Start with the fact that changes everything: there is no public parking on the Tennessee campus anymore. Every campus space is held for season ticket holders with passes or for people working the stadium, so the entire question here is which downtown garage you use and how you cover the last mile. The good news is that Knoxville is unusually generous about this. Two downtown garages stay free even on a football Saturday, the Old City lots are free around the clock, and KAT runs football shuttles on a $10 round trip wristband or its normal routes for $2 all day. The walk from downtown is 20 to 45 minutes depending on where you land, and locals treat that as the price of a painless exit.
The short answer
Cheapest: the Market Square or State Street garage, free even on gameday, about a 20 to 30 minute walk. Also free: the Old City lots under James White Parkway, free 24 hours a day, 30 to 45 minutes out. Best with kids: KAT's regular buses at $2 all day, or the $10 round trip football shuttle wristband from Market Square. Best if you hate walking: the Civic Coliseum park and ride at $30 a vehicle, shuttle included. Worst plan: driving toward campus looking for a public lot, because there is not one.
We could not put a number on stadium parking here, because no single-game rate is published that we could verify. That has been hard to find and we are still looking, so check back. See every College Sports stadium ranked.
Compare every option
| Option | Cost | Walk | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market Square and State Street garagesFree street | Free, even on a football gameday | About 1 to 1.5 mi, roughly 20 to 30 min | Paying nothing and still being downtown when you are done |
| Old City lots under James White ParkwayFree street | Free 24 hours a day, including gameday | About 1.5 mi, roughly 30 to 45 min | Free parking with no rate sign to read and no time limit |
| KAT football shuttle wristbandOffsite lot | $10 round trip per person, cash needs exact change | None, the shuttle runs to the stadium | Skipping the walk without paying for a close-in space |
| KAT regular routesOffsite lot | $2 all day for football, $1 a single ride normally | Depends on your stop | The cheapest way to move on gameday, full stop |
| Civic Coliseum park and rideOffsite lot | $30 flat per vehicle, shuttle included | None, the shuttle runs to the stadium | A carful of people who want one price and no walking |
| Paid downtown garagesOffsite lot | About $30 on gameday at the Main Street, Locust Street and City County Building garages | Similar to the free garages, roughly 20 to 30 min | A space downtown when the free garages have filled |
| Closer paid lots and yardsCommunity lot | Reported around $40 to $50 | Fort Sanders and University Commons are the short walks | Buying a shorter walk, at roughly five times the garage price |
| Campus parkingStadium lot | Not sold to the public at any price | Not applicable | Nobody, and it is listed here to save you the drive |
Every option, in detail
Free street
Market Square and State Street garages
Free, even on a football gamedayAbout 1 to 1.5 mi, roughly 20 to 30 min /// Garages run 24/7
Knoxville's public garages are generally free on weekends, and these two are specifically the ones that stay free on a Volunteer football gameday when others start charging. You end the day in the middle of downtown, which is where you want to be while the traffic sorts itself out.
Heads up: The city's standing rule is that garages are free on weekends unless otherwise posted for special events, and a home game is exactly the sort of event that can be posted otherwise. Check the sign at the entrance rather than assuming, and note that Market Square carries a $3 flat rate on ordinary Saturdays in some listings.
Via backyardknoxville.com (A Knoxville local guide updated January 2026 names these two as the garages that stay free on gameday. The underlying weekend free rule and the special event exception come from the City of Knoxville and Downtown Knoxville. Fans in August 2025 independently reported the east side downtown garages being free on a gameday.)
Free street
Old City lots under James White Parkway
Free 24 hours a day, including gamedayAbout 1.5 mi, roughly 30 to 45 min /// Always
The north and south Old City lots sit under James White Parkway and are free around the clock rather than free on a schedule, which removes the ambiguity that makes the garages a judgment call. It is the longest walk on this list, through the Old City rather than along a highway.
Heads up: Thirty to forty five minutes each way is a real walk, twice, and Knoxville in September is hot. If someone in your group cannot do it, take the KAT shuttle from Market Square instead.
Via backyardknoxville.com (Knoxville local guide updated January 2026. We could not find a City of Knoxville page confirming the gameday status of these specific lots, so treat the free claim as well sourced but not official.)
Offsite lot
KAT football shuttle wristband
$10 round trip per person, cash needs exact changeNone, the shuttle runs to the stadium /// Gameday service
Knoxville Area Transit runs dedicated football shuttles: Market Square and Krutch Park at $10 round trip per person, and an Old City route at the same price that only operates for SEC games. Pair either with a free garage and the whole day costs $10 a head.
Heads up: KAT stopped accepting paper tickets in January 2025 and requires exact change for cash as of February 2025, so bring the right money or use the katpay app. The Old City shuttle only runs for SEC games, which is easy to misread as always.
Via katbus.com (Knoxville Area Transit official fares page, including the football shuttle routes and the payment changes)
Offsite lot
KAT regular routes
$2 all day for football, $1 a single ride normallyDepends on your stop /// Normal service
KAT charges $2 all day on its fixed routes for football, and its normal fares are $1 a ride or $2 for a day pass, halved to $0.50 and $1 for riders 65 and over, Medicare holders and riders with disabilities. Fans note the route 11 runs Kingston Pike on gamedays from the Walbrook Walmart to downtown.
Heads up: A fan reports the last westbound bus leaves the stadium area around 11:20 p.m., which matters for a night kickoff that runs long. Confirm the last departure on your line before the game, not after it.
Via katbus.com (KAT official fares for the prices. The route 11 detail and the last departure time are a fan report from August 2025 that we could not confirm against a schedule.)
Offsite lot
Civic Coliseum park and ride
$30 flat per vehicle, shuttle includedNone, the shuttle runs to the stadium /// Gameday service
KAT prices this per vehicle rather than per person, so it gets cheaper the more people you bring. Four people in a car works out to $7.50 each with the ride included, which beats every per person option here.
Heads up: A local guide lists this at $25 with $10 top deck parking, while KAT's own fares page says $30 flat per vehicle. Go with KAT's number and carry a little extra.
Via katbus.com (KAT official fares page. The conflicting $25 figure appears in a Knoxville local guide updated January 2026.)
Offsite lot
Paid downtown garages
About $30 on gameday at the Main Street, Locust Street and City County Building garagesSimilar to the free garages, roughly 20 to 30 min /// Garages run 24/7
These are the garages that switch to a gameday rate while Market Square and State Street stay free, so the practical use is as a backup rather than a first choice. Same neighborhood, same walk, about $30 more.
Heads up: We could not verify this season's gameday rate from the City of Knoxville itself. A city release quoting $20 for these garages is from 2018 and far too old to publish as current, and the $30 figure comes from a local guide updated in January 2026.
Via backyardknoxville.com (Knoxville local guide updated January 2026. The city's own current gameday rates are not published anywhere we could find.)
Community lot
Closer paid lots and yards
Reported around $40 to $50Fort Sanders and University Commons are the short walks /// Varies by operator
Fort Sanders metered spaces run about $40 all day, University Commons about $40, the Poplar Street lot about $50, and residents in the neighborhoods sell yard spaces at around $50. A fan also mentions a preschool on 22nd Street selling cheap spots, which is the classic Knoxville version of the community lot.
Heads up: These are the least verifiable prices on the page and we could not confirm any of them with an operator. They also put you inside the traffic rather than outside it, which is the tradeoff locals specifically avoid.
Via backyardknoxville.com (Knoxville local guide updated January 2026 for the lot prices, and a fan from August 2025 for the school lot. None verified with an operator, and the school is deliberately not named.)
Stadium lot
Campus parking
Not sold to the public at any priceNot applicable /// Not applicable
Tennessee holds every campus space for season ticket holders with parking passes and for people working the stadium. There are no public campus lots, free or paid. UT's parking office confirms that rates and availability vary by sport and points fans to athletics for anything specific.
Heads up: This is the single most common wasted trip here. If a guide tells you to arrive early for a campus space, it is out of date.
Via parking.utk.edu (UT Parking and Transportation directs fans to athletics for gameday specifics. The no public campus parking statement comes from a Knoxville local guide updated January 2026, and matches every fan account we read.)
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Skip parking entirely
Knoxville does the last mile better than most college towns, with a dedicated football shuttle, cheap fixed routes, and a downtown close enough to walk from. Given there is no public campus parking, transit is not the alternative here, it is the system.
KAT football shuttles
$10 round trip per person, or $30 per vehicle at the Civic Coliseum park and rideRoutes run from Market Square and Krutch Park, and from the Old City for SEC games only. The Civic Coliseum option is priced per vehicle rather than per person, so it is the value play for a full car.
Via katbus.com
KAT fixed routes
$2 all day on football gamedaysNormal fares are $1 a ride and $2 for a day pass, halved for riders 65 and over, Medicare holders and riders with disabilities. Exact change is required for cash since February 2025, and paper tickets stopped being accepted in January 2025, so use katpay or the Transit app if you can.
Via katbus.com
Walking from downtown
FreeOne to one and a half miles from the free garages, about 20 to 30 minutes, and closer to 30 to 45 from the Old City lots. Fans describe the walk back as the best part of the plan after sitting on aluminum bleachers, and it takes the same amount of time no matter how bad the traffic is.
When to get there
Kickoff times are set about a week out by television, and because there is no public campus parking to race for, arrival here is about the free garages filling rather than a posted opening time. Market Square and State Street are the two everyone wants, so treat them as first come first served and have a paid garage or the Old City lots as your backup. If you are taking the KAT football shuttle, buy the wristband with exact change or set up katpay before you leave, since paper tickets are no longer accepted.
Getting out after
The reason locals park downtown is not the price, it is that the walk takes the same 25 minutes whether the roads are moving or not. Traffic around campus after a Neyland crowd is severe, and the downtown plan lets you eat, wait out an hour or two, and drive off after it clears rather than sitting in it. Fans say the walk back to the State Street garage is the part that loosens you up after the bleachers, which is the most Knoxville possible way to describe an exit strategy.
Tailgating rules
Tailgating at Tennessee happens on campus and on the water, and neither is something a visitor can simply park into, because the campus lots are all held for pass holders. The Vol Navy, the fleet that ties up on the Tennessee River behind the stadium, is the tradition people travel to see rather than one you can join by driving somewhere.
We could not find published tailgating rules covering grills, alcohol, tents or generators from UT for the 2026 season on the pages we checked, and we are not going to guess at them. UT Parking and Transportation points fans to Tennessee Athletics for anything gameday specific.
Via parking.utk.edu
Questions, answered
- How much does parking cost at Neyland Stadium?
- Cheapest: the Market Square or State Street garage, free even on gameday, about a 20 to 30 minute walk. Also free: the Old City lots under James White Parkway, free 24 hours a day, 30 to 45 minutes out. Best with kids: KAT's regular buses at $2 all day, or the $10 round trip football shuttle wristband from Market Square. Best if you hate walking: the Civic Coliseum park and ride at $30 a vehicle, shuttle included. Worst plan: driving toward campus looking for a public lot, because there is not one.
- Is there free parking near Neyland Stadium?
- Market Square and State Street garages: Free, even on a football gameday, About 1 to 1.5 mi, roughly 20 to 30 min. The city's standing rule is that garages are free on weekends unless otherwise posted for special events, and a home game is exactly the sort of event that can be posted otherwise. Check the sign at the entrance rather than assuming, and note that Market Square carries a $3 flat rate on ordinary Saturdays in some listings.
- What time should I get to a Tennessee game?
- Kickoff times are set about a week out by television, and because there is no public campus parking to race for, arrival here is about the free garages filling rather than a posted opening time. Market Square and State Street are the two everyone wants, so treat them as first come first served and have a paid garage or the Old City lots as your backup. If you are taking the KAT football shuttle, buy the wristband with exact change or set up katpay before you leave, since paper tickets are no longer accepted.
- Can you get to Neyland Stadium without a car?
- Knoxville does the last mile better than most college towns, with a dedicated football shuttle, cheap fixed routes, and a downtown close enough to walk from. Given there is no public campus parking, transit is not the alternative here, it is the system. KAT football shuttles: $10 round trip per person, or $30 per vehicle at the Civic Coliseum park and ride.
The single most important thing on this page is that there is no public parking on campus. Any guide that tells you to arrive early for a campus lot is describing a system Tennessee no longer runs.
City gameday garage rates are the weakest link here. The City of Knoxville does not publish a current football gameday rate that we could find, a city release quoting $20 dates to 2018, and the $30 figure comes from a local guide updated in January 2026.
We could not verify accessible parking arrangements or RV parking for Tennessee gamedays from any official page and have deliberately left both off rather than guess. Contact UT Parking and Transportation or Tennessee Athletics directly.
KAT changed how it takes money in early 2025: no paper tickets after January 31 and exact change required for cash from February 1. Bring the app or the right coins.
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.
/// Know something we do not?
Prices change and lots come and go. If something on this page is wrong, or we missed a lot, tell us.
A person reads every one. You will not get an automatic reply, and we do not change the page until we can verify it ourselves.
Citing this guide
Free to quote and reference, including in articles and AI answers. We ask for credit and a link back, which is the whole license.
Dispatch Sports, “Parking at Neyland Stadium: Tennessee Volunteers Gameday Guide.” Checked 2026-07. https://dispatchsports.com/college/tennessee/parking
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