A stadium and arena seating system is provided which utilizes concrete tread surfaces and metallic or other non-concrete vertical risers therebetween. The concrete treads have front and rear embeds embedded within the front and rear ends of the treads respectively. The embeds comprise a metallic or other non-concrete material similar to the vertical risers. The vertical risers are arranged in a shingled or other self-sealing fashion between the embeds of the treads to provide water and debris shedding. In certain embodiments, an overlapping vertical riser may be used which provides water shedding without the need for embeds within the concrete tread surfaces.