Nosebleed section

For the Hilltop Hoods song, see The Nosebleed Section.

In the United States, Canada and Australia, the nosebleed section are the seats of a public area, usually an athletic stadium or gymnasium, that are highest and, usually, farthest from the desired activity. Also known as the O’Connell section. A common tongue-in-cheek reference to having seats at the upper tiers of a stadium is "sitting in the nosebleed section," or "nosebleed seats." The reference alludes to the tendency for mountain climbers to suffer nosebleeds at high altitudes.

The term appeared in print as early as 1953 when it was used to describe the last row in the end zone at Philadelphia's Municipal Stadium (later John F. Kennedy Stadium) during that year's Army-Navy football game.

Other uses

"The Nosebleed Section" is the name of a song by the Australian hip hop music group Hilltop Hoods. Contrary to the above definition the Hilltop Hoods refer to the "nosebleed section" as the front row. The song commences with:

For my people in the front
In the nosebleed section

The song further features other references to the "nosebleed section" as the "front row" throughout the song.

In Season 2 Episode 9 of the television series Entourage, character Ari Gold refers to acquiring U2 tickets "In the nosebleeds, just how you like them" to the character Johnny "Drama" Chase. The following scene at the concert features them near the front of the standing crowd at the concert.

The 2017 Imagine Dragons song "Thunder" refers to "the nosebleeds" as the less desirable seats in an auditorium:

You say you're basic, you say you're easy
You're always riding in the backseat
Now I'm smiling from the stage while
You were clapping in the nosebleeds

See also

• The dictionary definition of nosebleed seat at Wiktionary
• Peanut gallery
• The gods (theatrical)
• Bleachers