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Game Week: What You Need to Know for Thursday’s Football Season Opener
8/25/2023 5:15 PM | Football
No. 14 Utes welcome Florida Gators to Rice-Eccles Stadium for a Red Out
SALT LAKE CITY—The preseason 14th-ranked Utah Utes open the much-anticipated 2023 football season with a nationally-televised Thursday night battle against the Florida Gators at Rice-Eccles Stadium, on Aug. 31. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m., and Utes fans will cover the stadium in red for this "Red Out" game. Find a complete preview here.
Your game-day guide is chock-full of important information, but none bigger than these reminders:
Whether you park in an assigned lot with a pass, tailgate all afternoon, or arrive via public transportation, you'll find on this page everything you need to know to help plan an enjoyable and successful night at Rice-Eccles Stadium cheering on your Utes.
THE ARRIVAL
Gather outside Gate L on 500 South by 3:45 p.m. to greet the team as they step off the bus. The Arrival is a new gameday experience that makes Utes fans the official welcome party for the team each home game. Enjoy food, live music and exclusive t-shirts for each of Utah's seven home games that will only be available when the team arrives at Rice-Eccles Stadium prior to the games.
GAMEDAY FAN INFORMATION
To help fans prepare for game day and enjoy the best experience possible at our home athletics contests, Utah Athletics has launched a Gameday Information page that provides links to information on tickets, parking, stadium entry, stadium policies, concessions options and fan behavior expectations. It can be found here.
DIGITAL TICKETS AND PARKING
Tickets and parking will be scanned on game day using the ticket holder's mobile device. They also may be transferred to others via email or text message.
Stadium gates open 90 minutes hours before kickoff, at 4:30 p.m., on Thursday. To speed the process for entry into Rice-Eccles Stadium, fans are encouraged to arrive early and to review the most efficient route from their parking lot or the Trax station, and determine the most appropriate stadium gate for entry.
CONCESSIONS
Rice-Eccles Stadium offers a wide variety of concessions options, spread around the entire stadium concourse. By popular demand, food truck alley on the east side of the stadium continues in 2023! Check out East Eats this week. A full concessions map and other stadium services can be found here.
FAN BEHAVIOR EXPECTATIONS -- WELCOME TO UTAH
The safety of student-athletes and spectators is a top priority for all Utah Athletics home events. We ask all fans to extend a sincere "Welcome to Utah" to all by being respectful and responsible when attending our events, and create a home-field advantage for our teams in a way that also shows class and sportsmanship toward visiting teams. The The FanUP initiative exists to define the expected fan behavior at our home venues and is centered around:
To learn more about FanUP, please visit: fanup.utah.edu.
PARKING LOTS
Parking lots open five hours before kickoff, with the exception of the Signature and tailgate lots, which open at 6 a.m. A parking map can be found here (PDF). Tailgating is only allowed is designated lots. Alcohol, RVs, trailers and tailgating are not permitted in Lots 15, 18 or 19.
Please note that due to classes being in session on Thursday, all lots except those immediately surrounding the stadium (see map here) will be in regular operation, and may not fully clear in time to provide full capacity for pass-holders arriving for the football game. Alternative transportation methods below are strongly encouraged for Thursday's game.
TRANSIT
In addition, rides on UTA buses, TRAX and FrontRunner trains are free for ticketholders by displaying a valid game ticket, including the new postgame bus service from the stadium to the Court House TRAX station. For more information please visit UTA.com.
OTHER TRANSPORTATION MODES
Your game-day guide is chock-full of important information, but none bigger than these reminders:
- Wear Red
- Be Early
- Be Loud
With a 6 p.m. weekday kickoff, make your plans to get to campus as early as possible to help ease the last-minute congestion at the gates just before game time. Be in your seats early to enjoy pregame entertainment, counting down to kickoff, including a performance by the "Pride of Utah," the University of Utah Marching Band, before the team's run-out onto the field showered by the roar of the sellout crowd—Utah's 77th consecutive sellout, dating back to 2010.???????? ?????? ????????@officiallyyjay1 pic.twitter.com/swmnTk6hvx
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) August 28, 2023
Whether you park in an assigned lot with a pass, tailgate all afternoon, or arrive via public transportation, you'll find on this page everything you need to know to help plan an enjoyable and successful night at Rice-Eccles Stadium cheering on your Utes.
THE ARRIVAL
Gather outside Gate L on 500 South by 3:45 p.m. to greet the team as they step off the bus. The Arrival is a new gameday experience that makes Utes fans the official welcome party for the team each home game. Enjoy food, live music and exclusive t-shirts for each of Utah's seven home games that will only be available when the team arrives at Rice-Eccles Stadium prior to the games.
GAMEDAY FAN INFORMATION
To help fans prepare for game day and enjoy the best experience possible at our home athletics contests, Utah Athletics has launched a Gameday Information page that provides links to information on tickets, parking, stadium entry, stadium policies, concessions options and fan behavior expectations. It can be found here.
DIGITAL TICKETS AND PARKING
Tickets and parking will be scanned on game day using the ticket holder's mobile device. They also may be transferred to others via email or text message.
- To ensure a successful experience with digital ticketing, fans are encouraged to download their tickets and parking passes to the wallet on their smart phone (iPhone and Android) for presentation upon arrival at the parking lot and stadium gates to expedite the entry process.
- Step-by-step instructions for the process have been delivered to season ticket holders via email and may be accessed online by logging in to a season ticket holder's account and selecting "Manage Tickets"
- It is also recommended that fans plan to arrive early to allow extra time for the entry process.
- Single-game tickets for Utah Football home games may be purchased here.
Stadium gates open 90 minutes hours before kickoff, at 4:30 p.m., on Thursday. To speed the process for entry into Rice-Eccles Stadium, fans are encouraged to arrive early and to review the most efficient route from their parking lot or the Trax station, and determine the most appropriate stadium gate for entry.
- Fans parking in on-campus lots north of the stadium may find quickest entry through Honda Gate G, on the northeast corner of the stadium, off South Campus Drive, or continue to Gates H, J or K.
- Fans coming from all lots east of the stadium are encouraged walk toward 500 South and continue west toward the large entrance at Gate L, on the southeast corner of the stadium. This entrance is equipped with the greatest number of staff and ticket-scanning devices to handle a high volume of traffic. Check out Gate on 500 South!
- Those who park in the west lot, but have seats on the east side or in the south end zone, also would likely find faster entry through Gate L on 500 South.
- Students are encouraged to enter Rice-Eccles Stadium through Gate L for quickest entry to the MUSS section.
- For those arriving via TRAX, please note that there are three gates for entry on the west side of the stadium: Gates F, D and the Cauldron Stairs.
- All main stadium gates also feature a no-bag line for express entry. See a gate map here.
- CLEAR BAG POLICY AND NO-BAG EXPRESS LANES
Rice-Eccles Stadium will continue to utilize a clear-bag policy, and offers no-bag lanes at all main gates to help expedite entry for those not bringing a bag into the stadium. Only clear bags, up to 12"x18", will be allowed inside the stadium. No bags, purses or duffels may be brought into the stadium. - WATER BOTTLES
One factory-sealed bottle of water per person (1 liter or less), is permitted in the stadium. Bottled water may not be frozen. In an effort to be sustainable, empty personal water bottles, (1 liter or less) will be permitted. Glass water bottles will not be permitted. Bottle-filling stations can be found throughout the concourses at Rice-Eccles Stadium. - CASHLESS CONCESSIONS
To reduce touchpoints and increase efficiency with concessions sales, Rice-Eccles Stadium has implemented cashless transactions at all concessions stands. All sales will be completed using either credit cards or Apple Pay and Google Wallet mobile payment apps.
CONCESSIONS
Rice-Eccles Stadium offers a wide variety of concessions options, spread around the entire stadium concourse. By popular demand, food truck alley on the east side of the stadium continues in 2023! Check out East Eats this week. A full concessions map and other stadium services can be found here.
FAN BEHAVIOR EXPECTATIONS -- WELCOME TO UTAH
The safety of student-athletes and spectators is a top priority for all Utah Athletics home events. We ask all fans to extend a sincere "Welcome to Utah" to all by being respectful and responsible when attending our events, and create a home-field advantage for our teams in a way that also shows class and sportsmanship toward visiting teams. The The FanUP initiative exists to define the expected fan behavior at our home venues and is centered around:
- Supporting our Utes and welcoming visiting teams and their fans
- Promoting a family-friendly experience
- Enjoying the game responsibly
- Cheering loud and being Ute Proud!
- Reporting fan behavior issues by texting 'FANUP' to 69050
To learn more about FanUP, please visit: fanup.utah.edu.
PARKING LOTS
Parking lots open five hours before kickoff, with the exception of the Signature and tailgate lots, which open at 6 a.m. A parking map can be found here (PDF). Tailgating is only allowed is designated lots. Alcohol, RVs, trailers and tailgating are not permitted in Lots 15, 18 or 19.
Please note that due to classes being in session on Thursday, all lots except those immediately surrounding the stadium (see map here) will be in regular operation, and may not fully clear in time to provide full capacity for pass-holders arriving for the football game. Alternative transportation methods below are strongly encouraged for Thursday's game.
TRANSIT
In addition, rides on UTA buses, TRAX and FrontRunner trains are free for ticketholders by displaying a valid game ticket, including the new postgame bus service from the stadium to the Court House TRAX station. For more information please visit UTA.com.
OTHER TRANSPORTATION MODES
- SPIN Scooters are also available on campus. A map can be found here.
- Ride-share (Uber/Lyft) drop/off and pickup location is along University Street, on the east side, between 250-400 South, just northwest of the stadium.
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