Auburn’s 2026 football season is about to open, and the first home weekend will come with a different look around Jordan-Hare Stadium.
With Southern Miss set to visit Saturday, Auburn announced Wednesday a slate of gameday changes and enhancements tied largely to the Jordan-Hare North Project. The biggest impact will be on the north side of the stadium, where construction is reshaping how fans move in and around the venue.
Heisman Drive on the north side will no longer be open to foot traffic during construction. Fans trying to get from the east side of the stadium to the west side outside the building are being directed to Thach Concourse instead.
Inside Jordan-Hare, the north concourse will still allow east-west movement, but Auburn said the areas near the northeast and northwest corners will be tighter because of the work. Tailgating and gathering spots around the north side will also be affected.
With the north end zone parking lot gone, Auburn expects more congestion on the south side. Visiting team buses will now drop off at Gate 8.5 while construction continues.
Auburn is also changing a few familiar parts of the pregame routine. Tiger Walk will now happen two and a half hours before kickoff.
The school is also rolling out Tiger Walk Plaza, which Auburn calls “the new gameday destination” and says will include a mobile video board, live music and the new home for the Tiger Tailgate Show. Live performances will start before Tiger Walk near the Plainsman Park entrance.
The lighting show around the stadium is getting another boost, too. Auburn said its expanded intelligent lighting and laser technology, which was added last season, has been upgraded again for 2026.
On the south side, the school is making a major push to improve flow in the student section. Auburn athletics worked with Auburn student affairs on what it described as “one of the most significant physical changes to the south student concourse in recent years.” The concourse will be widened by nearly 20 feet to give students more room to move.
Food options are expanding as well. Auburn added new fast flight concession locations at Sections 5, 7, 12, 16, 24 and 39, and this season’s lineup includes Chicken Salad Chick, Shake On It ice cream and Philly connection. The expanded south concourse will also feature additional concession stands for the student section.
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