Buckeye Family Tailgate

The tailgate will begin approximately four hours prior to kickoff and will end a half hour before kickoff. At this time, the kickoff time has not been announced.

Registration will open on Wednesday, July 9 at noon ET. Once registration opens, families can visit https://go.osu.edu/family-tailgate to be taken to the registration form. A link will also be available on the Buckeye Family Connection portal.

Yes. If you have not already created an account on the Buckeye Family Connection, our office's family communication platform, you will need to create a free account to access the registration form. Creating an account only takes a few minutes and comes with several benefits, including personalizing the information that you receive and customizing how often you receive e-newsletters (e.g., weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or never). Stay connected to your student's Buckeye experience by setting up your Buckeye Family Connection profile today.

Registration is $40 per person. Younger guests (under the age of 6) do not need to be registered to attend, but all others (including students) must be registered.

Your registration will include unlimited access to the catered food and food truck options available at the tailgate. Simply show the wristband that you receive at check-in and enjoy any food option at no additional cost. The tailgate will also feature tailgate games, inflatables, music and more. Your registration does not include tickets to the football game.

Your registration does not include tickets to the football game.

Football tickets can be purchased on the Ohio State's Ticketmaster website. An email will be shared with families via the Buckeye Family Connection with a pre-sale link for the game prior to public on-sale on Friday, June 27 at 10 a.m. ET.

Our tailgate is a little different than your typical tailgate. The tailgate will be held on the South Oval, across the Ohio Union along College Road to provide families with their own pregame space to enjoy. Vehicles will not be permitted at the tailgate, but there are a number of nearby parking garages that make it easy to navigate to the tailgate. Our tailgate is also family-friendly, so alcohol will not be served nor is it permitted on site.

When you arrive, you will receive a wristband that will serve as your ticket for unlimited access to the catered food and food truck options at the tailgate. You are welcome to come and go as many times as you would like.

Registration will close Wednesday, Sept. 3 at noon ET.

As this event includes food, we are required to close registration so that we may provide an accurate guest count to our event services and catering teams. Unfortunately, we are strictly prohibited from re-opening the form. To guarantee we can accommodate all of our registered attendees, we are not offering on-site registration for the pregame tailgate. Buckeye Family Day will be our next event, held on Saturday, March 28. More information about Buckeye Family Day can be found on our website.

If you are no longer able to join us for the tailgate, please let us know as soon as possible by emailing us at parentandfamily@osu.edu. We will no longer be able to accept refund requests after Wednesday, Sept. 3 at noon ET.

Yes! Buckeye Family Day will be held on Saturday, March 28, 2026.