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.
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.
Remember, the shade side flips for morning events, so plan your seats carefully. Knowing this trick is the key to finding the shade.