First-Timer's Guide to American Family Field

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The decision that shapes a first Brewers game gets made before you leave the house, and it is whether to drive out and tailgate or ride in. The park sits west of downtown Milwaukee and is wrapped in its own parking, and those lots are where the evening actually starts. Riding in works, but know the map first. No rail reaches the park, the Hop streetcar stops downtown, and the game-day bus route some sites still list was canceled years ago. Without a car of your own, you can take a rideshare, a bar’s game-day shuttle, or the city bus and a walk from the stop. Once you have chosen how you are getting in and packed a bag that passes the gate (no backpacks of any kind), you are set for the night.

Verify before you go: bag, alcohol, gate, parking, and roof rules can all change season to season. Reconfirm anything below on the official Brewers ballpark information guide on mlb.com/brewers close to your trip.

Backpacks, cash, and gate times

All of these rules are team policy, and all are worth reconfirming close to your trip.

• Backpacks are not allowed, regardless of size. Instead, you can bring a clear bag up to 12 x 12 x 6 inches, a small non-clear bag up to 9 x 5 x 2, or a 1-gallon clear resealable bag. Diaper bags up to 16 x 16 x 8 are fine, and ADA and medical bags are exempt. If you are carrying nothing, or only a small bag, Express Lanes at every gate get you in faster.
• The park is cashless. You pay by card or phone for everything inside. If you only have cash, kiosks by Guest Relations near Sections 116, 221, and 418 turn it into a prepaid card you can spend in the park. The parking lots are cashless too.
• Alcohol sales stop at the last out of the 7th inning, and each person 21 or older can buy up to 2 drinks at a time. Get your last round before the 7th inning is over.
• Gates open 90 minutes before first pitch, 2 hours on Opening Day and Saturday home games.
• Your tickets live in the MLB Ballpark app, and so do parking passes. If you enroll in Go-Ahead Entry in the app, you can walk through a dedicated lane and use your face as your ticket.

Cans, glass or metal bottles and tumblers, and aerosols are also on the prohibited list, so leave them behind or you will be turned around at the gate. 1 sealed plastic bottle up to 32 ounces is allowed.

Drive and tailgate, or ride in

Drive and tailgate. Buy your parking ahead of time, bring a grill the rules allow, and arrive when the lots open. Tailgating has to end 30 minutes after first pitch, and everyone in the lots has to head inside or leave then.

Ride in. There is no train. You can take a rideshare to the park’s own rideshare lot, ride a bar’s game-day shuttle, which doubles as your pre-game stop, or take the CONNECT 1 bus from MCTS (the Milwaukee County Transit System) west on Wisconsin Avenue to its stop at 45th Street, which the Brewers put within a 15-minute walk of the park.

For more on parking tiers, the tailgating rules, how the bar shuttles work, and the bus, see our Getting There section.

Luggage is not allowed in the park, and the Brewers will not hold a bag at the gate, so your suitcase has to stay at the hotel or in your car.

The roof

The Brewers decide on the day of the game whether to open or close the roof, based on the weather. For the call on your game day, phone the Roof Hotline at 414-902-4636. When the roof is closed on a cold night, the Brewers heat the seating bowl, usually to the low 60s. There is no air conditioning in the seating bowl, so a hot day feels like a hot day. Bring a layer either way, because the roof can be open on a cool evening, and the walk from the lot is outside.

Which gate

Use the closest gate, and pick it by where you parked or where you are sitting. The Brewers’ concourse map shows five gates: the Home Plate Gate, the Third Base Gate, the Left Field Gate, the Potawatomi Casino Hotel Gate, and the UW Credit Union Plaza Gate. The Home Plate Gate has the legends statues and the 1901 Brewers monument out front, so enter there once on a first visit even if it costs you a longer walk. The Left Field Gate puts you next to the J. Leinenkugel’s Barrel Yard, which brews its own beer on site, if that is your first stop inside. Every gate has Express Lanes for fans with no bag or only a small one.

Right outside the gates, the UW Credit Union Plaza has a biergarten, a playground, and mini golf, and during the regular season it is free on game days. You can find more about it in our Around the Park section.

Kids, strollers, and accessibility

• Kids 2 and under get in free if they sit on a parent’s or guardian’s lap.
• Strollers are allowed on the concourses, but only strollers that fold up and fit under a seat can go into the seating areas. There is free stroller parking next to the Kids Zone on the Terrace Level.
• The Glove Playground is on the Field Level near the right-field corner and stays open until the end of the game. The Kids Zone on the Terrace Level is for kids under 42 inches tall and stays open through the 8th inning.
• You cannot leave and come back in on the same ticket. In an emergency, ask Brewers staff for help.
• Sensory bags with noise-canceling headphones are available at any Guest Relations kiosk, and there is a Sensory Room on the Field Level near the right-field corner.
• Free courtesy shuttles carry guests who need help from set pickup spots around the grounds to the nearest entrance, and back after the game. The Brewers’ Access Guide for Guests with Disabilities covers the rest of their accessibility services.

What to watch for

Keep an eye out for these 3 park fixtures on your first visit:

• Bernie Brewer’s slide. A Brewers homer sends the mascot down a slide from Bernie’s Dugout above the left-field bleachers, and a win does the same. If you want to see it, look at left field rather than following the ball.
• The Johnsonville Famous Racing Sausages. Do not take your bathroom break in the 6th. 5 costumed sausages run a lap before the bottom of that inning, one each for bratwurst, Polish, Italian, hot dog, and chorizo, and it has been run live on the field since 1993, after starting out as a scoreboard animation. (Older fans may still use the previous sponsor’s name; the race has carried Johnsonville’s since 2018.)
• The Uecker Seats. Up on the Terrace behind home plate, the Brewers sell partly obstructed seats for $5 on the day of the game, at the ticket office when the gates open, and a statue of Bob Uecker sits at the back of them in Section 422. They are not sold for Opening Day or postseason games.

You can find more about every seating level, including the Uecker Seats and where the sun sits with the roof open, in our Where to Sit section.

First-timer checklist

• Bag: no backpacks, regardless of size. Clear bag to 12 x 12 x 6, small non-clear to 9 x 5 x 2, or a 1-gallon clear resealable bag. Diaper bags to 16 x 16 x 8 are fine. Express Lanes if you carry little or nothing.
• Money: cashless park, cashless lots. Card or phone, or turn cash into a prepaid card at the kiosks by Guest Relations.
• Entry: tickets and parking passes are in the MLB Ballpark app; enroll in Go-Ahead Entry there to use your face as your ticket.
• Decide before game day whether to tailgate (lots open hours early, parking bought ahead, inside 30 minutes after first pitch) or ride in (rideshare, bar shuttle, or the CONNECT 1 bus and a walk; there is no train).
• Gates: open 90 minutes before first pitch, 2 hours on Opening Day and Saturday home games. Use the closest gate; the Home Plate Gate has the statues and the 1901 monument.
• Roof: the Brewers decide on game day; call the Roof Hotline, 414-902-4636. A closed roof on a cold night means a heated seating bowl, but the bowl has no air conditioning.
• Watch for: the left-field slide after a Brewers homer, the sausage race in the 6th, and the Uecker Seats behind home plate, with the statue in Section 422.

Know American Family Field better than we do? Tell us what we got wrong, or where we should be sending people instead.

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