 at Geodis Park, which is located inside the Nashville Fairgrounds.
BetTennessee.com paused our Tennessee sports betting coverage and created a ranking system to find the safest NBA stadiums for spectators. We created a ranking system that factors in the crime rating, total crime index, fanbase ranking, and crime grade. All metrics are based on the exact city and zip code of each team’s stadium or arena.
Ranking Most Unsafe MLS Stadiums
Rank | Team | Total Score |
|---|---|---|
1 | St. Louis City SC | 158.10 |
2 | Houston Dynamo FC | 122.34 |
3 | Portland Timbers | 115.04 |
4 | Seattle Sounders FC | 106.73 |
5 | Philadelphia Union | 100.40 |
6 | Colorado Rapids | 91.35 |
7 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 90.93 |
8 | Nashville SC | 90.60 |
9 | Orlando City FC | 90.54 |
10 | Minnesota United FC | 88.61 |
11 | D.C. United | 88.29 |
12 | Chicago Fire FC | 87.15 |
13 | Inter Miami CF | 86.26 |
14 | FC Cincinnati | 85.34 |
Note: Neighborhoodscout.com was used to find the violent crime and total crime index; PesStatsDatabase.com was used to find the fan behavior ranking; CrimeGrade.org was used to find the crime grades. The lower the score, the safer the stadium.
Where Geodis Park Ranks Among MLS’ Least Safe Stadiums
Across the league, Nashville SC’s home grounds have the eighth worst safety score of any home pitch in the MLS, with a score of 90.60 putting the club between No. 7 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (90.93) and No. 9 Orlando City FC (90.54).
Leaguewide, the least safe stadiums were St. Louis City SC’s CityPark (158.10), while the Houston Dynamo FC’s Shell Energy Stadium was second overall at 122.34 and the Portland Timbers’ Providence Park was third at 115.04.
Throw in Lumen Field (home of the Seattle Sounders) at 100.40 and the Philadelphia Union’s Subaru Park at 100.40 and you have the full MLS top five when it comes to the least safe grounds overall.
While Nashville SC may have long MLS Cup odds (with the club listed at +6600 on Bet365 Tennessee), at least the Music City can rest easy knowing their home soccer grounds are far from the least safe in the 29-team league.
