LOS ANGELES, CA — A new analysis by Parksy, a free parking marketplace, has quantified what many sports fans already suspect: parking near America's biggest stadiums and arenas is wildly uneven, with urban venues offering thousands of options while their suburban counterparts have only a handful. The company counted its listed parking spaces within five miles of twelve major venues, revealing a structural split that impacts event-goers, residents, and the parking industry alike.
The numbers are striking. Madison Square Garden in New York City leads with 1,986 listed parking options, followed by Soldier Field in Chicago with 1,583 and Fenway Park in Boston with 587. In contrast, suburban venues lag far behind: AT&T Stadium near Dallas has 107, Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas has 96, MetLife Stadium in New Jersey has 58, and Hard Rock Stadium in Miami has a mere 18. SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles falls in the middle with 277 options, out of more than 32,000 total spaces listed on Parksy nationwide.
According to Parksy founder Daniel Battaglia, the pattern is not a coincidence but a reflection of urban versus suburban design. "A downtown arena inherits the garages and lots of the city around it," he said. "A suburban stadium sits ringed by residential streets with almost nothing listed in between." The missing supply, he argues, is already built: the driveways and unused spots of homeowners living near these venues. Parksy allows these individuals to list their spaces for free, with no posting fee, no commission, and no lease paperwork. Owners set their own prices, keep all revenue, and choose their availability.
The implications for event attendees are significant. At suburban venues like Hard Rock Stadium, the scarcity of listed options means fans often face limited official parking, higher prices, and longer walks. The data suggests that the existing residential infrastructure could alleviate these issues if more homeowners participated. "Demand arrives eighty thousand cars at a time and supply is whatever the official lot holds," Battaglia noted. "The difference is standing on residential concrete twenty feet from the sidewalk. That is not a shortage of parking. It is a shortage of introductions."
For the broader industry, this analysis highlights a growing trend toward peer-to-peer parking platforms. Parksy, which operates across 57 countries, offers additional tools such as an AI-powered fine appeal calculator, signage scanner, and car locator. The company was founded in 2011 by Battaglia and is headquartered in Sydney, Australia. As more venues and cities grapple with parking congestion, the role of residential spaces in supplementing official capacity may become increasingly important. The data from Parksy underscores that the infrastructure for a more efficient parking ecosystem already exists—it just needs to be connected.
