Accessible Seats - are they difficult to get?

McGopherFan

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Interested in single games but possibly Season tickets future. My preferred game attending partner cannot tolerate stairs.
 

Yes they are hard to get. Part of the problem is that the people next to us when we were sitting in them (my wife has a disability) are very healthy and have no business sitting in those seats. I honestly don't know if this a wide spread problem or just the case of the people next to us. Regardless with the number of older folks or people with disabilities there isn't enough of them. Last I check they were full (last summer).
 

That is what I was afraid of. Hopefully you can be accommodated well soon with tix that meet your needs. I am likely to remain only an occasional attendee.
 

That is surprising to me, As I’ve brought my children to a number of games over the years and at various points they’ve been in strollers where it was easiest to just sit in the benches at the top of the stadium. They appeared to be mostly open. I’d certainly call and see what’s open!
 

I looked into this in 2010 for my dad. Was told that the only accessible seats available were on the top of the upper deck. It may be better now. We chose to take some seats a few rows down in the endzone so there would only be a couple of stairs for him. That worked until he was in a wheelchair.
 


You would have to call the ticket office on that one. I go in gate B. There is a elevator and I have never had to wait for it before the game. There always seems to be empty spots where the wheelchairs are located. Good luck.
 

Yes they are hard to get. Part of the problem is that the people next to us when we were sitting in them (my wife has a disability) are very healthy and have no business sitting in those seats. I honestly don't know if this a wide spread problem or just the case of the people next to us. Regardless with the number of older folks or people with disabilities there isn't enough of them. Last I check they were full (last summer).

Yes, from what I have noticed, there are a good number of people getting these seats who appear to have no need based on physical disability... Perhaps a screening process is in order... but the tickets could be being sold on the secondary market at times as well.
 

I'd definitely call. In my experience with my Dad (in his 90s and mobile, but can't handle all the stairs up to my seats in the 200 level), the system that works best is to take the elevator to the top of the stadium and he is then able to walk down the stairs to my seats. If he needs to get to the concourse, he goes down the stairs and then takes the elevator back to the top and walks down. There is usually a lot of space up at the top to watch the game, but I don't know the ticketing situation.
 

It is going to be an even bigger problem with aging Baby Boomer fans. Hopefully, the U can figure something out. Maybe as a start putting restrictions in the resale of tickets to healthy fans for seats/areas reserved for the truly disabled or the aged who have difficulty with steps.
 



It is going to be an even bigger problem with aging Baby Boomer fans. Hopefully, the U can figure something out. Maybe as a start putting restrictions in the resale of tickets to healthy fans for seats/areas reserved for the truly disabled or the aged who have difficulty with steps.

Agreed. If the EPL can figure out how to separate opposing team’s supporters certainly the U can figure out how to keep folks that don’t need those seats out of those seats.


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There a more decent ADA seats at TCF than most stadiums I have been to. There are tons of them on the upper level that are empty much of the time running all around the upper concourse from the end of the club/press section all the way around to the big scoreboard.

Those upper seats can be accessed via three elevators,1 #1. behind the student section, #2 gate C/ 50 yard line on "sunny side", and 3. the open end, inside the big arch, to the left of the main stairs, near the scoreboard.

There are also some ADA type seats in 141/142 right behind the Gopher bench that probably hae a ramp to them from the hallway near the historical display/ hall of fame area. Those are very prime seats and there are not too many of them.

I think people tend to squat in the large number of HC spots in the main concourse ringing the field. People tend to lurk and if no one is there some will sit down. The ushers do keep an eye on those spots and tend to intervene if they know the regular occupants tend to be present, although the U of M may not offer those for single game seats.

If the person you know is capable of handling a step or two, I'd sit take the elevator up from gate C and sit at the top in one of the empty ADA seats in the 20-50 yard line range 209, 210, 211, and in the worst case you can move down a step or two the empty seats at the top of the section. I have rarely not seen empty rows up there, and the last resort are the benches nearer the scoreboard where the often absent visiting team fans are.

I sat in a really nice ADA compliant seat this year at the Nebraska game, on the east side on the walkway at the bottom of that new upper deck visible on TV, right at the 50 yard line. I was talking to a woman in her 50s who was with her husband, who was disabled and could not really speak, and she told me no one ever sits in the folding chair next to their two spots, so I sat down for the first half. These were surprisingly great seats at the 40 yard line, considering how high up that area looked on TV previously. The environment in Lincoln, sitting in the sun on that side was very impressive.

I did notice that a great deal of outwardly able bodied people seemed to be sitting in most of those seats, but maybe they have a surplus of ADA seating there.
 

I was able to order a couple for a basketball game in 2 weeks no problem. Just called the ticket office. So that's who you should talk to...
 




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