The most exclusive club in the world of sports fandom just gained a new member. This past weekend, Matt Angeli – a diehard from New Jersey who now lives in Colorado – became the 24th known person to have attended a home game for every active MLB, NHL, NBA and NFL team, earning him exclusive status in “Club 124“. Angeli completed the lofty goal he had set for himself just six years ago with a Memphis Grizzlies game on January 25, 2025 at FedEx Forum. I caught up with Matt earlier this week to pick his brain on sports travel, his amazing accomplishments, Club 124 and beyond.
When did you first realize this was something you wanted to accomplish?
I had been on a quest to finish all 30 MLB ballparks. As I was rounding out that journey in 2019, I saw a friend on the Ballpark Chasers Facebook page mention Club 123, as it was called at that time – the NHL’s Seattle Kraken wasn’t a team yet. I added up how many total of the 123 stops I had been to in my travels over the years and I was at 53/123 so I figured this is the next goal! It was off and running from there.
You finished up in Memphis – but where was your first stop on the journey?
[In] November 2019, I went to Tampa for the Lightning. A friend of mine notified me of really cheap airfare – $14 each way!! – from Denver and the game was at 4pm EST. I flew into Tampa for the day. Spent as much time in the air as I did on the ground. The mid-afternoon game time allowed for a day trip.
What was your favorite venue you visited? Your least favorite?
My favorite venue is SoFi Stadium in LA. My least favorite is the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.
What was the most memorable experience you had at a game?
My visit to Lambeau Field was unforgettable. January 15, 2012. NFC Divisional Round. My New York Football Giants versus the 15-1 Packers. Flew to Chicago and drove up to Lambeau with a buddy. My tickets on StubHub didn’t scan at the entrance so they ended up refunding our ticket money and gave us an upgrade – 40 yard line about 20 rows up behind the Giants bench. From the tailgate to the game to the home fans – it was the best gameday experience I’ve ever had. And I was rooting for the visitors!
Is there something you’ve collected or something you’ve tried to do at each venue you’ve visited?
A photo of center court, center ice, midfield or behind home plate. Lately I’ve been doing selfies in those spots. Also getting a pin at each venue. I have a pin map over my TV in my man cave with all my Club 124 stops except for baseball. I have a separate pin map for that that my wife got me a few years ago.
You also joined Club 366 earlier this week. Tell me about that and how that came to be.
The long road to that: I used to have the ESPN passport app- it tracked all sporting events you attended. It went down one day and it motivated me to create my own spreadsheet for all events. That was in 2013. I used ticket stubs, google and memory to go back and track all my sporting events and concerts. I had never seen a game on Christmas and when I realized I hadn’t, it sparked me to see how many calendar days I had seen a sporting event or concert.
I count concerts too because live music is another passion of mine. I’ve seen 289 concerts including Metallica 76 times in 20 states and 3 countries. When I added up all the dates I was around 40-50 left to go so I made it another mission.
It was such a mission that I even booked a trip to LA in 2020 when February 29th was on a Saturday. Went to 4 games in 3 day including two on Feb 29th for leap year. That’s where the 366 comes from even though there is usually 365 days in a calendar year.
What’s on the horizon for you and your travels?
Of course I am looking forward to not having the pressure (that I put on myself) to finish Club 124. I’m going for more quality events instead of quantity, such as the Olympics, US Open, World Cup and Kentucky Derby. And of course, staying current with new Club 124 venues as they open.
Do you have any tips for folks who are also trying to join Club 124?
First tip is: you better be extremely detailed oriented and a little obsessive compulsive. Other tips would be when booking airfare always search one way flights at a time – never round trip. Set alerts on Google Flights to track pricing. Always think outside of the box when booking hotels. Hotels are cancellable so you can book more than you need when schedules come out. Schedule release day is important to get a jump on cheaper hotels. Follow schedule leakers on Twitter and other social media channels and keep an eye on the hours leading up to the schedule release of each league, especially football.
Leave a Comment