Football announcers often mention a player – usually a running back – moving the ball no

Football announcers often mention a player – usually a running back – moving the ball north-south (toward the end zones) or east-west (toward the sidelines). But this is done in the field’s frame of reference, not based on any sort of geographic orientation.

As it turns out, of the 31 NFL stadiums in use, only four (Packers, Broncos, Seahawks, and Buccaneers) are perfectly aligned along a north-south axis (e.g., the sideline or an imaginary line connecting the goalposts would point north-south). Two more are within 5° of north-south (Texans and Bears), and an additional three are within 15° (Rams, Giants/Jets, and Eagles).  Two are perfectly oriented along an east-west axis (Falcons and Vikings).

Of course, there is no rule in football regarding the orientation of the field. Players might say they prefer north-south because of where the sun might be at game time, or what the direction of the prevailing winds is. But most stadiums are often built to fit the available space, which can predetermine the orientation of the field, and for domes, none of the outdoor factors is relevant.

To generate this graph, all azimuths were measured as degrees clockwise from north using Google Earth. For covered stadiums, where the field is not visible from an aerial view, I used seating charts as a supplement. Azimuths were grouped using 10° bins (e.g., 85° to 95°) and then plotted in both directions (e.g., 30° was also plotted as 210°, as fields don’t point in just one direction) so that the graph would have 180° rotational symmetry.

Data source: Google Earth