Weekend College Football Travel: Fly In, Fly Out Stadiums

Aside from the sheer number of FBS stadiums, there’s a reason the college football travel bucket list is the most elusive – college towns are often secluded. From Boone, North Carolina, to Pullman, Washington, getting to any number of the 134 FBS venues (as of 2024) is an enormous undertaking. But that’s not always the case. Looking to knock some more accessible stadiums off your bucket list? Let’s check out the FBS stadiums closest to major airports for your next weekend college football trip.

For this list, we narrowed down “major airports” as 2,000,000 annual enplanements for 66 airports nationally. We also removed shared NFL stadiums, as those often sit in downtown areas. Looking for quick weekends to Miami, Pitt, or Temple? Nearby metro airports have you covered.

Now, let’s take a look at FBS stadiums within 10 miles of a major airport to set up your next college football travel weekend.

College Football Travel: Closest FBS Stadiums to Major Airports

1. University Stadium, New Mexico

• Airport: Albuquerque International Sunport (Albuquerque, NM)
• Distance: 2.6 miles (~7 minutes)

2. Gerald J. Ford Stadium, SMU

• Airport: Dallas Love Field Airport (Dallas, TX)
• Distance: 4.5 miles (~15 minutes)

Pro tip: Southwester Airlines is headquartered at Dallas Love Field and offers the most extensive flight catalogue. Flying into DFW – the second-busiest airport in the U.S. – puts you over 20 miles away!

3. Mountain America Stadium, Arizona State

• Airport: Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (Phoenix, AZ)
• Distance: 4.8 miles (~10 minutes)

Pro tip: Phoenix is hub to American Airlines and is the 12th busiest airport in the U.S.

Arizona State football game day

4. Mackay Stadium, Nevada

• Airport: Reno-Tahoe International Airport (Reno, NV)
• Distance: 5.5 miles (~10 minutes)

5. CEFCU Stadium, San Jose State

• Airport: San Jose Mineta International Airport (Santa Clara County, CA)
• Distance: 6.3 miles (~10 minutes)

6. Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, Texas

• Airport: Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (Austin, TX)
• Distance: 7.7 miles (~15 minutes)

Pro tip: Austin-Bergstrom Airport recently underwent a massive $165M renovation to make it one of the best in the country.

7. Center Parc Credit Union Stadium, Georgia State

• Airport: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (Atlanta, GA)
• Distance: 8.5 miles (~15 minutes)

Pro tip: Hartsfield-Jackson is the single busiest airport in the world (2023) and one of the largest in the world.

8. TDECU Stadium, Houston

• Airport: William P. Hobby International Airport (Houston, TX)
• Distance: 8.5 miles (~20 minutes)

Pro tip: Like Dallas Love Field, Hobby Airport is a hub for Southwest Airlines – oftentimes, you must book fares directly through the airlines’ site.

9. UB Stadium, Buffalo

• Airport: Buffalo Niagara International Airport (Buffalo, NY)
• Distance: 8.7 miles (~13 minutes)

10. Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego State

• Airport: San Diego International Airport (San Diego, CA)
• Distance: 9.3 miles (~20 minutes)

11. Carter-Finley Stadium, NC State

• Airport: Raleigh-Durham International Airport (Morrisville, NC)
• Distance: 9.5 miles (~15 minutes)

12. Huntington Bank Stadium, Minnesota

• Airport: Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (St. Paul, MN)
• Distance: 9.5 miles (~20 minutes)

Pro tip: Delta Airlines hubs in Minneapolis and MSP is the 18th-busiest airport in the U.S.

13. Alamodome, UTSA

• Airport: San Antonio International Airport (San Antonio, TX)
• Distance: 9.6 miles (~13 minutes)

14. Rice-Eccles Stadium, Utah

• Airport: Salt Lake City International Airport (Salt Lake City, UT)
• Distance: 9.7 miles (~17 minutes)

Pro tip: Salt Lake City is a major hub for Delta Airlines.

15. FirstBank Stadium, Vanderbilt

• Airport: Nashville International Airport (Nashville, TN)
• Distance: 9.8 miles (~15 minutes)

Pro tip: Southwest Airlines hubs in Nashville. Its old carpet was locally famous, depicting music.

College Football Travel: FBS/NFL Stadiums Near Major Airports

• Raymond James Stadium, USF: Raymond James nearly shares a parking lot with Tampa International Airport. USF currently plays in the primary home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but plans to move to an on-campus venue by 2026.
• Allegiant Stadium, UNLV: Only beaten by a few dozen yards by USF, Allegiant Stadium also sits just a stone’s throw from Las Vegas International Airport. UNLV abandoned Sam Boyd Stadium and moved to the new home of the Raiders in 2020.
• Lincoln Financial Field, Temple: “The Linc” sits 6.8 miles from the terminals of Philadelphia International Airport, or about a 10-minute drive. Temple currently shares its home facility with the Eagles.

Miami (FL) and Pitt also share home venues with the NFL, but sit greater than 10 miles away from the nearest major U.S. airport.

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