Air Force Falcons Football Tickets: West or East Side

By the Reserved Seat editorial teamUpdated October 1, 2026How we research

Upcoming Air Force Falcons Football dates

Dates and live ticket listings appear here as soon as they are on sale. The guide below covers what to know before you buy.

Picking your side of Falcon Stadium

For Air Force Falcons football at Falcon Stadium, buy on the west side, in a lower or middle row anywhere from one 30-yard line to the other. That angle shows the option play by play, and the afternoon sun stays behind you. If comfort matters more than an open-air view, the east side offers padded chairbacks and an enclosed club. Low end-zone rows are the seats to skip.

West sideline, between the 30s: the best football view.
East chairbacks and East Club: the most comfortable seats.
South end zone field-level boxes: a group option.
Low end-zone rows: poor for reading option football.

The home schedule fills September, October and November, inside the U.S. Air Force Academy, on the northern edge of Colorado Springs.

West stands, East Club and the end zones

Builders set the stadium into a natural hollow roughly two miles from the cadet area, with the playing field on a north-south axis. Because each sideline was built in its own way, choosing a side is the first decision you make.

West side

Above the main bowl stand the press box and a pair of stacked grandstand decks. The lower and middle rows here are the classic football seat, and the upper tiers give a high, full-field view if you can handle the climb.

East side

One tier of seating, now capped by a glassed-in club stretching the full length of the field, which opened for the 2024 season where aluminum bleachers used to sit. The open-air seats on this side gained cushioned chairbacks in 2023.

End zones

Groups can look at the south end zone, where the athletics department has offered field-level boxes of 12 seats with food and drinks bundled in. For everyone else, low end-zone rows are a weak buy. Option plays happen in the crowded middle of the line, and from behind the goal post it is hard to see the mesh point (the moment the quarterback decides to keep or give) or the pitch that follows.

Section numbers and the cadet seating area are not confirmed here, so check the seat map on your listing.

Sun, cold and 6,621 feet

Only one FBS stadium sits higher than this one, at 6,621 feet, and thin air changes the seat math.

Sun: on a field oriented north-south, the west stands put the afternoon glare behind you; the east stands look into it.
Temperature: a September afternoon can be hot and bright; a November night game can be bitterly cold. Dress in layers either way.
The climb: Stadium Journey notes that the stairs to the top deck are punishing this high up. If stairs are hard for you, buy low in the bowl.

The surface has been FieldTurf since 2006. Capacity is 39,441 after the 2024 renovation, compared with 46,692 just before construction and 52,480 at the end of the 1990s.

Dates to circle: Navy, Army and marquee visitors

The service-academy games drive the calendar. The Navy game usually lands on October's opening Saturday and the Army game on November's. Home sites alternate: Navy comes to the Academy in even years, Army in odd years. That makes 2026 a Navy year at Falcon Stadium and 2027 an Army year. The Midshipmen took the trophy in both 2024 and 2025. For the West Point side, see Army Black Knights Football; the series closes each December with the Army-Navy Game on a neutral NFL field.

Hawaii: a Mountain West opponent and the Kuter Trophy game.
Colorado State: the two have played for the Ram-Falcon Trophy since 1980. The Rams moved to the Pac-12 for 2026, so check whether the in-state matchup appears on a given schedule.
National programs: a famous visitor sells like an academy game. The largest crowd in stadium history, 56,409, turned out in 2002 to see Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football.

Buying Air Force football tickets

Through the athletics department you can buy a season package, a single game or a premium product such as the East Club, a field-level box or a reserved parking pass. The cadets come as one unit and fill their own section, which means there is no student ticket lottery or allotment like the ones at big state schools.

Even with under 40,000 seats, a typical home game rarely shuts out a late buyer. Three kinds of games can: the Navy visit in even years, the Army visit in odd years, and a matchup with a national name. For those, most fans buy on the resale market. What moves resale prices for an academy game is the trophy picture, the weather outlook for a cold late-season night, and the distance the visiting academy's supporters have to cover. Each Reserved Seat order carries a 100% guarantee, and Are Resale Tickets Legit? walks through how the secondary market operates.

Through the Academy gate: ID, lots and bags

You are entering a working military base, which adds a checkpoint before you ever see your lot. Current rules, as of the 2026 season:

Gates by lot: drivers bound for Lots 1 or 2 enter at the South Gate, and drivers bound for Lots 4, 5 or 6 enter at the North Gate. Reserved premium spaces have been offered in 3R and 4R.
ID: anyone older than 18 must show a passport or other government-issued U.S. identification. On game days, citizens can skip the base pass and advance registration.
Timing: parking and tailgating begin four hours ahead of kickoff, never sooner; tailgates must wrap up within two hours of the final whistle; the stadium itself opens two hours ahead. You cannot carry outside alcohol in.
Bags: a single clear plastic, vinyl or PVC bag no bigger than 12 inches on each side, or a clear gallon freezer bag, along with a small clutch or hip pack around 5.5 by 7.5 inches. Leave backpacks and umbrellas at home, and do not plan to smoke or vape. For context, Stadium Bag Policies shows how other venues handle bags.

Base gates create a bottleneck before the lots, and some walks to the stadium cover rough terrain, so build in time. Check the athletics department's Know Before You Go notes before every game.

March-ons, flyovers and Pikes Peak tailgates

Pregame here looks nothing like a typical campus. The full cadet wing parades onto the field in formation and then races up into the stands. Jets roar overhead (F-15s and a B-2 are among the aircraft the program cites), and parachutists have landed on the field. In August 2025 the Academy went back to requiring every one of its roughly 4,000 cadets to attend, undoing a 2024 change that had sent only a portion of the wing to most games. Attendance rules have flipped before, so look for the latest guidance.

Tailgaters set up in the surrounding lots with Pikes Peak and Cheyenne Mountain on the horizon. Past seasons have added a Falcon Walk before the game and a Falcon Alley fan area with food and activities.

The option, DeBerry and 21 trophies

Air Force first fielded a team in 1955 and helped found the Mountain West in 1999. For generations its calling card has been the option, a ground-based attack where the quarterback reads one defender and chooses to run, pitch or hand the ball off. Fisher DeBerry coached from 1984 to 2006, and during a 21-year stretch of his tenure the offense finished top 10 nationally in rushing 19 times.

1962: the stadium's debut, on September 22, was a 34 to 0 shutout of Colorado State.
1985: a 12 and 1 season, a Bluebonnet Bowl win and a No. 5 national finish, the program's high point.
1989 to 1992: the Liberty Bowl reserved a spot for the academy trophy winner in those four seasons, and every time it was Air Force.
Through 2025: 21 Commander-in-Chief's Trophies (Navy has 18, Army 10) and a 16-13-1 mark across 30 bowl trips.

Frequently asked questions

Which side of Falcon Stadium is better for Air Force football?

For watching the game, the west side between the 30s: you see the option from the side and the sun stays behind you. The east side is better if you want padded chairbacks or the enclosed East Club.

Is the upper level at Falcon Stadium hard to reach?

Yes, more than at most stadiums. At 6,621 feet the stairs wear people out quickly, so pick a low row if climbing is a concern.

What ID do I need to get onto the Air Force Academy for a game?

Anyone over 18 needs a passport or government-issued U.S. ID as of 2026. Citizens do not need a separate base pass for football.

Which years does Air Force host Navy and Army?

Navy comes in even years, typically the opening Saturday of October. Army comes in odd years, typically the opening Saturday of November.

When do the parking lots open for Air Force home games?

Four hours before kickoff, as of 2026. The stadium opens two hours before kickoff, and tailgates must end within two hours after the game.

Do students get a ticket allotment at Air Force games?

Not the way state schools do it. The cadets attend as a wing and sit in their own area, so there is no student ticket pool to draw from.

Air Force Falcons Football Tickets