2019 Experience #1: Kelly/Shorts Stadium, Central Michigan University

Obviously this University is my place of higher learning, so fair warning, Bias incoming; I love the Game day atmosphere that CMU provides. The tailgate takes place in two seperate parking lots, a student one, and one for the rest of the fans attending the game. The student lot is spacious and provides plenty of room for tents, thousands of students, Cornhole, and even food trucks (as was the case at the homecoming game this year with Chick-fil-a. And of course there is a multitude of different music depending on which lot you choose to tailgate at. about 30 minutes before kickoff fans start shuffling into the stadium to take their seats. If there were one place for improvement for CMU’s game day experience it would have to be getting students into the game itself. CMU is notorious for having a killer tailgate but not being able to get those tailgaters (mostly students) into the actual game. That’s where the criticism ends though as the students that actually do show up to the game absolutely bring it! The student section is tons of fun and in some cases can actually be quite rowdy! The stadium itself is in good shape for an older venue (opened in 1972). Access to Restrooms is easy and there are plenty of concession stands for fans to fulfill their hungry needs and with a capacity of 30,000, Kelly/Shorts is one of the larger stadiums in the Mid-American conference. CMU’s game day experience is a good one. It definitely has room for improvement but for a Lower-tier division 1 FBS program, it certainly holds it’s own and i would recommend it to any college football junkie who wants to get out of their power 5 comfort zone.