Bikeguy

I was sitting in the stadium today and thought I would have benefited from a thread like this.

I started to take my young son to Michigan games a few years ago, and have some tips for people considering a Michigan football game.

1) If you are going with young (short) kids, sit in rows 75 to 96. These rows have the highest rate of rise and make seeing the game easier. Rows A, B and 1 through 20 are very close to the field, but even for me at 5 feet 9 inches, it is harder for me to see. Row A IS the first row, row B the second, and then 1 through 96 or 1 thru 89 in front of the club seats on the east side.

2) You REALLY want to sit on the Michigan side, which is the west side. These seats are normally marginally more expensive, but IMHO, worth it. Why? First, because you will be in the shade, due to the new club seats on the west side, versus baking in the sun on the east side like I did today. Second, entry to the high seats is available from either row 70 (74?) or 96, from the upper concourse. On the east side, access is row 74 only. And the upper concourse on the west side has bathrooms and concessions.

Now, a totally deluxe way to attend a game is to sit in the new club seats. You would need to get these on the secondary market, as the club seats are sold out.

The secondary markets are stubhub, craigslist and ebay. Stubhub is definitely the most trustworthy, as they have entered into an agreement with the U of M and to sell tickets on stubhub, you need to type in the tickets barcode. When you do, the sellers tickets are invalidated and a new electronic copy with a different barcode is emailed to the buyers. Can't get any safer than that.

But it does open the door for people to doublesell. Once on stubhub and then once at the stadium with officially issued tickets whose barcode is invalid.

BobH

Big advantage of sitting on the west side of any stadium, including the BIG House (yesterday during the 3rd quarter, it became the "wet" house!) is you're looking with the sun, not into it.

Ticket prices from U of M are the same regardless of where you sit, except for the club seats -- though for season ticket holders there is a donation required to get into the better sections of the stadium.

The odd ball numbering using letters dates back to when they expanded the stadium at the bottom and added a few rows and decided not to renumber everything.

The change in slope at the top comes from expansions upward and limited footprint for the stands.

One correction, many of the east side sections have two sets of entrances.

and two recommendations -- for those who just want to experience a game in the big house, consider games such as the one against Eastern Michigan for which tickets should be easy to come by at a very low cost (i.e much less than face value) -- games against teams like Notre Dame and Nebraska are a different story.

Also, AATA runs a football shuttle from many area hotels.

Bob H

Bikeguy

West side has access at 70(ish) and 96. East side has access at 74 and 40ish. Sitting in the lowest seats on the west side makes the trip to the closest exit be 70 rows away. I know people who have barely made it to the exit during half time.

Another tip for people that like back support in this bleacher only stadium.

I purchased a Nada Chair, and got a letter from my doc saying I need it in the stadium. Hence, I have back support.

Also, I one reason to avoid paying to rent the chair cushions from the stadium (other than cheapness) that are attached at your seats is if the people next to you don't show (as we had last Saturday), you can't slide over and give everyone more room.