Mizzou AD details updates to Memorial Stadium entry protocol

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Mizzou Athletics will be enforcing a new stadium entry policy to ensure safety at Faurot Field.

Starting with Saturday's game against Kansas, fans will be required to enter Memorial Stadium on the same side as the location of their seats for the remainder of the 2025 season. This protocol was adopted to reduce congestion on the south concourse amid the ongoing construction on the Memorial Stadium Centennial Project.

According to Mizzou Athletics Director Laird Veatch, ticket scanner data from the football team's season opener showed that more than half of MU's sellout crowd of 57,321 people accessed Memorial Stadium within the final 45 minutes prior to kickoff and many of those fans entered the venue on the opposite side as their seats.

"We had tried to communicate and ask folks to get there early and enter on their side but data shows differently. This created an unsafe pedestrian traffic jam on the south concourse, which we witnessed directly and heard from many of our fans," Veatch said at Thursday's virtual press conference. "Our top priority is always keeping fans, student-athletes and staff safe while, obviously, providing the best gameday experience possible."

You can watch the full press conference with Veatch in the video player above.

MU's new stadium entry procedure is mandatory and will be enforced at all gates. Ticket scanners will not grant access to fans who try to enter the stadium at an incorrect gate, and instead, they will ask people to proceed to their assigned entry point.

You can find all the required entry locations in the list below:

• East Side (Sections 101-110, Sections 301-315 & Student Section):
  • Enter: Gates 2E-6E
• West Side (Sections 116-125):
  • Enter: Gates 2W-6W
• South Side (Sections 126-132):
  • Enter: Any Gate
• Premium (Walsworth Family Columns Club, West Tower & Multipli Club):
  • Enter: Gate 7

With these new guidelines, Mizzou Athletics will add more staff and signage around the stadium to assist fans with finding their correct gate.

MU will also be running new shuttles to help fans travel to their assigned entry points. The shuttle will run from Mick Deaver Memorial Drive, near Lot I, to Gate 5W and back, starting two hours prior to kickoff and lasting one hour after games conclude.

With these changes, Mizzou continues to encourage fans to plan ahead for gamedays. All gates will be open two hours prior to kickoff.

"We are encouraging fans again to arrive early, and we recognize this can be an inconvenience, but it is necessary for us to ensure a safe entrance and improve entry times," Veatch said.

Veatch also reiterated that rushing the field will be prohibited at all games this season. MU released a statement on Aug. 26 saying that the Southeastern Conference (SEC) will be issuing significant fines to schools that are subject to field storming. Mizzou also acknowledged that it will be using cameras inside the stadium to record and identify people who don't follow this rule, adding that all perpetrators may be removed from campus, fined, suspended or expelled.

"Rushing the field is not only dangerous but could be very costly for our university, up to a $500,000 fine from the SEC. I know we have talked about that previously. I know we have talked about the need to expect to win here at Mizzou and to celebrate responsibly when we do so," Veatch said.

Mizzou is expecting another sold-out crowd for Saturday's game against Kansas, which is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 6 at 2:30 p.m.