Ranking the Most Dangerous NFL Stadiums: M&T Bank Stadium, Lincoln Financial Field Top the List

Anyone who’s been to an NFL game knows the atmosphere can get wild. Fans live and die with every snap, and the highs for one side usually mean lows for the other. Add in a few beers and you’ve got the makings of a classic Sunday scene – until things cross the line.

Feeling safe is a huge part of enjoying the game, but not every fan has that luxury. In a recent poll of more than 3,000 NFL fans, nearly one in four said they’ve either witnessed or experienced harassment, theft, vandalism, or even violence in or around a stadium.

It’s not something you want to think about heading to the game or tailgating after it, but it’s reality. We pulled crime stats from every stadium’s home city and combined them with fan responses to see which venues carry the roughest reputations. Here’s what we found about the most dangerous NFL stadiums.

Key Takeaways 🏈

• M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore sees overall crime rates more than five times the national average
• Minnesota's U.S. Bank Stadium ranks No. 3 on the list despite a 29% year-over-year drop in total crime
• Buffalo's Highmark Stadium is the NFL's safest stadium as it prepares to close at the end of the 2025 season
• Sportsbook Review survey reveals: Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field is the stadium fans consider the least safe
• Disorderly conduct and verbal harassment are the most common crimes NFL fans witness or experience
• Women are nearly split on whether they feel safe attending an NFL game alone

Which NFL Stadium is the Most Dangerous?

The NFL's most dangerous stadiums

M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens, is the unchallenged leader as the NFL's most dangerous venue, with a staggering 14,019 crimes per 100,000 people. Not only is that nearly 5,000 crimes per 100,000 higher than the next closest stadium, it's also a whopping 514.6% above the national average.

The vicinity of M&T Bank Stadium has seen an overwhelming rash of criminal activity, with incidences of robbery coming in at 20 times the national average and vehicle theft at more than 1,200% higher than the nationwide standard. Overall crime near the Ravens' home digs has jumped more than 232 percent from a year earlier.

Empower Field at Mile High, home of the Denver Broncos, retains its second place in the rankings (9,067). While fans in the vicinity are much likely to be the victims of a robbery, overall theft is quite high (4,056 per 100,000) and only M&T Bank Stadium has seen more incidences of assault (1,424.3).

U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, home of the Vikings, drops from first to third in the most dangerous NFL stadium rankings (8,877), thanks to an incredible 29.1% drop in total crime year-over-year. Granted, you're still in danger of having your car stolen (U.S. Bank Stadium ranks second in vehicle theft), but the majority of major crime stats have taken a significant dive here.

NRG Stadium falls one spot to No. 3 (8,775); the home of the Houston Texans saw a modest 2% climb in overall crime over a 12-month period, and owns the distinction of having the most incidences of theft of any NFL stadium (4,969.8 per 100,000). NRG Stadium's occurrences of assault (917.8) are also quite high compared with the league average.

The home of the Kansas City Chiefs rounds out the top five most dangerous stadiums in the NFL. Arrowhead Stadium (7,780) drops one spot despite seeing a 22.2% increase in overall crime from the same span a year ago. Violent crime (1,794) is of particular concern for Chiefs and visiting fans alike, with Arrowhead Stadium ranked third overall in that metric.

The NFL's safest stadiums

While there's no geographical connection between the five most dangerous NFL stadiums, a clear pattern emerges when we scour the other end of the list.

Northeastern neighbors New York and Massachusetts combine to occupy the bottom three spots in the NFL most dangerous stadiums table, with the Buffalo Bills' venue – for one more season, anyhow – earning the honor of being the safest venue in the league.

Highmark Stadium saw just 884 criminal incidences per 100,000 people in 2024; for context, all but two teams saw more thefts alone last year. The venue's 61.7 burglaries per 100,000 are by far the fewest in the league, and Highmark Stadium also saw a 16 percent drop in total crime from a year earlier.

The division-rival New England Patriots play in the second safest building in the league, with Gillette Stadium coming in at 911 incidences of crime per 100,000. You won't find a better place to park your vehicle (64.7 thefts per 100,000), and Gillette Stadium's robbery tally of 5.4 is the lowest by a significant margin.

MetLife Stadium, which hosts both the New York Giants and New York Jets, ranks a distant third on the list of least dangerous NFL stadiums (1,738). The venue's violent crime frequency (113 per 100,000) is easily the best among NFL venues, and it also ranks near the bottom in burglaries and vehicle thefts.

NFL stadium crime rates vs. national / league averages

Key comparison trends

• With a crime rate more than five times the national average, M&T Bank Stadium isn't just the most dangerous NFL stadium – it's one of the most unsafe sports venues on the planet.
• It likely doesn't bode well for the NFL that 22 of its 30 venues come in above the national average in terms of total crime.
• SoFi Stadium, home to both Los Angeles-based NFL teams, is the most "average" venue with regard to crime, at 98% of the national average and 4.5% above the league standard.
• Only six NFL venues come in at both 10% or more below the national crime average and 50% or more below the league mark.

NFL stadium safety survey: Eagles' home the worst in the league

The defending Super Bowl champions might have the respect of their peers, but their home stadium has instilled genuine fear and concern in the hearts of visiting fans.

Sportsbook Review commissioned a survey of more than 5,000 NFL fans to get their thoughts on the perception of safety at each of the league's 30 venues. Here is how they responded:

Which teams' stadium do you believe is least safe for fans?

It isn't just that Lincoln Financial Field tops this question – it's that the gap between the Eagles' home field and the rest of the league is so substantial. No other team finished with even half the number of votes the Linc received, with the Raiders' Allegiant Stadium a rather distant second.

Carolina's Bank of America Stadium might rank near the middle of the pack in actual crime statistics, but fans around the league consider it the safest place to watch a football game. The Panthers were one of 12 NFL teams to average 70,000 fans per home game in 2024 despite going just 5-12.

Which teams' stadium do you believe is least safe for women?

Another decisive result for the Linc, with more than 3 in 10 respondents choosing Philadelphia's home turf as the most dangerous NFL stadium for women. It's no surprise to see M&T Bank Stadium rank second on this list, while the Raiders' digs once again appear prominently in the survey.

Here's a prime example of perception not lining up with reality. While the crime data suggests that the Vikings' home stadium is among the most dangerous in the league, survey participants have gone in the other direction by suggesting that U.S. Bank Stadium is the least dangerous environment for women NFL fans.

Which teams' stadium do you believe is least safe for children/families?

It's another clean sweep for stadiums in Philadelphia, Las Vegas and Baltimore. We also see Chicago's Solider Field and Detroit's Ford Field; both stadiums also rank inside the top five when it comes to the venues considered least safe for women.

The Colts didn't fare well in the overall crime statistics, with Lucas Oil Stadium ranked as the 10th most dangerous venue in the NFL. But that hasn't deterred the voting public from declaring the cavernous den as the top spot in the league when it comes to creating a safe environment for children and families.

In which stadium would you feel least safe wearing rival team gear?

If our fan respondents are to be believed, visitors to the Linc had best leave their team swag at home. No stadium comes close to producing the same level of intimidation when it comes to opposing fans and their show of support. Dallas places a surprising second on the list, followed by repeat offenders Las Vegas, Baltimore and Chicago.

Are you really the least at risk to wear those rival colors in Indianapolis? No one can say for sure – but our survey participants certainly feel that way, with Lucas Oil Stadium the only NFL venue to draw fewer than 100 votes. Jacksonville's EverBank Stadium isn't a surprise in the No. 31 spot, given that it ranked as the eighth-safest venue in the league.

Survey respondents: Harassment, disorderly conduct most prevalent

Among the one in four survey respondents who reported either witnessing a criminal act or being victimized themselves at an NFL stadium, we asked which incidences were most common (participants were asked to provide more than one response for each question where applicable):

What type(s) of crimes did you witness?

Among fans who reported seeing or experiencing a crime at an NFL stadium, two types of behavior stood out well above the rest. Disorderly conduct and verbal harassment both accounted for nearly two-thirds of all incidents, with physical violence not far behind. Theft and drug activity were less common, while sexual harassment registered with more than 1 in 10 witnesses.

What type(s) of crimes did you experience?

When it came to direct victimization, verbal harassment was by far the most common offense, followed closely by disorderly conduct. More than a quarter of victims said they had experienced physical violence, while theft and drug activity also made the list. Nearly 10% of respondents said they had been subject to sexual harassment inside or around an NFL venue.

Did stadium security/police respond effectively to the incident?

Fan opinions on security response were split. Roughly 4 in 10 said police or stadium security handled the situation quickly and professionally, but another third reported slow or ineffective responses. A combined 28% said there was either no response at all, or no security presence to begin with – a concerning stat for venues already battling reputations for fan misconduct.

Other NFL stadium safety survey results

• Female fans’ own perspective: Women themselves were evenly split, with just under 40% saying they feel safe attending alone and more than a third saying they do not.

• Women attending alone: About 60% of respondents believe it’s safe for a woman to attend a game solo, though nearly 1 in 5 said it isn’t.

• Leaving women outside stadiums: More than a third of fans said they would not feel comfortable leaving a woman alone outside their team’s stadium.

• Safety measures: Nearly 6 in 10 fans said a stronger police presence would make them feel safer, with fan behavior enforcement close behind.

• Responsibility for safety: Four in 10 believe safety should be a shared responsibility across all parties, though stadium security was singled out as the top individual group.

Methodology

We collected crime rate statistics from the following sites:

Crime Maps FAQs | Neighborhood Scout Crime Data | City-Data.com | AreaVibes

For the survey, we polled 5,038 self-identifying NFL fans broken down as such: