Pick the wrong section at Darrell K Royal Stadium for a day game and you will feel it for three hours. The field runs almost due north-south, the shade collects on the west sideline, and below is how much of a noon, 3:30 or night Texas kickoff every area spends in shade, ray-traced for this exact bowl.
Pick your game and kickoff. Watch the shade move across the bowl through the game.
The field runs almost due north-south, so the afternoon sun crosses the bowl broadside. The stands on the west side block it first: that sideline averages about 54% of a 3:30 game in shade against 12% for the east side. Every number here is ray-traced for this exact orientation (5 degrees), latitude and kickoff time, by the same engine as the live map.
Share of a full game spent in shade, by area, for a mid-September Saturday:
| Seats | Noon | 3:30 | 7:00 |
|---|---|---|---|
| East sideline, lower rows | 0% | 21% | 100% |
| East sideline, upper deck | 0% | 5% | 89% |
| West sideline, lower rows | 0% | 55% | 100% |
| West sideline, upper deck | 0% | 53% | 100% |
| North end zone, lower rows | 0% | 34% | 100% |
| North end zone, upper deck | 0% | 16% | 99% |
| South end zone, lower rows | 0% | 34% | 100% |
| South end zone, upper deck | 0% | 16% | 98% |
Read 100% as shaded from kickoff to final whistle. Every area drifts toward 100% for evening games as the sun drops.
| Seats | Game in shade | Reaches half shade |
|---|---|---|
| West sideline, lower rows | 55% | about 2 hours in |
| West sideline, mid level | 55% | about 2 hours in |
| West sideline, upper deck | 53% | about 2 hours in |
| North end zone, lower rows | 34% | about 3 hours in |
East sideline, upper deck sit in sun for 95% of a 3:30 game, and East sideline, mid level sit in sun for 89% of a 3:30 game. Noon kickoffs start with the sun about 57 degrees high and nearly every open seat lit. You cannot buy full shade at noon here, only a head start: west sideline, lower rows gain it soonest.
At a 3:30 kickoff the sun stands about 51 degrees up in the southwest. Watch the clock, because shade here is a schedule: shade climbs the west sideline from the bottom up. The lower rows reach half shade about 2 hours in, the upper deck about 2 hours in. The common assumption, top rows first, is wrong in this bowl. Because the stands rise at close to the sun's afternoon angle, the shadow starts at the rail and works its way up, and the highest rows are the last to cool off. Even the east sideline, upper deck eventually get there, but not until about 4 hours in.
Night games solve the problem for you: at a 7:00 kickoff the sun is already down to about 8 degrees and sets during the first half, so the whole bowl converges on 100% shade. Nobody needs this page for a night kickoff.
Date matters as much as section. Take the same 3:30 kickoff in late October and the west sideline climbs from about 54% shade to about 70%, purely because the kickoff sun drops from 51 to 37 degrees. Every area benefits late in the season.
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The percentages above are computed, not eyeballed: a 3D model of this bowl is ray-traced against the sun's true position for each date and kickoff shown, using the same engine as the live map. It approximates the stands as a tiered ring and ignores overhangs and press boxes, so trust it for which areas shade first rather than for any single row. Independent tool; not affiliated with the NCAA or any school.
Same conference, same afternoon sun. Shade guides for the rest of the SEC: