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What time do gates open at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium?

Gates open about 90 minutes before kickoff here.

Ready Time can tell you when to leave for your game →

So when do you leave?

Your leave-by time is the first travel row. Ready Time can alert you when it comes up. Put in your kickoff time, tap any duration, and the plan recomputes backward.

Kickoff
15 min Final pack & check 12:53 PM
1hr 15min Drive to the stadium 1:08 PM
15 min Park & find your spot 2:23 PM
20 min Walk to the gate 2:38 PM
12 min Gate security 2:58 PM
10 min Walk to your seat 3:10 PM
10 min In your seat for the anthem 3:20 PM
Kickoff 3:30 PM

College football game day at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, home of the Florida Gators. For a concert here, start from the concert night plan instead: doors and a support act, not gates and kickoff.

Get an alert on game day when it’s time to leave for Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

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At a glance

Gates open
About 90 minutes before kickoff
Bags
Clear bag onlyCheck the official site for sizes
Drive
About 75 min from JacksonvilleWithout game traffic · real drive
Parking
Park & find your spot
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium seen from outside, in Gainesville.
Photo by Jordon Kalilich, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized for this page.

Kickoff windows at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium

Kickoff times are TV windows, and which one a given Saturday lands in is usually announced only six to twelve days before the game. Pick yours once it is announced and every step before it moves.

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Windows are published in Eastern Time, and Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is on Eastern, so what you read is what you get.

Weeknight games, season openers and neutral-site games run their own times. Type those in on the kickoff row.

Getting to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium

I-75 drops you at Archer Road from the south or Newberry Road from the north, and the streets around the stadium close from three hours before kickoff to two hours after, University Avenue included. The university reworks the Waze routing on game day, so the app is unusually trustworthy here. The Gator Aider shuttle runs from Celebration Pointe and the Hull Road lot starting three hours out.

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Campus lots open at eight and the closest general parking is off Fraternity and Woodlawn by Flavet Field. The cheap plays are the free weekend garage south of Archer Road and a twenty minute walk, or free downtown parking plus the shuttle. Neighborhood grass and bike lane parking is towed on sight.

Gates, the queue, and what you can carry in

Clear-bag policy at most college stadiums, and a few ban bags outright, clear ones included. Getting it wrong usually means walking back to the car and re-entering the line.

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Check current sizes and door times on the official Ben Hill Griffin Stadium site before you go, because the door time moves for a night game or a TV switch.

General gates open 90 minutes before kickoff, and for a day game that means arriving into full sun: there are misting stations inside, cooling buses at Gates 2 and 13, free sunscreen at guest services, and refill stations for the water you will need. The Gator Walk passes about two and a half hours out, well before the gates do anything.

Leave time for packing up the tailgate

A tailgate feels open-ended until it isn't: grill, food, lock the car, walk to the gate with the whole lot. Add one and those steps go in, which means leaving earlier.

Gates, lots and bag rules change; the official site is the live source.

Common questions

How early should I get to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium?

Gates open about 90 minutes before kickoff here; that is when the crowd starts arriving, not when you have to. Without a tailgate, being through a gate about an hour before kickoff covers screening, the walk to your section, and a stop on the concourse.

When should I leave for Ben Hill Griffin Stadium?

Work backward from kickoff: minutes in your seat beforehand, walk to your section, gate screening, walk from the lot, parking, then the drive (75 minutes in the default plan). That puts leave-by at 1:08 PM for a 3:30 PM kickoff. Change the kickoff time and every row moves.

What time is kickoff at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium?

It depends on the TV window, which is usually announced six to twelve days before the game. On this stadium's clock: a noon game kicks off at 12:00 PM, the mid-afternoon window at 3:30 PM, a night game at 7:30 PM. This example uses the mid-afternoon window. Weeknight and neutral-site games run their own times; the kickoff row is editable for those.

How long does the security line take?

The plan allows 12 minutes for a normal walk-through queue. It runs longer in the twenty minutes before kickoff. Arriving fifteen minutes off that peak is usually enough.

What time do the gates open at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium?

About 90 minutes before kickoff here, rather than the two hours that is the common practice at big college stadiums. It moves for a night game or a rescheduled kickoff. Check the official Ben Hill Griffin Stadium site for your game.

How early should I get there to tailgate at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium?

A short tailgate adds about an hour and a half; a full one closer to three. For a 3:30 PM kickoff that already means an afternoon in the lot. Watch packing up and the walk to the gate. Those get squeezed when the lot is having a good time.

What can I bring in?

Assume a clear bag or no bag. Check the stadium's own page for current sizes. The timing risk is being turned around at the gate and walking back to the car: the walk twice and a second trip through the queue.

Flying in? The airport pages. Taking Amtrak? The station pages. No stadium listed? The tailgate timeline is the same plan without a particular lot.

The countdown to kickoff, on your Lock Screen

Start the plan in the app, and the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island show the time left, with a bar that fills as each step passes.

Glance at it on the walk in without opening the app.

Every step also gets its own alert, and sharing the plan gives whoever is driving the same leave time, with alerts on their phone.

Live Activities are part of Premium, a one-time unlock.

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Ready Time

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