A Wednesday kickoff at 4:30 p.m.
The 24th Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl kicks off Wednesday, December 23, 2026, at 4:30 p.m. CT. ESPN carries the game. Amon G. Carter Stadium sits on the TCU campus at 2850 Stadium Drive, Fort Worth 76129.
A 4:30 p.m. kickoff leaves a working morning in front of it. A remote worker who drives in from Dallas can take a morning of calls, close the laptop and reach the lot by noon.
Four clocks the bowl publishes
The bowl FAQ carries the pre-game hours as offsets from kickoff. Each offset converts to a fixed time on this date.
Lots open 4.5 hours before kickoff, which puts the parking gates at noon CT.
The CrossCountry Mortgage Tailgate Outpost opens 3 hours before kickoff, at 1:30 p.m. The fan area sits east of the stadium in Lot 6. It holds military displays from every branch, interactive booths, food and a concert. The page timeline under it still reads TBA.
Stadium gates open 1.5 to 2 hours before kickoff. The gate window runs 2:30 to 3 p.m.
One caution sits beside those numbers. The game-day parking page reads "Timing will be determined after the matchup is announced," and the bowl names the teams in early December. The FAQ holds the hours. Recheck both pages in the week of the game.
The working block needs a room
A parked car beside the lot carries no desk, no shower and no quiet line.
hotelSlots lists 255 properties in Fort Worth. Day-use windows run morning, afternoon, evening or overnight. The platform publishes day-use rates typically 30 to 75 percent below the nightly rate at the same property, with $0 fees.
A 10 a.m. check-in and a 4 p.m. check-out covers five hours of desk time, a shower and a quiet line for the last call.
What to put on the request
Ask for a desk and a chair at desk height. Ask for a room away from the ice machine and the lift lobby.
Ask whether the front desk holds a bag after check-out. A bag left at the desk stays out of the stadium queue.
The FAQ carries the child rule: children two and under are lap children and need no ticket. The ticket terms block reads "All persons, regardless of age, must present a ticket." Both lines stand on the same site.
Merchandise sells at the Tailgate Outpost and on the concourse inside the stadium.
Parking and the drive in
The FAQ calls advance parking purchase "highly recommended". Parking sells through the bowl site.
ADA spaces sit in each lot on a first-come first-served basis. Pre-purchased ADA spots park in the Frog Alley garage on the north side of the stadium.
RV parking sits in lot 13RV at $50 per pass. That lot opens the morning of the game.
A day-use room inside the campus corridor puts the car down early and takes the last stretch on foot or by rideshare.
Team hotels and the luncheon
The bowl names its team hotels as the Omni Fort Worth Hotel and the Worthington Renaissance. Both sit downtown, and both carry bowl traffic on the 22nd and 23rd.
The Kickoff Luncheon runs Tuesday, December 22, at 11:30 a.m. at the Omni Fort Worth. It is open to the public, and tickets sell through the bowl site.
December 23 sits two days before Christmas Day. Downtown rooms tighten across that week.
What the game marks
This is the 24th Armed Forces Bowl. The 2026 edition is the 11th played before Christmas Day and the first early edition since 2023.
Amon G. Carter Stadium carries the name of a Fort Worth businessman, newspaper publisher and city booster. It serves as the home field of the TCU Horned Frogs.
The bowl has featured an academy team 14 times in the last 19 years, with Air Force, Army West Point and Navy all appearing. The 2026 matchup is announced in early December, and the home team takes the east sideline.
Book the slot this week
Day-use inventory at the closest properties moves first. A request placed now holds a slot at the price the property quotes today.
Set the window at 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. That window covers the working morning, the shower before the walk over and the 3 p.m. gate queue without an overnight rate.
