I started the Shaded Seats project back in 2019 with a single MLB ballpark. Since then, I’ve grown it to well over a hundred stadiums across the world. People sometimes ask how I can possibly know so much about so many venues. The answer is that I rely on a lot of tools to identify shade. OpenStreetMap is my go-to source for determining the exact compass orientation of stadiums. Time and Date is a great website for information about sunrise, sunset, and solar noon. SunCalc shows me the two-dimensional path of the sun throughout the day. And, of course, there are photos.
I’ve studied thousands of stadium photos over the past several years. I look at photos on Google, stock photo websites, Instagram, and elsewhere. I watch for sun and shade patterns during live sports broadcasts. I will take photos of my TV when I watch games and want to remember shade patterns. Having a visual representation of where shade lands is an incredibly powerful tool, but photos can lead you astray if you’re not careful.
Take a look at this photo of Memorial Stadium at the University of Illinois. As of today, it’s the main image on the stadium’s Wikipedia article. It clearly shows shaded seats on the left and sunny seats on the right. If you used this photo to choose shaded seats, you’d likely end up in the exact opposite spot of where you actually wanted.
The key piece of information you need when studying stadium photos is when the photo was taken, both the date and the time of day. If the metadata on Wikipedia is accurate, this photo of Memorial Stadium was taken around 8:30 AM in mid-August.
Solar noon in Champaign, Illinois, in mid-August is a few minutes before 1:00 PM. That means a photo taken first thing in the morning will show a reversed shade pattern compared to what you’d see during an afternoon game. I covered this phenomenon in my post about navigating morning games.
There are clues you can use to estimate when a photo was taken. For example, if the photo is from a specific game, you can usually search ESPN historic game data or check the team’s schedule archive to find out what time that game was played. Sometimes, however, there’s no easy way to know.
Many ticketing websites now include “view from this seat” photos or 3d renderings to help fans see what their view of the field will look like. These are great for understanding sightlines, but frustrating when it comes to figuring out shade. These photos almost never indicate when they were taken. Many are shot in the morning golden hour, likely because that’s when the venue is empty and has soft photogenic lighting.
Photos can be incredibly useful in identifying shady spots, but they’re just one of many tools you need for the job. Most importantly: if you can’t tell when a photo was taken, don’t put all your trust in it!
Baseball is a summer sport, and shade is a key consideration for many fans. Unlike major league teams which use a mix of indoor and outdoor ballparks, virtually all minor league clubs play in outdoor stadiums, even in places like Texas, Nevada, and other parts of the country known for extreme heat.
One of the most frequent questions people ask about this website is whether I’ve considered adding minor league venues. The short answer is yes! I’ve thought about it a lot. However, there are well over a hundred minor league ballparks, and potentially even more if you include independent leagues and collegiate summer leagues. Unfortunately, I just don’t have the resources to create individual guides for that many stadiums.
Instead, I want to teach you how I identify shade at ballparks so that no matter which minor league teams you like, you can find shade when you attend their next game. After that, I’ll share a real-life example of how I found shaded seats for my family and friends at a minor league game last summer.
There are four key variables to consider when researching a minor league ballpark:
Ballpark Orientation
Stadium Attributes
Time of Day
Day of the Year
Ballpark Orientation
Orientation is the most important factor when it comes to finding shade. Most minor league ballparks are oriented so that the batter faces northeast. There’s a common myth that all professional ballparks follow this exact orientation, but that simply isn’t true. Not even every MLB ballpark is aligned this way. That said, most professional parks are generally oriented toward the northeast, due east, or southeast.
Because the sun sets in the west and most games are scheduled in the afternoon or evening, the west side of a stadium is typically its shade side. When a ballpark is oriented to the northeast, the third base line is on the west; but when a ballpark is oriented to the southeast, the first base line is on the west.
Here’s an illustration using a random neighborhood park with two diamonds in the perfect configuration for this example. This shows the hour-by-hour position of the sun on July 1:
If both diamonds have bleachers set up behind the dugouts, the third base bleachers on the top field are the shaded seats, and the first base bleachers on the bottom field are the shaded seats.
The quickest and easiest way to determine a ballpark’s orientation is by using an online mapping tool. These tools typically default to a north-up orientation, so you just need to zoom in on the ballpark you’re researching to identify its alignment.
Here’s an example of Huntington Park in Columbus, Ohio, using OpenStreetMap. This ballpark is oriented to the southeast, meaning the first base side is the shaded side.
Stadium Attributes
One of the great things about baseball is that every ballpark is unique in some way. This applies not only to the player experience, such as the dimensions of the outfield walls or the location of the bullpens, but also to the fan experience. When evaluating a ballpark for shade, look for whether the stadium has a roof, overhangs, or tall structures nearby.
When I say “roof,” I don’t mean a retractable roof that covers the entire playing area. Some minor league ballparks have fixed roofs that extend over the seating areas, creating a barrier between fans and the elements while leaving the playing field completely open. Here’s an example of this type of roof at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which extends over several rows along both baselines and behind home plate:
D Guest Smith / Alamy Stock Photo
Larger stadiums may also have multiple tiers of seating. In some cases, the upper level overlaps with the lower level, placing the last few rows of the lower section under cover. These can be excellent places to find shade.
Also consider whether there are any tall structures nearby. Later in the day, tall structures can cast long shadows and create shade, even if the stadium itself has no roof or overhangs. For example, there may be a press box behind home plate or luxury suites built above the baselines that provide afternoon shade.
Time of day
Every day the sun rises in the east, moves across the sky, and sets in the west. There is more shade when the sun is lower in the sky (morning and evening) and less when it is higher (midday). Baseball games typically start during one of three time periods:
Early afternoon (noon – 3:00 PM)
Late afternoon (3:00 PM – 6:00 PM)
Evening (6:00 PM or later)
You’ll find the greatest number of shaded seats during evening games. Late afternoon games also offer more shaded seating than early afternoon games. At many ballparks, the only shaded seats during early afternoon games are those that are directly under cover, so you’ll need to research whether the ballpark you’re visiting has any.
For late afternoon games, you should be able to find shade on the stadium’s “shade side,” but you’re more likely to find it in seats that are farther from the field rather than those in the lower rows.
Time of year
Baseball is primarily a summer sport, but the season spans from spring through fall, and shade dynamics change along with the seasons. The reason is simple: the Earth’s tilt. In the summer, the U.S. is tilted toward the sun, making the sun appear higher in the sky. Sunlight also hits more directly, which makes it feel stronger and hotter.
As a result, shade is harder to find in June and July than in other months. These months also have the longest days (i.e., later sunsets), meaning the sun can still be a factor during late afternoon and even evening games.
Real Life Example
Last summer, I traveled to Michigan and attended a Traverse City Pit Spitters game at Turtle Creek Stadium. The game was in late July with a 5:05 PM scheduled first pitch.
The first thing I did was use OpenStreetMap to determine that Turtle Creek Stadium is oriented to the northeast, which means the 3rd base side is the “shade side.” Next, I used Google Images to review photos of the ballpark. Turtle Creek is a fairly simple venue with one level of seating and a structure housing premium suites and the press box that spans both the 1st and 3rd base lines. This was an important discovery because it meant the structure would cast a shadow and create some shade. However, since it’s not especially tall, I knew that seats farther from the field would get shaded before those closer to the action.
The game I chose to attend was in July, and with a late afternoon start time, I knew it would be bright for most of the game. Michigan is far west in the Eastern Time Zone, and sunset in Traverse City at that time of year isn’t until after 9:00 PM!
Finally, I pulled up the stadium seating chart to check ticket availability. I wanted to sit on the 3rd base side in a row far from the field. I found available seats in Section 106, which is behind home plate but slightly closer to 3rd base than to 1st. I chose seats in the second-to-last row, and enjoyed a shaded seat for the entire game.
By the later innings, the sun had dipped, and the entire 3rd base side was in the shade, while plenty of seats on the 1st base side were still in the sun.
Now try it yourself! Apply these principles to any minor league ballpark, and you should be able to identify the seats in the shade.
We’ve reached the midpoint of the MLB season, and if it feels like the temperature at the ballpark has been particularly high this year, you might be onto something! Due to a number of factors, the 2025 MLB season may go down in history as its hottest ever. Let’s run through the five reasons why.
1. Athletics Move to Sacramento
Last season, the A’s played their final game at the Oakland Coliseum. This spring, they moved north to Sutter Health Park in Sacramento. Their new home differs from the Coliseum in many ways, and one change both players and fans have definitely noticed is that the games are a lot hotter. Sacramento is simply a hotter city than Oakland.
The Bay Area has a unique microclimate, with mild winters and cool summers. The warmest month on average is actually September. Sacramento, on the other hand, experiences more of a four-season climate. The average daily high in Sacramento in July is a full 20 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than in Oakland!
2. Rays Play Outdoors
The Rays joined MLB as an expansion franchise over 25 years ago and, during that time, only played outdoors during road series. Love it or hate it, Tropicana Field offers a climate-controlled indoor environment where the Rays never had to worry about heat, rain, or thunderstorms.
Unfortunately, in October 2024, Hurricane Milton caused substantial damage to the roof at Tropicana Field. Through no fault of their own, the Rays had to find a new home field fast. They struck an agreement with the Yankees to play at Steinbrenner Field, a venue primarily used for spring training and minor league games.
Steinbrenner Stadium has relatively little relief from the sun. Matt May / Alamy Stock Photo
I’m sure Steinbrenner Field is a great place to catch a spring training game in February or March. Fans love flying down to Florida to take in a game on a warm, sunny day while snow covers the ground back home. However, it’s a different story in June, July, and August, when temperatures can easily exceed 90°F and the humidity is oppressive.
MLB has tried to mitigate the issue by concentrating the Rays’ home games at the beginning and end of the season, but there are still games scheduled in July and August. 2025 may be the only season the Rays play outdoors if the Trop is repaired soon, and if so, it will certainly be remembered as a hot one.
3. Earlier Evening Start Times
MLB team schedules include a mix of early afternoon, late afternoon and evening games. In pre-Covid times, these were typically around 1:00, 4:00, and 7:00 PM. Some teams started at incremental times like 1:35 or 4:05 or 7:15 PM but these were the three typical windows for baseball.
In recent years, MLB has made several changes to speed up games and make baseball more exciting. Many of the “pace of play” rules have worked, and games are notably faster than when they peaked in 2021.
Teams have also started moving up evening game times to make them more family-friendly and allow fans to see the entire game without staying out too late. Take the Washington Nationals, for example: in 2019 (the year they won the World Series), evening games started at 7:05 PM. With an average game length of 3 hours and 10 minutes, fans weren’t leaving the ballpark until around 10:15 PM.
In 2024, by contrast, Nationals games started at 6:45 PM, and the average game lasted 2 hours and 36 minutes. That means a full game wrapped up around 9:21 PM, nearly an hour earlier. That’s a big improvement for families bringing kids to the park or anyone who has work the next morning.
However, the downside is that earlier start times mean more of the game is played under the sun. Sunset in Washington, D.C., in June and July isn’t until after 8:30 PM, so more than half the game may be played before the sun goes down. And it’s not just the Nationals: in 2025, the Rockies have 37 home games at 6:40 PM, the Royals have 36 at 6:40 PM, and the Phillies have 32 at 6:45 PM, just to name a few.
4. Global Climate Trends
Last week, the United States experienced a major heat wave as a heat dome brought oppressive temperatures to many cities. On June 24, 2025, nearly every city hosting an MLB game experienced at least a minor heat advisory.
Global climate trends suggest we should expect more, longer and hotter heave waves. It doesn’t mean every game will be a scorcher, but it does mean we’ll likely see more games played in extreme heat more often, and earlier and later in the season than in years past.
5. Aging Ballpark Infrastructure
The Athletics and Rays have both moved to hotter ballparks this season, but not long ago the Texas Rangers went in the opposite direction. They transitioned from one of the hottest venues in baseball to a modern, climate-controlled stadium. If the A’s eventually move to Las Vegas, they could become the next team to play indoors.
The Arizona Diamondbacks already play indoors, but the climate control at Chase Field has struggled recently. Built nearly three decades ago, Chase Field was designed for a Phoenix that simply wasn’t as consistently hot as it is today. In 2023, Phoenix recorded a staggering 113 consecutive days of temperatures at or above 100°F. The HVAC systems at Chase Field are aging and unable to keep up with current demands. Even players have complained about warm, muggy conditions affecting their health and performance on the field.
Chase Field is scheduled to receive significant upgrades, including improvements to the HVAC system. But Houston and Miami, two other cities with retractable roof ballparks, are also seeing their stadiums age. Time will tell whether those venues experience the same issues as Phoenix has.
Most professional sports are scheduled to start in the afternoon or evening. Morning start times are rare, but not unheard of. In the 2025 MLB season, there are eight games with a scheduled first pitch before noon. Eight is admittedly a tiny fraction of the 2,430 regular-season games scheduled across the league, but if you’re seeking out shaded seats, these morning starts can really trip you up!
In short, the “shade side” of the stadium flips for morning events. For baseball, that typically means if the 3rd base side is typically shaded, during a morning game, the 1st base side receives the most shade. Similarly, in a soccer stadium, if the west side is typically shaded for afternoon or evening matches, the east side is the shade side for morning matches.
The Washington Nationals have a tradition to play a home game at 11:05 a.m. every year on the 4th of July. The 3rd base side of Nationals Park is typically the shade side but the opposite is true on Independence Day.
At 11:00 AM on the 4th of July at Nationals Park seats in the right field mezzanine and terrace are shaded. This is one of the only games when shade is abundant in these sections.
The reason this happens is because the sun rises in the east, arcs across the sky, and sets in the west. Think of the sun’s daily journey in two phases: rising and setting. “Solar noon” marks the midpoint, when the sun is at its highest point in the sky and transitions from rising to setting.
In summer, solar noon typically occurs between 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m., though the exact timing depends on the city’s location within its time zone and the specific day of the year. You can use the excellent Time and Date website to look up the solar noon (which they refer to as “meridian”) for any place on any given date.
In addition to the few MLB games scheduled in the morning, college sports occasionally start before noon. Tournament-style events, like tennis Grand Slams, also feature morning matches due to the need to schedule numerous matches within a limited timeframe. The same situation happens at major events like the Olympics, where many sports must fit into a condensed schedule.
Imagine you’re interested in tickets at Louis Armstrong Stadium for the upcoming US Open. Typically, the west side of the stadium is the “shade side.” However, the first match of the day begins at 11 a.m., nearly two hours before solar noon in late August in Queens, flipping the usual shade pattern. If you plan to spend the entire day watching matches at Armstrong, it might still be preferable to select a seat on the west sideline and tolerate some sun during the initial match to maximize shade coverage for the remainder of your day.
Shade is abundant on the east side of the stadium before solar noon, but a few hours later it flips and the west side is shaded.
Remember, the shade side flips for morning events, so plan your seats carefully. Knowing this trick is the key to finding the shade.
One of the most common misconceptions among sports fans when shopping for seats is assuming that a covered seat automatically provides shade. It might! But it also might not.
Covered seats offer shade when the sun is positioned above or behind them. However, if the sun is shining directly from the front, a covered seat may still be fully exposed.
Take a look at these seats. They are several rows deep under cover, yet they are far from shaded when the sun shines directly toward them in the late afternoon.
For a late afternoon or evening game at this ballpark, fans looking for shade are actually better off in uncovered seats along the third-base line rather than in covered seats like these on the first-base side.
Why Covered Seats Don’t Always Provide Shade
The reason covered seats aren’t always shaded is that the sun’s position is constantly changing throughout the day. It rises in the east and sets in the west, reaching its highest point around noon or 1:00 PM. At this peak, overhead cover can be one of the best ways to block the sun.
Think of it like setting up a large beach umbrella. When the sun is directly overhead, standing under the umbrella provides plenty of quality shade.
Early in the morning or late in the afternoon, the sun’s lower angle allows rays to sneak through, leaving you exposed even if you are standing under the umbrella.
Covered Seats vs. Shaded Seats on Ticketing Websites
Many ticketing vendors like Ticketmaster and SeatGeek now include details for some stadiums about whether a seat is covered, which can be helpful. Covered seats provide protection from rain and can give you an idea of what type of gametime view to expect.
However, cover is a simple yes-or-no detail. Either a seat is covered or it is not. Shade, on the other hand, is variable because it depends on several factors:
Time of day
Day of year
Direction the seats are facing
Other nearby structures
That’s why we have created over 100 stadium guides designed to help you make an informed choice and find a shaded seat!
SeatGeek is the official ticket marketplace of Major League Baseball. It is officially supported by the MLB Ballpark app and works seamlessly with your existing MLB account. SeatGeek is used by season ticket holders, which makes it the best way to access a large inventory of tickets and sometimes even find a great deal. Just a heads up – we receive a commission, at no cost to you, when you use our links and purchase tickets through SeatGeek, and you can learn about how that works in our disclosure.
Season Ticket Holders List on SeatGeek
A full MLB season ticket holder gets access to 81 home games. For many fans, that’s too many games to personally attend. Whether it’s a work trip, a kid’s little league game, or the flu, sometimes life gets in the way of baseball. Rather than let the tickets go to waste, season ticket holders list their seats on SeatGeek to recoup some of their money and give someone else access to their seats. In many cases, they’re willing to accept less than what they paid because the alternative is getting nothing and having the ticket go to waste.
Access to Tickets Not Available via the Box Office
MLB teams reward season ticket holders with the best seats in the house. If you want to sit directly behind home plate or behind the home dugout, you probably can’t walk up to the stadium Box Office and buy those seats. When you buy single-game tickets directly from the team, you only have access to seats that aren’t already sold or assigned to season ticket holders. On SeatGeek, you can often access a larger ticket inventory.
Here’s an example for an Atlanta Braves home game at Truist Park. Ticketmaster operates the Box Office for the Braves, and as you can see the best seats are already sold out, as are nearly all the seats on the shade side (1st base side) of the ballpark. If you buy direct from the Box Office you would be stuck in the nosebleeds on the sunny side of the park. SeatGeek, on the other hand, has much more inventory including premium seats and shaded seats.
Comparison of ticket availability for the Braves vs. Rangers game on April 19, 2024.
Deals for Lower Demand Games
The truth is, some games are simply in lower demand than others. The example above is for a weekend game against the defending World Series champion. However, weekday games tend to be in lower demand than weekend games. Games against opposing teams with smaller fan bases, like the Marlins, are in lower demand than games against teams with large fan bases, like the Cubs. And of course, the strength of the opponent matters too. Lots of people want to see a team loaded with superstars but are less interested in a team in its rebuilding phase. For all these reasons, you can often find great deals on SeatGeek for games in lower demand.
Is SeatGeek Legit?
There’s no stronger endorsement than the fact that SeatGeek became the official ticket marketplace of MLB in 2023. SeatGeek isn’t just an MLB ticket vendor. They sell tickets to all major sports and concerts. They’ve been around since 2009. This isn’t a fly-by-night operation.
If you’re still on edge you can click or tap here to read SeatGeek’s buyer guarantee. Put simply, if you have issues with your ticket, they will offer comparable or better tickets to the event or a full refund. We have personally purchased many MLB tickets on SeatGeek and never had to fall back on the guarantee.
Does SeatGeek Charge Fees?
Yes. Of course, they do! Every ticket platform on the internet charges fees – that’s how they stay in business. Yes, some ticket platforms advertise on social media that they don’t charge fees; but look into it. All they’re doing is rolling the fees into the advertised price, so what you pay in the end is basically the same (or more!).
What’s great about SeatGeek is the “all-in” price transparency. SeatGeek gives you the ability to toggle on “Price including fees” and see the final price of tickets side-by-side. That’s awesome because if you find an awesome shaded seat for $50, when you get to the checkout it actually costs $50.
In our opinion, there is nothing more infuriating than ticket platforms that hide the fees until the very last step of the checkout or don’t give the ability to toggle on all-in prices. They hope that once you’ve committed to typing in your contact info and billing info that you’re not going to back out once you see the final price. We don’t like that practice and can’t recommend platforms that behave this way.
