Fans with tickets to Monday night’s College Football Playoff National Championship have been planning their arrival at Hard Rock Stadium for days.
The Miami Hurricanes are set to face off against the undefeated Indiana Hoosiers at 7:30 p.m.
Before the game, continuous streams of red and orange were seen filing into the stadium all day, as several fans joined the tailgate celebrations, while others tried to avoid any traffic issues. People were happy to be there; the level of frustration is low.
Whether they were coming to the party or were ready to see their beloved team in a long-awaited National Championship game, Indiana and Miami fans did whatever they had to do to make sure they made it to the stadium on time.
“This is like a college holiday, a football holiday,” a fan said,
Betty T. Ferguson Recreational Complex doubled as a ride-share pickup/drop-off location for those taking Uber or Lyft.
Father and son Hoosier fans Ed and Kevin Mulcahey didn’t mind the one-mile walk to the stadium.
“Worked out real well for us, better than coming here and trying to find a place to park,“ he said.
Saul Spady, who flew in from Seattle to be here, was a little more critical of the hoops he had to jump through to get to the Hard Rock.
“We are as tricky as hell, right?” Spady said. “This is the hardest stadium to get to in all of America. I’ve been to quite a few. You gotta park at a friend’s three miles away, then you take an Uber in, then your Uber drops you off 10 minutes away, so you can do a TV interview before tailgating. Miami was very smart on this one. Is it worth it? Yes, 100%.”
Plenty of locals are trying to make an extra buck by allowing people to park in their yards.
It’s one way to ease the traffic burden for those driving in.
“Everybody comes by, and we do different things with people, my husband does the golf cart, we take people to the stadium,” Myriam Salley.
Fans who spoke to NBC6 didn’t want to jinx their team or make wagers on who will win.
“Either Miami is going to be heartbroken, or the Hoosiers will be crying red tears,” a fan said.
