Need advice—first time taking kids to Big House
I haven’t been to a game at the Big House since Rich Rod’s first season. I am planning on taking my family to the Illinois game on November 19. It will be my wife and my kids first time attending a game there. (They got to see the venue and go on the field at the 5k back in April.)
I would love to get close seats so my kids, who by then will be 8 and 6, can see the game well and enjoy the experience. I know it will be cold and commercials suck. There are some endzone seats as close as row 2 that I’m considering, but what I want to know is, would that be too close to where the view might be blocked by cheerleaders, photographers, or any other random people that might be on the field behind the endzone?
Row 2 is too low, in my opinion unless you want to feel the actual really close action.
Yeah, that seems kind of close/low to the field for little kids. Remember that the seat rows don't rise steeply - to put it mildly. I'd say that higher seats, closer to the middle of the field, would be much better for kids. I took my 11 yr old to the Maryland game last year and we sat on the 50 in the nosebleeds - what a great view of the game! The endzones make it hard to really see what's going on at the far end, especially when down so low.
1VaBlue1 mentioned the stadium's only weakness: Sightlines. Be prepared to hoist your kids up to viewing height. If you find yourself behind some big sun-blocking galoots you'll wish you had someone to lift *you* up.
I’m a fan of the higher-level rows for sight-lines, but respect the comment about the number of stairs a little kid has to walk. The scoreboards will help keep the kids’ attention wherever you sit.
For my kids’ (then 4 and 6) first game - a Northwestern-Michigan game, in Evanston, near where I live, I simply wanted to gauge how long they might stay. They made it to midway through the 3rd quarter, and I was OK with that, as M had the game well in hand.
Their first game at the Big House, next year, had a chance of rain, so I bought each a $4 poncho at Meijer’s before heading off to the game. My daughter, then 7 years old, was thrilled with the red one, which was great, since Meijer’s had only one yellow one. They stayed through the start of the 4th quarter, and rain hadn’t yet come. At that point, my 5 year-old son wanted to leave, but my daughter said she felt a drop of rain and asked if it was OK to put on her poncho. I said “yes”, and she proudly twirled in it, happy as a clam. She then told the 5 year-old we couldn’t leave, since you always need to stay until the end of the game. I was one happy papa!
Flash forward, and both kids got their undergrad degrees from UM and have become lifelong M fans.
My advice from experience:
Bring or buy lots of snacks as younger kids don't necessarily have the attention span for a 3 hour game. You'll also want to actually watch the game and the food will keep them occupied, but they'll still watch the game. (Don't put a kid on a phone at the big house.)
Park at the Golf course so you don't have a long walk carrying a 70 lbs and 50 lbs kid a mile and a half.
Emphasis on the snack part. I recommend popcorn. 1) kids love it, and 2) keeps them occupied the entire time because they are eating one at a time.
Cram your pockets full of granola bars and apples and string cheese and peanuts. At M Stadium they really only check for weapons and booze going through the security check — if you put any effort at all into hiding your snacks you’ll be fine.
And earplugs. Bring earplugs.
I would recommend taking them to Revelli Hall an hour before kickoff. The band plays there and walks to the stadium. Very cool environment for your kids to be a part of.
Please understand that the wife and kids "experience" may have little to do with the game on the field. In fact, don't expect to be there for the entire game. Arrive early, walk with the band to the stadium, get some snacks before the lines get long, watch the stadium fill up and the pregame. Life will be easier if you don't have to climb too many stairs--seats in row 2 ensure long transaction times in/out. Wishing you the best of times for the experience, but remember this time it's about the wife and kids, not what is important to you.
Every kid is different when it comes to their game experience. I took my oldest daughter to the 2011 Eastern game when she was 5. We spent most of it walking around and buying food. We were out midway through the 3rd quarter.
I took my youngest daughter to the 2015 Oregon St. game. About two plays after the long snapper sent the ball into orbit over the punter’s head, she said “I want a hot chocolate and I want to go home.” I watched the 2nd half from my living room.
I took my middle daughter to the 2014 App State game for her first game. It was a blowout and I was ready to go about midway through the 4th. She was not. She stayed for the last play, and the postgame band performance.
Guess which one went to every home game with me last season….
Wonderful. Not only the 3 different experiences, though that's cool in itself, but that your daughters have a parent who let them have the experience at their own level of interest. It's sweet.
double post
My preference for seats is as close to midfield as possible and up at least 20 rows so that you both see the complete width of the field and hear some of the impact(s). 8 and 6 year olds might have somewhat decent attention spans - you and partner know better than anyone - so giving them a decent, elevated, central view might engage them better.
And, make sure you dress everyone well for potentially cold, damp weather. Cold and wet kids are miserable, you will be too.
Good luck, have a great time!
+1 Always bring a poncho.
My boys were 7 and 4 when we I took them to their first game, without mom. Pretty sure we parked at Pioneer, so not a very long walk. Personally I don’t think seating is super important. Like others have said kids don’t have great attention spans that young, though yours might be different. We went to an early non conference game so I was ok with missing some of the game going to concessions, the Mden, or just checking out the concourse. Overall it was a really positive experience, left them wanting more.
We sit in the top row so if the game is good we watch the game, if not we watch the parking lot. LOL. The video boards make it super easy to watch the game as it happens, especially for a kiddo that is used to watching the TV or digital device.
Sitting close in the endzone is not great for viewing the game. Can be difficult to tell what's going on once they get on the opposite side of the field. I'd recommend at least being in the corners, if you can't get closer to midfield, and 20 - 40 rows up.
Echoing what others have said. The low endzone isn't great unless a team is on the 15 or so coming towards you. Plenty of times it feels like you're not sure it was a 2-yard loss or a 10-yard gain. Corner seats are great, so are sideline. Anything row 20-60 and you can see everything.
Rows 30-40 is the sweet spot IMO, but I'd actually prefer to be higher up with kids than lower so they have a better view of the field. As someone who once had season tickets in row B (rows A and B are in front of row 1), I can tell you that it's actually pretty hard to see things other than the few plays/game that are directly in front of you.
i made my young kids crawl over glass to get to the big house. then i set them behind a flag pole to see the game. no food. no water. no potty breaks. and on the way home we ran over the glass.
2nd row, too low. end zone seats aren't bad because you can actually diagnose a bunch of the formations and explain them to your kids as circumstances dictate.
any other questions
All that and they still enjoyed themselves.
also note that row 2 is actually row 4. There are rows A & B before row 1. if in the back of the endzone then there won't be any view obstruction at all other than the goal posts and if in south endzone perhaps the flagpole. the first few rows in the endzone it is difficult to really see the play develop in the other endzone - but when the action is in your endzone there's nothing like it.
Row 2 is a little too low. IMO, rows 20 - 35 would be great. You only have to worry about people standing in front of you. I had tickets for 35 years in Row 30 on the south goal line. It was a good view.
Make sure you are seated to watch the Michigan Marching Band "take the field".
If you want another great view of the stadium, go sit at the top of the student section at the start of the 4th quarter. (Go after the band plays the Blues Brothers anthem/song.) There will be plenty of seats. You will be able to see the Ann Arbor skyline and parts of the Michigan campus, as well as the game.
I have often wondered about this and am actually in the same boat as the OP as I’m taking my girls (10 and 8) to their first game this fall.
I’d love to grab a spot at the top of the student section as I know that’d keep my girls (both cheerleaders) engaged but thought that was taboo without a student ticket.
If there are open spots after kickoff would we be stopped from heading up top?
If you walk up to the concourse, you will see many open seats in the student section....the ushers won't say anything, as long as you aren't causing issues. My son and I have done it for about 50 games...never an issue.....GO BLUE!!!!
November with an 6 and 8 year old might not last long. I take my 7 year old grandson and granddaughter in September to Toledo games because I get free tickets, but when they start to get cold it's over lol. Same with taking him deer hunting
Can't wait. Going to be my first time in the Big House as well!
If you’re in the endzone, get up a bit higher. Row 20-30 is good.
You don’t need to be so close, especially if you are with kids. Row 2 sounds great in theory, but it’s not like basketball. The first 15 -20 rows have little incline, meaning the view isn’t very clear unless you are standing. With kids, they won’t have much view at all unless you hold them up.
I suspect the kids will enjoy a view of the entire stadium to be more enjoyable. I find sitting in the row 70 to 85 range to be fun because I can see the passing lanes open up nicely. If you can find seats a few rows behind the handicapped seating on the East side, that would be ideal because you won’t have to stand very often. Your kids will enjoy those seats very much and have a nice view of the entire stadium.
That's way too low. Anything below 30 or so is too low.
Unless they are really sports fans already get a babysitter.
Sideline row 20-35. But it's tough to get tix for rivalry games.
Close makes it MORE difficult to see a lot of parts of the field.
We are in Section 18 row 93 (3 from the top) and it has a lot to recommend as a location.
1) you can see every play without exception (and everything the band does at half time)
2) it is easy in easy out you just head up the stairs and there are no scary crowds (when you are short this is a big deal).
3) the bathrooms and concessions are vastly less time consuming. On multiple occasions I got a 3 year old girl in and out of the ladies room during a timeout without missing a single play
Endzone lower tier might not be that bad for young kids, because there will be something going on right in front of them, even if it's not the game itself.
Endzone dead center higher up is actually a very interesting place to watch a game. You can learn a lot about line play watching that way that is harder to follow from the coveted midfield seats.
I took my niece and nephew to a game around the same age, I brought binoculars. They didn't really care for the whole game but they loved using them to play I Spy with them.
Enjoy making memories with your kids.
Find seats close to the aisle, and close to an entrance/exit. The row does not matter as many people have eluded to, the sight lights are actually better the higher up you go. I still feel row 20 is too low, for the best combo of ease of getting food or using the bathroom and good views 50-65 are typically prime spots
Thank you all for the advice! Sounds like higher up is the way to go. U fortunately the Illinois game is the only possibility for us, so we will have to brave the cold. Frequent hot chocolate runs will be needed.
The seat by the aisle is great advice. I took my 5 yo to the UM-CSU NCAA tourney game (we live in Indy) and we were right on the aisle, it was fantastic. So easy to get in and out for bathroom breaks.