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The CU Boulder Sports Pass and Game Day, Explained
Published September 22, 2026
What the CU Boulder sports pass gets you, when it drops, and how game day works at Folsom Field, from a current student.
The CU Boulder Sports Pass and Game Day, Explained
The CU Boulder sports pass is one of the best buys of your year. If you're an incoming freshman, get it. It's worth every dollar and one of the best deals students get anywhere on campus. For around $265 it gives you the ability to claim tickets to home football and men's basketball games, plus free entry to a long list of other sports with your Buff OneCard. It drops at the end of summer and sells out fast, so grab it the day it releases.
Buying the pass is only half of it
Getting the pass is step one. The part students forget is that you still have to claim your ticket for each individual game or event, and if you miss the window you might not get in even though you paid. Claiming usually opens about a week before the game. Put a reminder in your phone, claim as soon as your window opens, and don't assume the pass alone gets you through the gate. This is the single most common way students end up watching from their couch, so treat it as a two-step process every time.
Football is the main event
Football Saturdays at Folsom Field are a scene, and Buff Pride runs deep even in a rebuilding year. Claim your ticket as soon as your window opens, since upperclassmen get earlier claim times and games fill up. Show up about 30 minutes before kickoff and watch Ralphie run, a tradition worth seeing at least once. One thing to know: if you claim a football ticket but don't get scanned in at the stadium, you can lose your claim for the next home game, so only claim when you're actually going. The atmosphere is unreal rain or shine, and the program's national profile has brought a lot of energy and big-name visitors to the sidelines lately.
A note on tickets and the student section
The student section is its own thing. CU has been cracking down on students reselling their tickets by making students enter through a separate line from general admission, which makes it hard to hand a student ticket off to someone who isn't one. If you're buying a regular ticket instead, don't stress about seat location. Grab the cheapest one you can find, because Folsom is pretty easy to move around in once you're inside. The one exception is the student section, which stays segregated, so heads up to parents: sitting there with your student can get you kicked out depending on how the security guards are feeling that day.
So much more is included
Your pass gets you men's basketball too, and those games are a great, lower key way to use it all year. Women's basketball and women's volleyball are free to every student with your Buff OneCard, so as a pass holder you're set for all of it. All of it gets loud, basketball and volleyball alike, and all of it happens at the CU Events Center, a 30-second walk off campus, which makes a weeknight game an easy call.
Want to see where students gather before and after games on The Hill? Book a Private Signature Walking Tour ($150) at tourthehillboulder.com/request-tour.