Progressive Field Overview

If all you know about seeing baseball in Cleveland is Jake Taylor, Wild Thing, and Willie Mayes Hayes, then you’re way overdue for a visit to Progressive Field. This incredibly underrated ballpark serves as a central hub to all that is Cleveland – from local cuisine to a rabid fanbase that never wavered through 52 years without a professional championship. But don’t let the often-dubious quality of Cleveland’s teams confuse you: this is a great fanbase, and Progressive Field is a very solid ballpark.

And if you’ve been here before, you should think about coming again, because the Guardians spent the 2023-24 offseason renovating the entire upper deck of the stadium, creating social spaces and new seating products that will completely change the upstairs experience. We don’t need new ballparks around here – we can take the awesome ballpark we already have and keep making it better!

Want to get pumped about coming to Cleveland? The gang from the Drew Carey Show did it best.

Our five-part guide to Progressive Field will help you plan the perfect trip to see baseball in Cleveland. We’ll cover:

1. Travel: Getting to Cleveland
2. Lodging: Where to stay
3. Local Transit: How to get to Progressive Field 
4. Tickets/Seating: Where to sit, how to buy, and whether to opt for premium seating
5. Gameday: What to do before, during, and after the game

We hope you enjoy our Progressive Field Insider guide. Please be sure to sign up for our free daily newsletter to keep informed about events, schedules, onsales, ticket deals, and everything else you need to know to plan the best fan experiences.

Why you should visit Progressive Field

How many games should you see?

You might be surprised to hear it, but we say you could do three games at Progressive Field and not repeat the same experience. One game you could do 4th Street for pregame, and then grab a lower level seat for the game. The next day you could tour the ballpark before the game, and then go hang out in the new and improved upper deck, or in the outfield district where the party is. And the third game you could grab an all-you-can-eat ticket in the Discount Drug Mart Club, get into the ballpark early, and stuff your face. Three totally different experiences, one ballpark. And none of that even mentions how much there is to do in Cleveland itself. 

But if you’ve only got time for two games, that’s fine. We’ll tell you in our Seating and Gameday chapters what to prioritize.

When should you go to Progressive Field?

We won’t sugarcoat it: baseball in March, April, and even the first part of May can be sort of miserable in Northeast Ohio without your jackets, hand warmers, and knit caps. But on the flip side, if you like having some extra elbow room, enjoy more manageable crowds, or are at the mercy of the baseball scheduling gods to see your favorite team, an extra layer of clothes and a cold beer (or hot chocolate/coffee) will undoubtedly get you through.

But, if you do have a choice of when to visit, we’d suggest sometime between mid-May through mid-September. That’s when Cleveland sheds its gray skies and cold Lake Erie air for downright amazing summer weather.

Where is Progressive Field located?

Progressive Field is pretty much the anchor of this city, sitting right downtown, next door to Rocket Mortgage Field House (home of the Cavaliers), and just down the street from Playhouse Square, the second-largest performing arts complex in the country. And the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Cleveland Browns stadium are just a mile away as well. Almost everything you might want to do in Cleveland is right downtown, 15-30 minutes walking distance from pretty much any starting point.

If you’re staying in a hotel, most of them are within easy and safe walking distance, and there’s a range of options at every price level. 

Downtown is a short 15-minute drive from Cleveland Hopkins Airport, and the RTA light rail connects Hopkins to Tower City Center, which is less than half a mile from the gates of Progressive Field. For those visiting Cleveland, forget the rental car unless you’re specifically going someplace beyond downtown that you’ll need it.

For those staying outside of downtown, Progressive Field isn’t more than 10-20 minutes away from most major suburban hotspots like Independence and Lakewood.

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We hope you enjoy this insider look at Progressive Field.