Parking here is cheap and the pricing is refreshingly flat: $20 a vehicle for general admission, and that same $20 buys a space in a parking structure. At almost every other stadium we have priced, covered parking is the premium product. In Tempe, where a September kickoff can sit above 100 degrees and the lots open five and a half hours early, the shade is free. The hard part is not the price, it is working out which lot you are allowed to buy. ASU renamed every one of its lots to colors and its own gameday guide has not caught up with itself: Black Lot and Copper Lot appear in the $20 general admission list and in the pass holders only list on the same page, and the section that tells you when the lots open still uses the retired names. We could not verify any free parking for a Sun Devils game, though the Orbit that reaches campus is genuinely free to ride.
The short answer
Cheapest verified: $20 a vehicle in any general admission lot, and the parking structures cost the same $20, so take the covered spot in September. General admission lots open five and a half hours before kickoff, pass holder lots seven. Best for tailgating: an uncovered lot, propane only, and if you are in a structure you may only grill on the top level. Worst plan: driving in assuming the lot you read about is general admission, because ASU lists Black and Copper as both general admission and pass required on the same page. Free and public pregame: the Dos Equis Pitchfork Pregame on the north side of Desert Financial Arena, three hours before kickoff.
At $20, 7 of the 33 College stadiums we have priced cost less and 21 cost more. See every College Sports stadium ranked.
Compare every option
| Option | Cost | Walk | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| General admission lots and structuresStadium lot | $20 per vehicle | Varies, from the Gammage Lot to the garages beside the stadium | Almost everyone, since it is one flat price whatever you pick |
| Single game parking at the Novus Place structureStadium lot | $20 per vehicle | Novus Place, south of the stadium | Turning up without having bought anything in advance |
| Pass holder lotsStadium lot | Season pass, with a giving minimum ASU has not published | The closest lots to the stadium | Season ticket holders who want the long tailgate |
| Light rail to Veterans Way and College AveOffsite lot | Valley Metro fare, plus whatever you pay to park at your origin station | The station sits just west of the stadium | Anyone staying in Phoenix, Mesa or along the line |
| Park south and ride the free Orbit inOffsite lot | The Orbit is free. What you pay to park is the part we could not verify | Orbit drops in the campus area | Fans willing to trade fifteen minutes for whatever the lot costs |
| Accessible parkingStadium lot | $20 per vehicle with a valid plate or placard | Lower levels of Packard, Novus and Stadium structures | Drivers with a placard who would rather park covered |
Every option, in detail
Stadium lot
General admission lots and structures
$20 per vehicleVaries, from the Gammage Lot to the garages beside the stadium /// 5.5 hours before kickoff
ASU charges a single $20 rate for every general admission option, and it explicitly includes the structures. The list runs Gray Lot (formerly Lot 8) at Rio Salado and Rural Road, Black Lot (formerly Lot 6), University Center, Athletes Place and University a block east of Rural, the Gammage Lot, Copper Lot (formerly Lot 10), the NOVUS Parking Garage, the Stadium Structure Garage and the Packard Garage Structure. Accessible parking with a valid plate or placard sits on the lower levels of Packard, Novus and Stadium.
Heads up: Two of those, Black Lot and Copper Lot, also appear in ASU's list of lots where a Sun Devil parking pass is required, on the same page. We could not resolve which is correct from the published information, so if one of those two is your plan, confirm with the ticket office before you drive. If you want to be sure you can simply buy in, Gray, Gammage, the University Center cluster and the three garages appear only on the general admission side.
Via sundevils.com (ASU's own gameday guide publishes the $20 general admission rate, states that it includes structures, lists every general admission location, and separately lists the pass required lots. Black Lot and Copper Lot appear in both lists on that page, which is reported here rather than resolved because ASU does not resolve it.)
Stadium lot
Single game parking at the Novus Place structure
$20 per vehicleNovus Place, south of the stadium /// 5.5 hours before kickoff
ASU names Novus Place as its single game parking option and the payment method is as simple as it gets: scan the QR code when you arrive and pay on the spot. Being a structure, it is covered, at the same price as an open lot.
Heads up: Scanning a code on arrival means you need signal and a working phone at the gate, and it means the space is not reserved before you get there. On a sold out game treat it as a first come option rather than a guarantee.
Via sundevils.com (ASU's gameday guide names the Novus Place parking structure as the single game parking location and describes the scan on arrival payment. The $20 figure is ASU's published general admission rate, which its guide states applies to structures.)
Stadium lot
Pass holder lots
Season pass, with a giving minimum ASU has not publishedThe closest lots to the stadium /// 7 hours before kickoff, an hour and a half earlier than general admission
The lots nearest the stadium are pass only: Black (formerly Lot 6), Copper (formerly Lot 10), Pink (formerly Lot 9), Stadium Structure 5, South Packard Drive Structure 7, Green (formerly Whiteman Tennis Reserved), Maroon (formerly Reserved North), Gold (formerly Reserved South), Blue (formerly the Disabled Lot) and Orange (formerly Reserved Lot 3). The real benefit is the clock: seven hours before kickoff against five and a half for everyone else. ASU also notes it provides approved bathroom facilities in the designated pass lots, which the general admission lots do not get.
Heads up: Season parking is selected in May and ASU states that lot availability and the minimum giving amounts have yet to be determined, so there is no published price to plan against. You may request one space for every two season tickets. This is not a walk up product.
Via sundevils.com (ASU's gameday guide publishes the pass required lot list with both current and former names, the seven hour opening for pass holders, the May season pass selection, the one space per two season tickets rule, the statement that availability and giving minimums are undetermined, and the note that approved bathroom facilities are provided in designated pass lots.)
Offsite lot
Light rail to Veterans Way and College Ave
Valley Metro fare, plus whatever you pay to park at your origin stationThe station sits just west of the stadium /// Standard service
Valley Metro light rail runs straight past the stadium and the Veterans Way and College Ave station is immediately west of it, which makes this the least complicated arrival at any stadium on this list. The Tempe Streetcar is the second option, serving the stadium from the Marina Heights stop on the north side and connecting to the Park and Ride at Dorsey and Apache Blvd.
Heads up: Our advice is to check the fare and the park and ride cost at your specific origin station with Valley Metro rather than assuming, because we did not verify either. What we can confirm is that the rail gets you to the stadium without needing a lot at all.
Via sundevils.com (ASU's gameday guide names the Veterans Way and College Ave light rail station as the stadium stop, the Marina Heights streetcar stop on the north side of the stadium, and the Dorsey and Apache Blvd park and ride connection. Fares and park and ride costs are deliberately not quoted because we did not verify them.)
Offsite lot
Park south and ride the free Orbit in
The Orbit is free. What you pay to park is the part we could not verifyOrbit drops in the campus area /// Orbit runs seven days a week
The Orbit is Tempe's neighborhood circulator and the City of Tempe runs it free of charge across six routes, seven days a week, every fifteen minutes on most routes and every thirty on Sundays. ASU points fans who are not Tempe residents to park at the Tempe Library Complex on the southwest corner of Southern Avenue and Rural Road and catch the Orbit from there.
Heads up: The ride is free and the parking is the open question. We could not confirm what the Tempe Library Complex charges on a football Saturday, because tempe.gov blocks automated checks, and we are not going to call it free on the strength of it being a library. Confirm before you build a plan around it. This is also why the guide does not claim free parking anywhere.
Via sundevils.com (ASU's gameday guide names the Tempe Library Complex at Southern Avenue and Rural Road as the place for non residents to park and catch the Orbit. The City of Tempe publishes the Orbit as a free neighborhood circulator running six routes seven days a week at fifteen minute frequency, thirty on Sundays. The cost of parking at the library complex is unverified because tempe.gov returns a 403 to automated requests.)
Stadium lot
Accessible parking
$20 per vehicle with a valid plate or placardLower levels of Packard, Novus and Stadium structures /// 5.5 hours before kickoff, or 7 for the pass only Blue Lot
Accessible parking is on the lower levels of the Packard, Novus and Stadium structures, inside the $20 general admission tier, so it is covered at no premium. The Blue Lot, formerly the Disabled Lot, is the pass holder equivalent. Courtesy carts run on designated routes starting two hours before kickoff, with marked pickup and drop off points in both accessible lots and at the southeast, northeast and northwest entrances.
Heads up: Guests without a parking pass who have limited mobility can be dropped off near the South Packard Drive Structure, Structure 7, and walk to the cart pickup area. Note the cart service does not start until two hours before kickoff, which is three and a half hours after the general admission lots open, so arriving at the opening bell means a long wait for a ride.
Via sundevils.com (ASU's gameday guide publishes the accessible parking locations on the lower levels of Packard, Novus and Stadium, the Blue Lot's former name, the fan drop off point at the South Packard Drive Structure 7, and the courtesy cart routes, marked pickup points and two hour start time.)
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Skip parking entirely
Mountain America Stadium is one of the best connected stadiums in college football, with light rail passing immediately west of it, a streetcar stopping on its north side and a free city circulator reaching campus. If you are staying anywhere along the Valley Metro line, driving is a choice rather than a requirement.
Valley Metro light rail
Valley Metro fareRide the light rail and get off at the Veterans Way and College Ave station, just west of the stadium. This is the simplest arrival available here and it skips the lot question entirely.
Via sundevils.com
Tempe Streetcar
Valley Metro fareThe streetcar serves the stadium from the Marina Heights stop on the north side of the football stadium, and connects riders to the Park and Ride at Dorsey and Apache Blvd, which is the useful part if you are driving in from the east.
Via sundevils.com
The Orbit, which is free
FreeTempe runs six Orbit neighborhood circulator routes free of charge, seven days a week, every fifteen minutes on most routes and every thirty on Sundays. Orbit uses flag zones inside neighborhoods, meaning you wave the driver down, but on major streets including Southern Avenue and Rural Road you must use a marked bus stop.
Reported by fans, with no official page confirming it. The City of Tempe publishes the Orbit as a free neighborhood circulator, names the six routes, and publishes the seven day service, the fifteen and thirty minute frequencies and the flag zone rule including the major street exception. ASU's gameday guide separately directs fans to the Orbit and gives its service end times as 10 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays and 8 p.m. on Sundays.
When to get there
General admission lots and structures open five and a half hours before kickoff, and pass holder lots open seven. Be careful reading the opening times on ASU's own page, because the section that lists them still uses the retired lot names while the section that lists what you can buy uses the new colors, so you have to translate between the two to work out when your lot opens. The heat is the real planning input here. An early season kickoff in Tempe can sit above 100 degrees and five and a half hours in an uncovered lot is a long time in that, which is the argument for the structures: Novus, Stadium and Packard cost the same $20 as an open lot and are covered. The Coors Light and Dos Equis tailgates both open three hours before kickoff and the official Tailgate at College Ave and 6th Street opens two and a half hours before, so there is somewhere shaded to be well before the gates.
Getting out after
ASU asks that all designated tailgate areas be cleared within one hour after the game ends, so waiting out the traffic in your space is not an option here. The better exit is the one you chose on arrival: the light rail station sits just west of the stadium and the streetcar stops on the north side, and neither queues behind the lots. If you did drive, ASU routes traffic by side, with the north lots using Rio Salado Drive and the south lots using East University Drive, and it is worth knowing which side you are on before you are sitting in it.
Tailgating rules
Tailgating is allowed in the uncovered lots, and ASU publishes an unusually specific rulebook for it. One space per vehicle per pass, no saving spaces, and everything must be cleared within an hour of the final whistle. The rule people get wrong is the grill: no open flames and no charcoal anywhere, propane gas only, and inside a parking structure you may grill only on the top level.
The drink rules are strict and clearly written: beer and wine only, no spirits, no kegs and no common source of alcohol, and no glass containers or bottles anywhere in the lots or structures. Personal Port-a-Johns are banned, and ASU notes it provides approved bathroom facilities in the designated pass lots, which is a real difference between the pass tier and the $20 tier. Violations can cost you the parking pass with no refund, and you are responsible for your guests. If you would rather not run a tailgate at all, the Dos Equis Pitchfork Pregame is free and public, sits on the north side of Desert Financial Arena, opens three hours before kickoff, and sells beer, Venezia's pizza and Bar-S hot dogs at $4 each. The official Tailgate on the corner of College Ave and 6th Street is also free, opens two and a half hours out and is built for families, with food trucks, a beer garden and kids' activities. The Coors Light Sun Devil Tailgate in the Desert Arboretum is the paid one and it is genuinely exclusive: you must be at the $2,500 giving level to be eligible, passes are $500 for every two people, there are no single game passes, and it closes 30 minutes before kickoff.
Via sundevils.com
Questions, answered
- How much does parking cost at Mountain America Stadium?
- Stadium lots start at $20. Cheapest verified: $20 a vehicle in any general admission lot, and the parking structures cost the same $20, so take the covered spot in September. General admission lots open five and a half hours before kickoff, pass holder lots seven. Best for tailgating: an uncovered lot, propane only, and if you are in a structure you may only grill on the top level. Worst plan: driving in assuming the lot you read about is general admission, because ASU lists Black and Copper as both general admission and pass required on the same page. Free and public pregame: the Dos Equis Pitchfork Pregame on the north side of Desert Financial Arena, three hours before kickoff.
- Is there free parking near Mountain America Stadium?
- There is no reliable free parking near Mountain America Stadium. The cheapest options are listed above.
- What time should I get to an Arizona State game?
- General admission lots and structures open five and a half hours before kickoff, and pass holder lots open seven. Be careful reading the opening times on ASU's own page, because the section that lists them still uses the retired lot names while the section that lists what you can buy uses the new colors, so you have to translate between the two to work out when your lot opens. The heat is the real planning input here. An early season kickoff in Tempe can sit above 100 degrees and five and a half hours in an uncovered lot is a long time in that, which is the argument for the structures: Novus, Stadium and Packard cost the same $20 as an open lot and are covered. The Coors Light and Dos Equis tailgates both open three hours before kickoff and the official Tailgate at College Ave and 6th Street opens two and a half hours before, so there is somewhere shaded to be well before the gates.
- Can you get to Mountain America Stadium without a car?
- Mountain America Stadium is one of the best connected stadiums in college football, with light rail passing immediately west of it, a streetcar stopping on its north side and a free city circulator reaching campus. If you are staying anywhere along the Valley Metro line, driving is a choice rather than a requirement. Valley Metro light rail: Valley Metro fare.
Covered parking costs the same as an open lot. The NOVUS, Stadium and Packard structures are inside the $20 general admission tier, which is unusual, and in Tempe in September it is the single best value decision on this page.
ASU renamed its lots to colors and its own gameday guide has not fully caught up. The parking section uses Gray, Black, Copper, Pink, Green, Maroon, Gold, Blue and Orange, while the lot opening times a little further down still say Reserved Lot 3, Lot 4, Lot 6, Fulton Lot, Disabled Lot, North Reserved, South Reserved and Lot 10. Any older guide or set of directions using the old names is describing the same lots under retired labels.
Black Lot and Copper Lot are listed by ASU as both $20 general admission and pass holders only, on the same page. We are reporting the contradiction rather than picking a side. Confirm with the ticket office if either is your plan.
The gap between the two tiers is time more than distance. Pass holder lots open seven hours before kickoff against five and a half for general admission, and the pass lots are the ones ASU says get approved bathroom facilities.
Season parking has no published price. ASU says lot availability and minimum giving amounts have yet to be determined and that selection happens in May, so there is nothing to budget against yet.
The grilling rule catches people out: propane only, no charcoal and no open flames anywhere, and if you are parked in a structure you may only grill on the top level.
Sourced from the stadium, the city, local outlets, and fans who park here every week. Checked July 2026, and we recheck three times a year. Prices and lot rules change, so every claim above either links where it came from or says plainly that it is fan-reported and unconfirmed. Click through before you build your day around one spot.
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Citing this guide
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Dispatch Sports, “Parking at Mountain America Stadium: Arizona State Sun Devils Gameday Guide.” Checked July 2026. https://dispatchsports.com/college/arizona-state/parking
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