Pinstripe Bowl Tickets

What the Pinstripe Bowl is and who plays

The Pinstripe Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York City. The 2026 game, the 16th edition, is scheduled for Saturday, December 26, 2026, at noon Eastern on ABC, with ESPN Radio carrying the broadcast. Its formal name is the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl, and it is staged at the home of the New York Yankees, whose pinstriped uniforms give the game its name.

The matchup comes from conference tie-ins (contracts that reserve a bowl slot for a conference's teams). The 2026 game pairs a Big Ten team with an ACC team, the 12th consecutive edition with that pairing. Teams are revealed on Selection Sunday, December 6, and the bowl had not announced its ticket on-sale date as of early fall 2026. Tie-in arrangements can change, so confirm the matchup after selection.

The Big Ten–ACC pairing puts the game within driving or train distance of a long list of schools, including Rutgers, Penn State, Maryland, Syracuse, Boston College and Pittsburgh, which is a large part of why attendance swings so much from year to year.

Football in a ballpark: where to sit at Yankee Stadium

Yankee Stadium opened in 2009 and seats about 46,500 for baseball. For football, temporary configurations have pushed capacity higher; the Notre Dame and Army game in November 2010 drew 54,251. The stands are designed for baseball, though, and that shapes every seat decision.

How the levels work

• Field level (the 100-level sections) sits closest to the playing surface, including the Legends seats nearest the infield.
• Main level (the 200 sections) rises above and partly overhangs the field level.
• Terrace level (the 300 sections) is the next tier up and is largely open to the sky.
• Grandstand (the 400 sections) is the upper deck; its back rows sit under the stadium's cantilevered roof.

Seat judgment for this game

• Height helps more than usual. The gridiron is laid across the diamond and outfield grass, so the stands do not wrap the field the way a football stadium's do. The Main and Terrace levels give a clearer view of the whole field than low field-level rows, where the near sideline crowd and the flat angle hide play on the far side.
• Check the view before you buy. A seat that is premium for baseball, such as a low row behind home plate, can end up angled toward an end zone or set back from the field for football. Use the football seating map on the listing, not a baseball chart.
• Sun and cold. A noon kickoff in late December means a low winter sun from the south, and the open terrace and grandstand fronts take its full exposure. Covered back rows of the Main level and the Grandstand stay out of the sun and the rain but feel colder.
• Dress for it. Expect a cold, often windy afternoon. Layers, a hat and gloves matter more than seat location.

Demand: which matchups fill the Bronx

Attendance at the Pinstripe Bowl depends heavily on the schools involved. The record crowd of 49,012 came in 2014, when Penn State beat Boston College 31–30 in overtime, and Penn State's return in 2025 drew 41,101. Games without a nearby, large fan base have drawn closer to 30,000, as in 2021, 2022 and 2024.

• Selection Sunday on December 6 is when the market resets. A team within driving or rail distance of New York, or one with a large alumni base in the metro area, drives the strongest demand.
• The holiday calendar: a December 26 date means many fans are home for the holidays in the Northeast, while others are traveling. Visiting fans from farther away should book hotels early, since New York's holiday season keeps rates high.
• Sideline seats on the Main level tend to tighten first; outfield-area seats usually remain available into game week.

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History, results and sponsors

The Pinstripe Bowl was first played on December 30, 2010, when Syracuse beat Kansas State 36–34 before 38,274 fans. The bowl's first years matched the Big East with the Big 12, and Notre Dame was invited as an independent in 2013. The current Big Ten–ACC pairing began with the 2014 game. The 2020 edition was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sponsors

• New Era Cap Company (2010–2021), as the New Era Pinstripe Bowl
• Bad Boy Mowers (2022 to present)

Games worth knowing

• 2014: Penn State 31, Boston College 30 in overtime, the attendance record.
• 2015: Duke 44, Indiana 41 in overtime.
• 2021: Maryland 54, Virginia Tech 10.
• 2023: Rutgers 31, Miami 24, a win for the closest thing the bowl has to a home team.
• 2024: Nebraska 20, Boston College 15.
• 2025: Penn State 22, Clemson 10.

Yankee Stadium has hosted other college football as well, including Notre Dame against Army in 2010 and the 150th Lafayette–Lehigh game in 2014.

Getting to Yankee Stadium on game day

Do not drive if you can avoid it. Yankee Stadium is one of the best-connected venues in the country by transit, and parking near the stadium is limited and slow to exit.

• Subway: the 161st Street–Yankee Stadium station is served by the 4 train at all times, the D train, and the B train on weekdays only. Because December 26, 2026, is a Saturday, plan on the 4 or the D.
• Metro-North: the Yankees–East 153rd Street station on the Hudson Line sits next to the stadium, with connections to Grand Central. Service patterns for non-baseball events vary, so check the schedule for game day.
• From Midtown: the subway ride is roughly half an hour, which makes a Manhattan hotel a practical base.

Arrive early. Security lines at a cold noon kickoff can back up, and the stadium's Great Hall gives you somewhere to wait out of the wind once you are inside.

Bag policy and what to bring

Yankee Stadium's published policy for the 2026 baseball season allows one soft-sided bag no larger than 16 by 16 by 8 inches plus a smaller soft-sided personal item, with hard-sided bags prohibited and no bag storage on site. The stadium also has a no re-entry policy. Bowl games can set their own rules, so confirm the policy for the Pinstripe Bowl on the bowl's official site or the Yankees' policies page before you go.

• Bring: warm layers, gloves, a hat and a phone charged for mobile tickets.
• Skip: large umbrellas, glass and cans, which the stadium prohibits.

Sources

• MLB.com – 2026 Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl announcement
• Wikipedia – Pinstripe Bowl
• Wikipedia – Yankee Stadium
• Yankees – Ballpark policies
• Wikipedia – 161st Street–Yankee Stadium station
• Wikipedia – Yankees–East 153rd Street station
• NCAA.com – 2026-27 bowl game schedule
• RateYourSeats – Yankee Stadium shaded and covered seats