GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium Game Day Guide
Kansas City Chiefs · Kansas City, MO
Know Before You Go
- Bag policy
Clear plastic, vinyl, or PVC bags may be no larger than 12 x 6 x 12 inches; one-gallon clear bags and non-clear bags no larger than 4.5 x 6.5 inches are also permitted.
Medically necessary items are allowed after inspection. Diaper bags and non-clear backpacks, purses, and belt bags larger than the limit are prohibited.
- Bag storage
Arrowhead instructs guests to return any prohibited item to their vehicle before entering the stadium.
- Gate opening
General Arrowhead gates open two hours before kickoff; premium gates open 2.5 hours before kickoff.
Allow an additional 30 minutes for security screening.
- Mobile tickets
All Arrowhead tickets are mobile-only; access them in the Chiefs Mobile App and add them to the phone's wallet before arrival.
- Re-entry
Arrowhead does not permit re-entry for Chiefs games after a guest exits the stadium.
- Prohibited items
Arrowhead prohibits weapons, outside food and most beverages, hard containers, oversized bags, professional or video cameras, noisemakers, lasers, sports balls, large strollers, and other listed items.
Guests and their belongings are screened before entry; refusing screening means admission will be denied. Review the complete official list before leaving home because stadium security may reject other dangerous or unacceptable items.
- First aid
First aid is at Sections 114 and 132 on the Field Level; by the Hy-Vee Ramp doors and Section 241 on the Club Level; and Sections 307, 316, 329, and 339 on the Upper Level.
- Nursing and lactation
The Mother's Room just inside Gate G has five gliders, tables, footrests, electrical outlets, a changing table, lockers, a handwashing sink, and a television showing the game.
- Family restrooms
Family restrooms with changing stations are available on every stadium level.
Locations are 108, 113, 126, and 131 on the Field Level; 206, 219, 229, and 242 on the Club Level; and 304, 310, 316, 324, 332, 338, and 344 on the Upper Level.
- Tickets for children
Children younger than three do not need a ticket but must share a seat with an accompanying ticketed adult.
- Guest services
Fans First booths are on the Field and Upper Levels and in Lots A, C, D, F, G, L, and N; Club Level concierge desks provide the same assistance.
For event-day help, text CHIEFS followed by your location and issue to 816-920-4237.
- Service animals
Task-trained service animals may accompany guests; the recommended entrance is GEHA Gate, and all other animals are prohibited.
Guests are responsible for the service animal's needs, actions, and cleanup.
- Smoking and vaping
Smoking of any kind, including vaping, is prohibited at Arrowhead Stadium.
Game Day Timeline
What the day looks like at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, hour by hour.
Lots Open for Tailgating
The massive Arrowhead lots open and the tailgate begins. Fans arrive early to stake their spots and fire up smokers for brisket, ribs, and burnt ends.
Tailgate Scene Peaks
This is peak Kansas City. Smokers have been running for hours, BBQ aromas fill the air, and over 25,000 tailgaters turn the lots into the biggest backyard party in the NFL.
Gates Open
Stadium gates open. Head in early to explore the Chiefs Hall of Honor, grab burnt ends at the concessions, and soak up the atmosphere.
Player Warmups
Players take the field for warmups. The 100-level end zone sections offer the best photo opportunities.
Find Your Seats
Grab your BBQ and a Boulevard Wheat, then settle in. The pregame ceremony and war drum ritual are about to begin.
Game Time
The Tomahawk Chop echoes through 76,000 fans. After every first down, the crowd roars 'CHIEEEEEEFS!' so loud it registers on seismographs. Arrowhead holds the world record for crowd noise at 142.2 decibels.
Exit Strategy
Arrowhead's lot layout means post-game traffic is heavy. Stay and continue tailgating, post-game BBQ is a KC tradition. Or take a rideshare to Power & Light District downtown for nightlife.
Tips & Fan Reports
Bring food and drinks to tailgate at your vehicle and plan to walk around the lots. The tailgate hopping is the best part - offer beers and people will welcome you everywhere.
Bring a Weber and some steaks. The best tailgate experiences at Arrowhead come from just showing up with no plan, firing up the grill, and meeting people.
Get to the stadium by 9:30 or 10am for a noon game. Gates always open about an hour earlier than they say because the line to get in is a mile long. Don't park in the lot unless you plan on bringing your own tailgate stuff.
Wear red. Chiefs Kingdom is a total sea of red on game days. If you show up in any other color you will look like a tourist.
Dress for the weather, Kansas City has extreme seasonal swings from 90°F September heat to 15°F January cold.
Bring earplugs if you're noise-sensitive, Arrowhead is the loudest stadium in the NFL and sustained crowd noise can exceed 130 dB.
Tailgating starts 4+ hours early in the parking lots. Kansas City BBQ in the parking lot is arguably better than the food inside the stadium.
Wear red, Chiefs Kingdom is a sea of red on game days and you'll stand out (in a bad way) without it.
Arrowhead holds the world record for loudest stadium. Bring earplugs if you are noise-sensitive. It genuinely hurts during big 3rd downs.
Bring one canopy, not two, and make sure it fits within your own space in front of or behind the vehicle.
Before the Game
Tailgating is permitted throughout the Arrowhead lots and the stadium writes the footprint down precisely: the width of your own parking space, up to eight feet behind it, and one canopy that has to fit in front of or behind your vehicle within that space. Lots open 4.5 hours before kickoff, one vehicle per space, and a space cannot be used for tailgate equipment alone. Only charcoal or L.P. gas grills are allowed (wood is banned as a fuel and so are wood-burning fire pits) and every lot has a hot coal disposal bin that coals must go into before a grill is left. Glass is prohibited across all the parking lots, and nobody tailgates once the game has started.
Where to Tailgate
The Arrowhead parking lots
The lots ringing the stadium at the Truman Sports Complex, all of which tailgate. Each is equipped with a hot coal disposal bin, and your setup is the width of your space plus up to eight feet behind it, with one canopy.
Known for Open 4.5 hours before kickoff · Hot coal bins in every lot · One canopy per space
The tollgates and the interior loop
Interior traffic flows counter-clockwise, and the stadium is explicit that the tollgate you enter combined with the type of parking pass you hold determines which lot you end up in. Entering at the wrong gate does not get corrected inside.
Known for Counter-clockwise flow · Gate determines your lot · Check before you arrive
The emergency lanes
Marked by two yellow lines down the centre of each parking aisle, and they have to stay clear. This is the constraint that decides how far back a setup can actually spread, whatever the eight-foot allowance says.
Known for Two yellow lines · Must stay clear
Pregame Rules
What GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium allows before the game, and what it does not.
- Only charcoal or L.P. gas grills are permitted. Wood may not be used as fuel, and wood-burning fire pits are prohibited.
- All grills must be supervised at all times by a responsible adult (18 years or older) and be fully extinguished before being left unattended.
- Each lot is equipped with a hot coal disposal bin, and all coals must be disposed in the designated containers prior to leaving a grill unattended.
- A tailgate is limited to the width of the entrant's designated parking space and up to eight feet behind it.
- One canopy is permitted, and it must fit in front of or behind the vehicle within the entrant's designated parking space.
- Parking spaces may not be used for tailgate equipment alone, and it is one vehicle per one parking space.
- Glass is prohibited in all premises parking lots.
- Emergency vehicle lanes, denoted by two yellow lines in the centre of the parking aisle, must remain clear.
- Entrants may not tailgate in the premises parking lot during the game, and may not remain in the lots once the game is under way.
- Commercial tailgate set-ups are not permitted, and selling any items, including for donations, is strictly prohibited.
- Offensive signs, banners or other displays, including the Confederate Flag, are prohibited.
- Parking lots open 4.5 hours prior to kickoff unless otherwise communicated.
- All Missouri alcohol consumption and distribution laws are strictly enforced by police and management, and amplified sound should be kept at a level that does not interfere with other guests.
Weather
GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium is open air, so these are the conditions you sit in.
Across the NFL season the warmest month is September, with an average high of 78°F, and the coldest is January, when the average low is 19°F. September is the wettest month at 4.8 inches and January the driest at 1.5 inches.
That January low ranks 4th coldest of the 32 NFL venues, and September here ranks 10th wettest.
September
4.8 inchesOctober
3.5 inchesNovember
2.4 inchesDecember
1.8 inchesJanuary
1.5 inchesWhat to Bring
- Only the outside food and drink the rule allows
Outside food and beverages are prohibited except for one factory-sealed water bottle of 20 ounces or less per guest.
- A card or a phone wallet
Arrowhead Stadium is cashless and accepts Mastercard, American Express, Visa, and Discover.
- Winter layers, gloves and a hat
January lows average 19°F in the seats at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
- A rain layer
September averages 4.8 inches of rain here.
Tailgate Gear
Lots open 4.5 hours before kickoff, ending when the game starts.
- A charcoal or L.P. gas grill: wood as a fuel and wood-burning fire pits are both banned
- One canopy, sized to fit in front of or behind your vehicle inside your own space
- A metal bucket or scoop for carrying coals to the lot's hot coal disposal bin
- Cans or plastic rather than glass, which is prohibited across every parking lot
- A setup no more than eight feet deep behind your space, leaving the yellow-lined emergency lane clear
How We Checked This Page
Every section below names the source it was read from and the day it was read. Where we could not reach a published figure, the page says so rather than presenting an estimate as a checked fact.
- Game day timeline
Gate opening time checked against the venue's own gate-opening policy: General Arrowhead gates open two hours before kickoff; premium gates open 2.5 hours before kickoff.
- Pregame
GEHA Field at Arrowhead official site: Premise Entry & Parking Terms and Conditions (tailgating regulations), Tailgating Information, and the Game Plan page
- Weather
NOAA 1991-2020 Climate Normals
- Venue policies
Arrowhead Stadium A-Z, accessibility, bag, permitted-items, gameday, and mobile-ticketing guidance reviewed for all structured venue-policy topics.