Neyland Stadium

What Neyland Stadium is and who plays there

Neyland Stadium is the University of Tennessee's football stadium in Knoxville and the home of the Tennessee Volunteers. Its official capacity has been 101,915 since 2022. The playing surface keeps its original name, Shields-Watkins Field, from the 1921 opening; the stadium itself was renamed in 1962 for Robert Neyland, the former Tennessee coach and athletic director.

Almost every ticketed event here is a Tennessee home game, played on fall Saturdays from late August or September into November. Demand follows the opponent. Southeastern Conference (SEC) rivals such as Florida, Alabama and Georgia draw the biggest crowds, and the stadium's record attendance, 109,061, came against Florida on September 18, 2004, when the bowl held more seats than it does today. Nonconference games early in the season are usually the easiest tickets to find.

Concerts are rare but not unheard of. The Jacksons played here on their 1984 Victory Tour, and Kenny Chesney headlined in 2003.

Neyland Stadium seating chart: how the lettered sections work

Neyland does not use the 100-, 200- and 300-level numbering common at newer stadiums. Sections carry letters instead, and the letter tells you roughly where you are.

• Single letters (such as B, K or X): the big lower-bowl sections. Sideline sections run more than 60 rows with up to about 30 seats per row. Section B, for example, has rows 1 to 28, a cross-aisle walkway, then rows 30 to 64, with entrances at rows 30 and 64.
• Doubled letters (such as FF, GG or XX): used in other parts of the bowl, including the south-end corners.
• Letter-number combinations (such as ZZ12 or Z11): used in further areas of the stadium.

Section B sits behind the visitors' sideline, so Tennessee's bench is on the opposite side of the field. Section GG is a south-end corner section, and seat guides note that from the south side you cannot see the main videoboard, which north-side seats face. The athletics department's gameday guide also organizes entry by concourse: North Concourse (Gates 21 to 24), South Concourse (Gates 9 to 12) and West Concourse (Gates 9, 14, 20 and 21). The 26 numbered gates run clockwise around the stadium.

Because section letters are not intuitive, check the seat map on your listing to confirm the sideline, end and tier before you buy.

Best seats at Neyland, and the ones to think twice about

Lower-bowl sidelines, middle rows

The middle rows of the lower sideline sections are the best all-around seats. In section B, rows in the mid-30s through the high 50s clear the bench crowd and give a full view of the field. The front rows sit low enough that players and staff on the sideline block part of the near side.

Upper rows for shade

Early-season games kick off in Tennessee heat. In section B, rows 52 and above are under cover from the deck overhead, which matters for an afternoon kickoff in September. The trade-off is a ceiling that cuts off the view of high punts and the top of the bowl.

The south end and visitor corners

The south-end corners are the weakest value for a Tennessee fan. Section GG has no cover and sits directly in the sun, the videoboard is behind you, and its rows 16 to 33 are designated visitor seating at Tennessee games. If you are cheering for the road team, those visitor blocks are exactly where you want to be; if you are a Vols fan, buying there puts you among the opposing crowd.

High rows and corners

The highest rows and the corner sections are usually the budget way into a big game. Height gives a clear view of plays developing, but in sections this large the climb is long and the far end zone looks small. Aisle seats near an entrance row (row 30 or 64 in section B) save a lot of shuffling past fans.

Parking, shuttles and getting to Neyland on game day

Neyland Stadium sits on the University of Tennessee campus at 1235 Phillip Fulmer Way, near downtown Knoxville. Game-day parking is spread across dozens of campus lots and garages, from Circle Park and the G10, G16 and G17 garages to the 11th Street Garage, the Locust Street Garage, World's Fair Park and the Agricultural Campus. Most of the close-in spaces are permitted for donors and season ticket holders, so a single-game buyer should plan to park farther out or use transit.

• Accessible parking: first-come, first-served at the UT Institute of Agriculture, 2450 E.J. Chapman Drive, with a free shuttle starting three hours before kickoff. When that fills, the athletics department points fans to the Knoxville Civic Coliseum, which has a fee-based accessible shuttle.
• Transit: Knoxville Area Transit (KAT) runs game-day bus service.
• Tailgating: allowed in designated campus areas before, during and after games. Overnight tailgating is not, and improperly parked vehicles are towed.

Traffic around campus builds hours before kickoff. Arriving early also lets you see the Vol Walk, when the team walks from the Torchbearer statue in Circle Park down Peyton Manning Pass and onto Phillip Fulmer Way, entering through Gate 21-A about 2 hours and 25 minutes before kickoff. Lot assignments and shuttle details change each season; confirm them on the Tennessee Athletics gameday page.

Neyland Stadium bag policy and entry rules (2026 season)

As of the 2026 football season, Tennessee Athletics enforces a clear-bag policy (bags must be transparent) at Neyland Stadium. Each fan may carry:

• one clear plastic bag no larger than 12 by 6 by 12 inches, or
• one clear, one-gallon resealable plastic storage bag, plus
• a small clutch purse no larger than 4.5 by 6.5 inches.

Backpacks, non-clear bags, coolers, outside food, umbrellas, video cameras, selfie sticks, strollers and artificial noisemakers are prohibited. One factory-sealed water bottle and seat cushions without arms or pockets are allowed.

• Gates: open 2.5 hours before kickoff. An extended security perimeter with walk-through metal detectors opens four hours before kickoff, and coolers cannot pass it.
• Tickets: mobile only, and a ticket cannot be transferred once it has been scanned.
• Re-entry: none. Once you leave, you cannot come back in.
• Payments: the stadium is cashless for concessions and merchandise.

These rules are revised often; check Tennessee Athletics' current policy before you go.

Accessibility, food and fan services

ADA elevators are at Gates 4, 21 and 26, and the ticket office handles accessible seating requests. A nursing room is on Concourse 2 near section Z11. Four first-aid stations are staffed by medical personnel, and lost items go to the Gate 21 elevators, where they can be claimed the Monday after the game.

Concession stands and retail are card-only. Smoking, including e-cigarettes, is prohibited inside the stadium, and a violation can cost you your ticket.

A century of growth on Shields-Watkins Field

The stadium opened in 1921 with seating for about 3,200. It has been expanded 16 times since, reaching 46,290 seats by 1948, 64,429 in 1968, 91,249 in 1980 and a peak of 104,037 in 2000 before later renovations brought the figure down to today's 101,915. The field was artificial turf from 1968 to 1993; natural grass returned in 1994, and the current Bermuda grass has been re-sodded every year since 2007.

The stadium has hosted more than football. A 1970 Billy Graham crusade brought President Richard Nixon to the field, and NFL preseason games were played here as late as 1995. Through Tennessee's long run of home success, the Vols have won more than three-quarters of their games at Neyland, and a sellout crowd of more than 100,000 is the reason fans make the trip.

Sources

• Wikipedia – Neyland Stadium
• Tennessee Athletics – Football Gameday Information
• Tennessee Athletics – Gameday Central and Clear Bag Policy
• RateYourSeats – Neyland Stadium Section B (orientation)
• RateYourSeats – Neyland Stadium Section GG (orientation)
• SeatGeek – Neyland Stadium seating chart (section naming)