Northwest Stadium Game Day Guide
Washington Commanders · Landover, MD
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 clutches about 4.5 x 6.5 inches are also permitted.
Medically necessary items are allowed after inspection at a designated gate. Backpacks, diaper bags, fanny packs, large purses, and other non-compliant bags are prohibited.
- Gate opening
General stadium gates open two hours before kickoff; SeatGeek Legends Plaza and the Merrill Touchdown Club open three hours before kickoff.
- Mobile tickets
Access Commanders tickets in the team app and present the rotating barcode or a ticket saved to the phone's wallet at the entrance.
Add the ticket to the phone before arriving for faster entry.
- Re-entry
After exiting Northwest Stadium, a guest may return only with a full, unused ticket for that day's event.
- Prohibited items
Northwest Stadium prohibits weapons, outside food and drink, most containers, non-compliant bags, detachable camera lenses five inches or longer, umbrellas, strollers outside suites, noisemakers, drones, and other listed items.
Guests may be denied entry if they refuse screening or attempt to enter with a prohibited item. Review the complete official list before leaving home.
- First aid
First aid stations are at Sections 103 and 125 on the Main Concourse, Sections 303 and 324 on the Club Level, and Sections 403 and 430 on the Upper Concourse.
- Nursing and lactation
Nursing pods for feeding or pumping are on the Club Level beside the elevator towers at Sections 303 and 324.
- Family restrooms
Family restrooms with baby-changing stations are at the Gate A and Gate E elevator towers on every level.
- Tickets for children
Children younger than three may attend a Commanders game without a ticket after receiving a lap pass at an entrance gate; children three and older need a ticket.
The child must be present when the lap pass is issued.
- Guest services
Guest Services booths are across from Sections 104, 124, 304, 324, 404, and 431.
For event-day assistance, text SAFE to 703-266-6263 or call 301-276-6100.
- Service animals
Task-trained dogs and miniature horses, including service animals in training, are permitted; emotional support animals are not.
The animal must remain leashed throughout the visit. Contact tickets@commanders.com for seating accommodations.
- Smoking and vaping
Smoking is prohibited in seating bowls, the main concourse, Legends Plaza, portals, tunnels, the Gate A ramp, and restrooms; use only the published designated smoking areas.
Designated locations include exterior ramps beginning on Level 2, the exterior Upper Concourse, and smoking decks outside the Club Level at E Tower.
Game Day Timeline
What the day looks like at Northwest Stadium, hour by hour.
Lots Open for Tailgating
The Red Zone Lot, the stadium's preferred tailgating lot, opens 5 hours before kickoff. Early arrivals start setting up grills and claiming their tailgate spots.
Tailgate Scene Builds
The lots fill with burgundy and gold. The smell of half-smokes and BBQ drifts across the asphalt as fans gather around portable TVs watching early games.
Gates Open
Stadium gates open. Head inside to explore the concourse, check out the team shop, or grab a crab cake sandwich early.
Player Warmups
Players take the field for warmups. Arrive early for a chance to see the Commanders up close from the lower bowl.
Find Your Seats
Grab your game-day food and settle in. The energy builds as Hail to the Commanders echoes through the stadium.
Game Time
67,000+ fans strong in burgundy and gold. Northwest Stadium is loudest when the Commanders are competitive, and the faithful show up regardless of the record.
Exit Strategy
Metro runs extended hours on game days. If driving, I-495 Beltway traffic clears within 30-45 minutes. Many fans stay in the lots to continue tailgating.
Tips & Fan Reports
Most people just find a spot and do their own thing. People are cool and will share food from the grill if you walk up. We had Bears fans offering up food at our tailgate so most people are friendly.
Get there early - leaving later than you think because of traffic is guaranteed. Take a walk around and check out the tailgating scene even if you're not set up yourself.
The stadium itself is showing its age. But the fans are loyal and the tailgating culture has gotten better in the lots along Garrett Morgan Blvd.
Bring layers for late-season games, Northwest Stadium is open-air and the Maryland wind can be sharp.
Eat before you get to the stadium. The food options inside are below average for an NFL venue. Ben's Chili Bowl has a stand but the line is long.
Metro Blue or Silver Line to Morgan Boulevard is the easiest option. Parking at the stadium is expensive and the roads around Landover are a nightmare.
The Metro Blue/Silver Line to Morgan Boulevard is the easiest way to get there from anywhere in the DC area.
Wear burgundy and gold. Commanders fans are fiercely loyal to the team's identity and history.
Everyone in the car needs a ticket or a parking pass for that day. Bringing a friend along just for the lot does not work here.
Aim for the Red Zone Lot if the tailgate is the point: it opens five hours out and has the wider bays.
Before the Game
Tailgating is permitted in every lot at Northwest Stadium except H-Burgundy, and the venue names a favourite: the Red Zone Lot, which opens five hours before kickoff and has wider spaces for larger vehicles. The stadium's definition of tailgating is deliberately broad (tables, chairs, canopies, umbrellas, coolers, barbecues, grills, games, generators and televisions all count) and so is its rule about who may be there. Every occupant of a tailgating vehicle needs a valid ticket or parking pass for that same day, and anyone without a ticket who stays in the lots past the official start time is treated as a trespasser. All flames and grills must be out before you go in, and ash dumpsters sit throughout the lots for the coals.
Where to Tailgate
The Red Zone Lot
The stadium's own preferred tailgating lot, opening five hours before kickoff, earlier than the rest, with wider spaces sized for larger vehicles.
Known for Opens 5 hours before kickoff · Wider spaces · Stadium's preferred lot
The general lots at 1600 Ring Road
Tailgating is permitted in every lot at the Landover site except one, so most of the ground around the stadium on Ring Road is available.
Known for Tailgating permitted · 1600 Ring Road, Landover
H-Burgundy
The single exception. Tailgating is permitted in all lots except this one, so a pass here is parking rather than a pitch.
Known for No tailgating · The only excluded lot
The ash dumpsters
Placed throughout the parking lots for coal disposal. Hot grills must not go in or under any vehicle, so the dumpster is the only correct destination for what is left.
Known for Throughout the lots · For hot coals
Pregame Rules
What Northwest Stadium allows before the game, and what it does not.
- Tailgating is permitted in all lots except H-Burgundy.
- The Red Zone Lot is the preferred tailgating lot. It opens five hours before kickoff and offers wider spaces for larger vehicles.
- Tailgating covers the use of tables, chairs, canopies, umbrellas, coolers, barbecues, grills, games, generators, televisions and other items for outdoor gatherings before, during or after an event.
- All flames and grills must be extinguished prior to entering the stadium, and hot grills must not be placed in or under any vehicle.
- Ash dumpsters are available throughout the parking lots.
- Trailers, storage units, grills and other tailgating equipment may not occupy open parking spaces, vehicle unloading spaces or crosswalks, or interfere with traffic flow.
- Each occupant of a tailgating vehicle must hold a valid ticket and/or parking pass for a scheduled event on the same calendar day.
- All gatherings must be wrapped up well in advance of kickoff, at which point everyone must enter the stadium or leave the lots. Anyone without a ticket remaining after the official start time is considered a trespasser.
Weather
Northwest 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 82°F, and the coldest is January, when the average low is 28°F. October is the wettest month at 4.2 inches and January the driest at 3.0 inches.
That January low ranks 15th coldest of the 32 NFL venues, and October here ranks 15th wettest.
September
4.1 inchesOctober
4.2 inchesNovember
3.2 inchesDecember
3.7 inchesJanuary
3.0 inchesWhat to Bring
- Only the outside food and drink the rule allows
Outside food and beverages are prohibited unless a special dietary exception is approved in advance.
- A card or a phone wallet
Commanders mobile pay works at every stadium concession after a credit card is added to the team app.
- Layers, gloves and a hat
January lows average 28°F, and the seats are open to it.
- Sunscreen, sunglasses and a hat
September highs average 82°F at Northwest Stadium, with no roof over the seats.
- A poncho, not an umbrella
Umbrellas are on Northwest Stadium's prohibited list, and October averages 4.2 inches of rain.
Tailgate Gear
Lots open five hours before kickoff in the Red Zone Lot.
- A grill you can fully extinguish before entering the stadium
- Something heatproof to move coals to the ash dumpsters in the lot
- A ticket or parking pass for every person in the vehicle, for that same day
- A setup that occupies no open space, unloading bay or crosswalk
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 stadium gates open two hours before kickoff; SeatGeek Legends Plaza and the Merrill Touchdown Club open three hours before kickoff.
- Pregame
Northwest Stadium official site, Tailgating Policy & Information, and the Washington Commanders tailgating policy page
- Weather
NOAA 1991-2020 Climate Normals
- Venue policies
Current Commanders and Northwest Stadium A-Z, accessibility, entry, parking, mobile-ticketing, and mobile-pay guidance reviewed for all structured venue-policy topics.