# Stadiums-Why is the seating area called 'stands'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 31, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stadiums-why-is-the-seating-area-called-stands/247938 "2004-05-31T18:27:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fc1114](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@fc1114](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fc1114)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stadiums-why-is-the-seating-area-called-stands/247938/1 "2004-05-31T18:27:04Z")
Simple question: When you hear people talking about sports stadiums, they sometimes refer to the seating area as the **‘stands’**. Why \*\*‘stands’ \*\* when they are **sitting**? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stadiums-why-is-the-seating-area-called-stands/247938/2 "2004-05-31T18:30:37Z")
It dates from a time when people _did_ stand? (WAG) ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stadiums-why-is-the-seating-area-called-stands/247938/3 "2004-05-31T18:41:03Z")
Short for grandstand. I think the “stand” refers to the structure itself- a raised platform on which things are placed is called a stand- witness stand, bandstand, bedstand. ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stadiums-why-is-the-seating-area-called-stands/247938/4 "2004-05-31T19:31:27Z")
Why are they also called bleachers? I’ve never seen anything being bleached in them. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stadiums-why-is-the-seating-area-called-stands/247938/5 "2004-05-31T19:34:31Z")
There’s no roof, so if you sit there you get bleached by the sun? ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stadiums-why-is-the-seating-area-called-stands/247938/6 "2004-05-31T19:52:26Z")
> [@fc1114](#): > > Simple question: When you hear people talking about sports stadiums, they sometimes refer to the seating area as the **‘stands’**. Why \*\*‘stands’ \*\* when they are **sitting**? For the same reason you park on the driveway, and drive on the parkway. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stadiums-why-is-the-seating-area-called-stands/247938/7 "2004-05-31T20:04:40Z")
Because people used to stand there. I think standing areas were abolished after the Hillsborough disaster. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stadiums-why-is-the-seating-area-called-stands/247938/8 "2004-05-31T21:17:16Z")
> [@qts](#): > > Because people used to stand there. I think standing areas were abolished after the Hillsborough disaster. In the UK, yeah. I doubt more than a handful of Americans ever heard about Hillsborough, and I doubt further that it would have had much effect on US stadium design. AFAIK, even professional stadia built over here in the '30s usually didn’t have standing room. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stadiums-why-is-the-seating-area-called-stands/247938/9 "2004-05-31T21:20:21Z")
While we’re being annoying…why do theaters advertise “Stadium seating” while the luxury boxes at stadiums advertise “theater seating?” ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stadiums-why-is-the-seating-area-called-stands/247938/10 "2004-05-31T22:56:50Z")
People there stand to sing a standza\* of _The Star Spangled Banner_ about some guy named Homer D. Brave. In the bleachers, you gather with other cheapskates to bleat yer (bleacher) complaints about the quality of play. George Will wrote that, in olden times, stadiums would sell standee tickets _on the field_ in the area where pitchers warmed up. Fans milled around “like bulls in a pen.” \*Yeah, I know. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stadiums-why-is-the-seating-area-called-stands/247938/11 "2004-06-01T00:08:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Why are they also called bleachers? I’ve never seen anything being bleached in them. [Why are they called “bleachers”?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mbleache.html) ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stadiums-why-is-the-seating-area-called-stands/247938/12 "2004-06-01T00:47:40Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > People there stand to sing a standza\* of _The Star Spangled Banner_ about some guy named Homer D. Brave. The fans would also express concern for the viewing conditions afforded Hispanic attendees in the bleachers: _Jose, can you see?_