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Seahawks at Lumen Field: What time do gates open?

Gates open about two hours before kickoff at most NFL stadiums.

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 11:43 AM
20 min Drive to the stadium 11:58 AM
20 min Park & find your spot 12:18 PM
12 min Walk to the gate 12:38 PM
15 min Gate security 12:50 PM
10 min Walk to your seat 1:05 PM
10 min In your seat for the anthem 1:15 PM
Kickoff 1:25 PM

NFL game day at Lumen Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks. 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 Lumen Field.

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Ready Time

You know what you need to do. Ready Time helps you know when to start.

At a glance

Gates open
About two hours before kickoffTypical at most NFL stadiums; check the official site
Bags
Clear bag onlyUp to 12 × 6 × 12 in, or a small clutch
Drive
About 20 min from SeattleWithout game traffic · real drive
Transit
Link light rail to Stadium
Parking
Park & find your spot
Formerly
Seahawks Stadium, Qwest Field, CenturyLink Field
Lumen Field seen from outside, in Seattle, Washington.
Photo by PCN02WPS, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for this page.

Kickoff windows at Lumen Field

Kickoff times are national broadcast windows, the same ones every week. Pick yours and every step before it moves.

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Windows are published in Eastern Time. Lumen Field is on Pacific time, three hours behind, so an early-window game does not start at one o'clock here:

An early-window game here kicks off at 10:00 AM. Try that with a full tailgate if you want to see how early you actually leave.

Thanksgiving, Christmas, the Sunday late window sometimes at 4:05 instead of 4:25, and late-season Saturdays run their own times. Type those in on the kickoff row.

Getting to Lumen Field

Link light rail stops at Stadium station beside the building; Sounder adds game-day service from north and south. Between them they carry a large share of the crowd. Driving means I-90/I-5 and a parking hunt.

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The stadium is in SODO just south of downtown, next to the baseball park, and it is well served by rail. Parking near the stadiums is limited and expensive, so a large share of the crowd does not drive at all.

Stadium station on the Link light rail line, with the downtown Seattle skyline behind it.
Photo by SounderBruce, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for this page.

Gates, the queue, and what you can carry in

Clear-bag policy at every stadium. 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 Lumen Field site before you go, because the door time moves for a night game or playoff.

Tailgating is not permitted anywhere on Lumen Field property, the garage and the North Lot included. Seattle's tailgate happens in private lots a few blocks out, mostly south: park there, eat there, walk in. The roof covers most seats without enclosing the stadium, so you stay dry in your seat and not in the queue.

Lumen Field was previously called Seahawks Stadium, Qwest Field and later CenturyLink Field, so older directions and tickets may still use those names.

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

Common questions

How early should I get to Lumen Field?

Gates open about two hours before kickoff at most NFL stadiums; that is when the crowd starts arriving, not when you have to. 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 Lumen Field?

Work backward from kickoff: minutes in your seat beforehand, walk to your section, gate screening, walk from the lot, parking, then the drive (20 minutes in the default plan). That puts leave-by at 11:58 AM for a 1:25 PM kickoff. Change the kickoff time and every row moves.

What time is kickoff at Lumen Field?

It depends on the national broadcast window. On this stadium's clock: an early Sunday game kicks off at 10:00 AM, the late Sunday window at 1:25 PM, a night game at 5:15 PM. This example uses the late Sunday window. Thanksgiving, Christmas and some late-season Saturdays run their own times; the kickoff row is editable for those.

How long does the security line take?

The plan allows 15 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 Lumen Field?

Two hours before kickoff is the common NFL practice. It moves for a night game, playoff or special event. Check the official Lumen Field site for your game.

Can I tailgate at Lumen Field?

Not in the lots here. If you are meeting people somewhere else, add that as a step and everything before it moves earlier.

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

You know what you need to do. Ready Time helps you know when to start.

Other stadiums

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