When the San Francisco 49ers and San Diego Chargers met in the first NFL event at year-old Aloha Stadium in 1976, the game inaugurated a dubious tradition.
Game-day traffic gridlock.
Though the crowd that day, 36,364, was well under the 50,000-seat capacity, it provided a glimpse of the future for NFL events there.
A series of Pro Bowls, right up until the last one here in 2016, were frequently accompanied by snarled traffic.
With lessons learned from the recent Bruno Mars concerts and other well-attended events, the stadium is attempting to better address the large crowd expected for the Aug. 17 Los Angeles Rams-Dallas Cowboys exhibition game through a “What To Know Before You Go” campaign.
“We’ve been very successful with the major events of the past year, so that has given us a lot of practice,” Aloha Stadium manager Scott Chan said.
Details are available on the Aloha Stadium website: http://bit.ly/2YCadVv.
The Rams-Cowboys game was declared a sellout less than 24 hours after tickets went on sale in March and officials say they are expecting a turnout in excess of 47,000.
With only approximately 6,000 on-site parking spaces available, stadium officials say they have secured about 4,500 others spread across seven alternate locations. Some offer shuttles and tailgating opportunities. Fees vary.
In addition they are urging fans to take advantage of express shuttles from six locations, including Mililani Mauka and Kailua and setting up a dedicated ride share area.
As part of an NFL-mandated policy, most tickets will be mobile only, requiring fans to download them to mobile devices before arriving at the stadium. Exceptions will be made for “hard” tickets purchased from the stadium box office or by mail from Ticketmaster, the announcement said.
The stadium will also be enforcing an NFL “clear bag” policy that limits the type, number and size of bags that may be taken into the stadium.
Los Angeles Rams vs. Dallas Cowboys
When: Aug. 17
Site: Aloha Stadium
Kickoff: 4 p.m.
Turnstiles open: 1 p.m.
TV: NFL Network
