Empty Football Stadium

This is the view of a football stadium from a 55mm perspective. Most zoom lenses have some barrel distortion at their widest focal lengths, as exampled here. Notice that the row of seats do not stay even across the top of the frame and that the white sideline is not perfectly parallel to the bottom of the frame.
 
Yes, distortion can be corrected during post processing. But, distortion correction is destructive at the pixel level.
 
What to do about distortion? Use a lens that has no distortion (typically a prime). Use a focal length that has little or no distortion. This focal length varies by lens, but 20% into the focal length range is a good starting point. Correct the distortion in post processing. Or just live with the distortion.
 
Distortion makes holding the camera level more challenging. Especially to one already challenged to do so.