September day games at Yager Stadium split the crowd into two groups: the shaded and the cooked. 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 Miami (OH) 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 57% of a 3:30 game in shade against 9% for the east side. Every number here is ray-traced for this exact orientation (168 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% | 58% | 100% |
| West sideline, upper deck | 0% | 56% | 100% |
| East sideline, lower rows | 0% | 19% | 100% |
| East sideline, upper deck | 0% | 0% | 84% |
| South end zone, lower rows | 0% | 34% | 100% |
| South end zone, upper deck | 0% | 14% | 97% |
| North end zone, lower rows | 0% | 34% | 100% |
| North end zone, upper deck | 0% | 10% | 92% |
100% = shaded for the entire game. Evening kickoffs converge toward 100% everywhere as the sun sets.
| Seats | Game in shade | Reaches half shade |
|---|---|---|
| West sideline, lower rows | 58% | 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 | 34% | about 3 hours in |
East sideline, upper deck sit in sun for 100% of a 3:30 game, and East sideline, mid level sit in sun for 92% of a 3:30 game. Noon kickoffs start with the sun about 48 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 46 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 an hour and a half in, the upper deck about 2 hours in. That surprises people who assume the top of the stadium shades first. It does not. The stands behind you rise at roughly the same pitch as the afternoon sun, so the front rows drop into shadow first and the shade line walks upward row by row. The east sideline, upper deck never reach half shade before the final whistle.
By a 7:00 kickoff the sun sits only about 9 degrees above the horizon and is gone during the first half, which is why the night column above reads close to 100% almost everywhere. If shade decides it for your group, a night game beats any seat strategy.
The calendar does half the work. For the identical 3:30 kickoff, the west sideline averages about 57% shade in mid-September and about 83% by late October, because the sun stands 15 degrees lower at kickoff (31 instead of 46). Late-season day games are kinder in every section.
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These figures come straight from the engine that runs the live map: a 3D bowl model ray-traced against the actual solar path for the dates and kickoffs listed. Overhangs, press boxes and one-off canopies are not modeled, so use the numbers to rank areas, then confirm the exact row on a seat map. Independent tool; not affiliated with the NCAA or any school.
Same conference, same afternoon sun. Shade guides for the rest of the MAC: