ATLANTA – On Monday Atlanta is about to be swarmed with fans clad in red and crimson.
Not only is it the National Championship game, but both UGA and Alabama are close enough where fans can easily travel for the experience.
Since officials are expecting over 100,00 people to flock to the city, including President Donald Trump, they are taking extra security measures and adding new policies to ensure everything runs smoothly.
Here’s what you need to know to be prepared:
Bag Policy
A clear bag policy will be in place for the National Championship game.
There will be complimentary approved CFP-branded bags that will be distributed at various locations including bag valet locations, Championship Campus parking lots, downtown hotels, CNN Center, and volunteers throughout the area.
For the approved size of the bags, see graphic below.
Prohibited Items
- Alcohol*
- Animals (except service animals)
- Bags not in compliance with the CFP bag policy
- Bottles, cans, cups or beverage containers of any kind (unless purchased on site at Mercedes-Benz Stadium)
- Cameras with lens longer than 8" (detachable or non-detachable)
- Chairs, stools or other seating devices
- Food items*
- Inflated balls of any kind*
- Knives of any length
- Large umbrellas (must be under 33")
- Laser pointers
- Noisemakers
- Pyrotechnics, firearms or weapons of any kind
- Signs or flags larger than 3' X 5'; no poles or sticks (includes stick handles on pom-poms)
- Thermoses
- Tripods, monopods or Selfie-Sticks
- Any other item deemed dangerous or inappropriate
Game Day Schedule
3 p.m. – Box Office and Ticket Windows Open
5:30 p.m. – Stadium Gates Open
7:30 p.m. – Pregame Show begins
8 p.m. – 2018 National Championship Game begins
Ticket Process
This year the National Championship game will be strictly using electronic tickets. College Football Playoff Executive Director Bill Hancock said they decided to do electronic tickets to help eliminate ticket fraud.
Fans who received tickets directly from the College Football Playoff may access mobile tickets by downloading the CFBPlayoff App, available for iOS and Android. Mobile tickets can be saved to Apple Wallet (iOS users) or Android Wallet (Android users). Mobile tickets may also be accessed at http://www.collegefootballplayoff.com/mytickets.
Tickets purchased through Ticketmaster or the Fan-to-Fan Ticket Exchange may be accessed through the CFBPlayoff App, as well as through Ticketmaster directly at http://www.ticketmaster.com/ or via Ticketmaster’s mobile app.
Re-Entry Policy
Once you leave Mercedes-Benz Stadium, you will not be allowed to re-enter using the same ticket.
Parking
Parking at Mercedes-Benz will be processed through Park Mobile. Fans are encouraged to print parking passes in advance but if you have mobile parking passes through Park Mobile, you should have passes already on your phone before arriving to the stadium to avoid network congestion.
You can get passes at http://www.collegefootballplayoff.com/parking or call 866-330-7572.
Alternate Travel
If you decide against driving, Lyft is the official rideshare of the National Championship Game. The designated drop-off and pick-up location will be on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive outside of Gate 1 of Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
MARTA will have multiple pick-up and drop-off locations within the downtown footprint, including the GWCC and Philips Arena/CNN Center.
Atlanta Streetcar will be available during the game with 12 stops throughout the three-mile loop around downtown.
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