Pick the wrong section at Michigan 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 Michigan 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 58% of a 3:30 game in shade against 11% for the east side. Every number here is ray-traced for this exact orientation (179 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| West sideline, lower rows | 0% | 61% | 100% |
| West sideline, upper deck | 0% | 56% | 100% |
| East sideline, lower rows | 0% | 21% | 100% |
| East sideline, upper deck | 0% | 2% | 85% |
| South end zone, lower rows | 0% | 36% | 100% |
| South end zone, upper deck | 0% | 16% | 98% |
| North end zone, lower rows | 0% | 36% | 100% |
| North 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 | 61% | about an hour and a half in |
| West sideline, mid level | 58% | about an hour and a half in |
| West sideline, upper deck | 56% | about 2 hours in |
| South end zone, lower rows | 36% | about 3 hours in |
East sideline, upper deck sit in sun for 98% of a 3:30 game, and East sideline, mid level sit in sun for 90% of a 3:30 game. Noon kickoffs start with the sun about 47 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 43 degrees up in the southwest. Minute by minute, this is what the model shows: shade climbs the west sideline from the bottom up. The lower rows reach half shade about an hour and a half 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. The east sideline, upper deck never reach half shade before the final whistle.
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 58% shade to about 83%, purely because the kickoff sun drops from 43 to 28 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 Big Ten: