Five Star Stadium holds just over 10,000 people, and on a Saturday when Mercer hosts Furman or The Citadel, the lots around it fill on a first-come, first-served basis — no reserved spot waiting just because you have a ticket. That's the detail that catches first-time visitors off guard, and it's the whole reason a group traveling together to a Mercer Bears game plans the parking question before kickoff, not after arriving.
TLDR: Charter buses and party buses headed to Five Star Stadium park off Mercer University Drive in the Noland Building lot, general parking runs $10 a vehicle first-come first-served, tailgating is not allowed in the bus lot itself, and the stadium sits one turn off I-75 Exit 163. Below is the address, the routes, the vehicle sizes, and the pricing to plan a Mercer Bears game day for your whole group.
Why Rent a Charter Bus or Party Bus to Five Star Stadium
A Mercer Bears home game means dozens of vehicles converging on the same handful of lots off Mercer University Drive at once. Splitting a group of 20 or 30 people into eight or ten separate cars means eight or ten separate spots to find, eight or ten sets of people to reassemble at the gate, and just as many cars to relocate after the final whistle when everyone else is doing the same thing.
A Macon party bus or charter bus rental collapses that into one vehicle, one parking pass, and one group that walks in together. That matters even more for alumni groups and family reunions driving in from out of town for a Mercer Bears game, since nobody has to learn the Noland Building lot or the Stadium Drive traffic pattern cold — the group just gets dropped and picked up. For the wider picture on game-day group transportation across Macon, the Macon sporting event transportation page covers other venues in the area too.
Charter Bus & Party Bus Parking at Five Star Stadium
Buses headed to Five Star Stadium park off Mercer University Drive in the Noland Building lot, according to the official Mercer Gameday parking and traffic page. That's a separate lot from the general fan parking areas circling the stadium, which keeps a 40- or 50-passenger vehicle out of the tightest rows near the gates and gives it room to pull in and stage for the rest of the day.
One rule worth knowing before you plan a tailgate around the bus itself: tailgating is not permitted in the bus parking area. That means the smarter move for a group renting a 40-56 passenger charter bus or a party bus is to have the vehicle drop the group at the tailgate lawn or gate first, then move over to the Noland lot to park for the day — the tailgate spot stays open for actual tailgating instead of getting eaten up by the bus itself.
General fan parking is $10 per vehicle, first-come, first-served, in the designated lots ringing the stadium, with additional first-come, first-served parking off Mercer University Drive at the Noland Building lot itself. Accessible parking is available in multiple lots around the stadium, with attendants directing guests to the closest open spaces on a first-come, first-served basis, per the same official parking page.
Tailgating at Five Star Stadium: Where the Bus Fits In
Mercer's main tailgate area sits below the stadium scoreboard, across from the Drake Field House, with the lower tier reserved for tailgate tents, and the surrounding green space and campus lots — including the Fall Line Bear Garden on Black Field right next to the stadium — fill in around it on game day. Per Mercer Gameday's official tailgating policy, parking lots open at 9 a.m. on game day, giving a group a full morning and early afternoon to set up before the gates themselves open 60 minutes before kickoff.
A 25-passenger party bus or a larger group vehicle works well here because it can carry the tailgate gear in for the group, drop everyone at the tailgate lawn, and then relocate to the Noland lot without anyone hauling coolers and folding tables across a full parking field alone. Recycling bins are placed throughout the tailgate areas, and Mercer asks fans to help keep the grounds clean between games.
For groups planning to camp out for the whole day with an RV, the Bear Plus program designates RV parking in a lot adjacent to the Hilton Garden Inn Macon/Mercer University, with season-long and individual-game passes available through the Mercer Athletic Foundation. That's a separate reservation from a charter bus rental, but it's useful to know if part of your group is driving an RV in while the rest rides together on the bus.
Getting to Five Star Stadium: I-75 Exit 163 and the Drive In
Five Star Stadium sits one turn off I-75 Exit 163, marked for Mercer University Drive. From I-75 North, the exit puts you onto Mercer University Drive; from I-75 South, you cross over the interstate onto the same road. Either direction, the next left at the first traffic light is Stadium Drive, which runs straight into the Moye Complex.
That single, well-marked exit is a real advantage for a charter bus or minibus carrying a group in from out of town — there's no maze of side streets to navigate, just one exit and two turns. A 15-35 passenger minibus handles that approach easily and gets your group directly to the drop point instead of circling side streets looking for parking.
Five Star Stadium Transportation Options Compared
A private bus is not the only way a group gets to a Mercer Bears game, so here's an honest look at how the main options stack up for a group headed to Five Star Stadium.
| Option | Cost shape | Arrive together? | Parking | Best group size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private charter or party bus | One flat rate split by the group | Yes — one vehicle, one arrival | Noland Building lot, no separate pass per rider | 15–56 |
| Everyone drives & parks separately | $10 per vehicle + gas per car | No — caravans split up in traffic | First-come, first-served; can fill on marquee dates | 1–2 per car |
| Rideshare | Per car each way | No — multiple cars, multiple drop points | Not applicable, but Mercer Village pickup is convenient | 1–4 per car |
| Macon Transit Authority | Per-ride transit fare | Only if riding together | Weekend service is limited | Individuals, not groups |
For one or two people, driving in and paying the $10 parking fee is often the simplest call. But once a group grows past a couple of cars — an alumni tailgate crew, a family reunion, a block of season-ticket holders — the coordination cost of separate vehicles searching for spots in the same first-come, first-served lots tips the math toward one bus.
What Size Party Bus or Charter Bus Fits Your Mercer Bears Group
Mercer Bears fan groups range from a handful of alumni meeting up for the game to a full reunion tailgate spanning three generations. Here's how the vehicle sizes commonly requested for Five Star Stadium trips break down.
| Vehicle | Typical seats | Tailgate gear | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14-passenger Sprinter limo / Sprinter van | Up to ~14 | Light — a few coolers and chairs | Small alumni groups, family groups |
| 25-passenger party bus | ~20–25 | Onboard storage for tents and folding tables | Tailgate crews, class-reunion groups |
| 50-passenger party bus | Up to ~50 | Larger onboard capacity | Big alumni chapters, student organizations |
| 40-56 passenger charter bus | Up to 56 | Deep undercarriage storage bays | Full tailgate loads, band or booster groups |
Headcount and how much tailgate gear you're bringing usually settle the decision. A group hauling grills, folding tables, and multiple coolers benefits from the undercarriage storage on a full-size charter bus, while a smaller group of 14 or fewer riding in from an Atlanta suburb often does better in a Sprinter van. Browse the full vehicle lineup to compare every option side by side.
Five Star Stadium Party Bus & Charter Bus Rental Prices
There's no single sticker price for a Five Star Stadium bus rental — the total depends on vehicle size, how many hours you need it (including tailgate time before kickoff and the wait after the game), and your pickup location. To give you an idea: 14-passenger Sprinter vans typically run $130–$250/hour; 20-25 passenger party buses run $150–$300/hour; 35-50 passenger party buses run $250–$400/hour; and 40-56 passenger charter buses run $130–$250/hour or $1,000–$1,800/day.
Pricing shifts with the date and how far your pickup point is from Macon, so the fastest way to see a number for your specific game day is a quick form or a call to 478-330-6880 — you can check pricing in about a minute. The Macon party bus prices page has more detail on how rates are built.
Flying in for a Mercer Bears Game: Airport Routes to Five Star Stadium
Some Mercer Bears trips involve family or alumni flying in rather than driving. Middle Georgia Regional Airport (MCN) sits about 11 miles from Five Star Stadium, roughly a 15-20 minute drive, and Contour Airlines currently runs daily service to Baltimore/Washington International (BWI) plus nonstop flights Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday to Fort Lauderdale (FLL). For a small group flying into Macon directly on one of those days, that's a short, simple run straight to the stadium or a hotel.
Larger groups, and out-of-state family flying in for a Furman or ETSU road trip, more often connect through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), roughly 80 miles north of Macon and about an hour and a quarter down I-75 in ordinary traffic. One bus gathering the whole group at baggage claim beats splitting everyone across separate rideshares for that drive, and it's worth reviewing the Macon airport transportation page for how that pickup typically works.
Bag Policy & Gameday Rules at Five Star Stadium
Knowing the gate policy before you arrive saves a trip back to the vehicle. Per the official Mercer Gameday stadium information page, backpacks and large bags are not allowed inside the stadium, along with coolers, lawn chairs, umbrellas, banners, outside food and drink, tobacco products, artificial noisemakers, laser devices, and weapons. Pets other than service animals are also not permitted.
All gates open 60 minutes before kickoff, with the Drake Field House opening two hours early for credentialed fans, and a separate gate near the tennis courts on the east side for players and spirit groups, which requires valid photo ID. Will Call is at the Butler Family Plaza near Gate 2, and the ticket office opens three hours before kickoff and closes at halftime. If your group is coordinating a large block of tickets, plan to arrive on the earlier side of that window so everyone clears the gate together.
Leaving Five Star Stadium After the Game
The lots around Five Star Stadium empty the same way they filled — on foot, in a crowd, with everyone converging on the same first-come, first-served rows at once. That's the moment a group traveling in eight separate cars scatters, since not everyone parked together to begin with.
A charter bus or party bus sidesteps that entirely: the vehicle stages in the Noland Building lot during the game and is ready when your group walks out, so there's no searching for where everyone parked or waiting on separate rideshares in the same post-game crowd. Everyone leaves together, the same way they arrived.
Mercer Bears Football at Five Star Stadium: Home Games to Plan Around
Mercer plays in the Southern Conference at the FCS level, and the 2026 home schedule at Five Star Stadium includes six games, per Mercer Athletics' official football schedule:
- Week Zero — August 29, vs. East Texas A&M
- Presbyterian — September 5
- Furman — September 12
- Western Carolina — October 10
- The Citadel — October 31
- ETSU — November 21
Homecoming and marquee conference matchups like Furman and The Citadel tend to draw the biggest alumni turnout of the season, which also means the Noland Building lot and the surrounding first-come, first-served spaces fill earlier than a midweek or early-season date. Locking in a vehicle further ahead of those dates keeps your group from scrambling for a bus the week of the game.
Who Rents a Bus to Five Star Stadium
The same group transportation works for Five Star Stadium regardless of who's on board. A few of the groups that request it most:
- Alumni chapters and tailgate crews coordinating a reunion tailgate on Homecoming or a big conference weekend, with a private group rental keeping everyone on one schedule.
- Family groups flying or driving in from out of state for a Mercer Bears game who need one pickup instead of a caravan of rental cars.
- Corporate and sponsor groups hosting clients in a suite or club section, where the Macon corporate event transportation page covers the broader logistics.
- Student and booster organizations moving a large group together for a home game without splitting into individual cars.
Trips that combine a Mercer Bears game with other stops in Macon — dinner downtown, a hotel pickup, another campus stop — are easy to line up through the Macon group transportation services page.
Booking Your Five Star Stadium Bus Rental
Lining up transportation to Five Star Stadium comes down to a few details:
- Get your quote with your group size, pickup location, game date, and how much tailgate time you want before kickoff.
- Compare vehicles sized to your group and gear — from a Sprinter van for a small family group to a full charter bus for a tailgate crew hauling grills and folding tables.
- Set your pickup window for after the game so the bus is staged in the Noland Building lot and ready when your group walks out.
A common timing question: how early should the bus drop the group? Three to four hours before kickoff covers a full tailgate at the lawn below the scoreboard, since gates themselves don't open until 60 minutes before the game.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do charter buses and party buses park at Five Star Stadium?
Buses park off Mercer University Drive in the Noland Building lot, per the official Mercer Gameday parking page. Tailgating is not permitted in that lot, so groups that want to tailgate typically have the bus drop them at the tailgate lawn first and then move to the Noland lot to park for the day.
How much does parking cost at Five Star Stadium?
General fan parking is $10 per vehicle, first-come, first-served, in the designated lots around the stadium, with additional first-come, first-served parking off Mercer University Drive at the Noland Building lot. There is no advance-purchase system described on the official parking page for general lots, but Bear Plus season pass holders receive designated lot passes by mail.
What exit off I-75 goes to Five Star Stadium?
Take I-75 Exit 163, marked for Mercer University Drive. From I-75 North, turn right onto Mercer University Drive at the top of the ramp; from I-75 South, turn left and cross over the interstate. Either way, turn left at the first traffic light onto Stadium Drive and follow it into the Moye Complex.
What can't I bring into Five Star Stadium?
Backpacks and large bags, coolers, lawn chairs, umbrellas, banners, outside food and drink, tobacco products, artificial noisemakers, laser devices, and weapons are all prohibited, per the official stadium information page. Pets other than service animals are also not allowed.
What time do the gates open at Five Star Stadium?
Gates open 60 minutes before kickoff for most fans. The Drake Field House opens two hours before kickoff for credentialed fans, and a separate gate near the tennis courts on the east side is available for players and spirit groups with valid photo ID.
How much does a bus rental to Five Star Stadium cost?
Pricing depends on vehicle size, total hours including tailgate time, and your pickup location. To give you an idea: Sprinter vans run $130–$250/hour, 20-25 passenger party buses run $150–$300/hour, and 40-56 passenger charter buses run $130–$250/hour or $1,000–$1,800/day. Call 478-330-6880 or use the online form for pricing on your exact date.
How far is Five Star Stadium from the airport?
Middle Georgia Regional Airport (MCN) is about 11 miles away, roughly a 15-20 minute drive. Groups connecting through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) are looking at about 80 miles and a little over an hour down I-75.
Is there RV parking near Five Star Stadium?
Yes. The Bear Plus program designates RV parking in a lot adjacent to the Hilton Garden Inn Macon/Mercer University on Stadium Drive, with season and individual-game passes available through the Mercer Athletic Foundation.
Rent Your Five Star Stadium Bus Today
Whether it's a Homecoming tailgate, a family group flying in for a Furman or ETSU weekend, or a corporate suite outing, comparing party buses, charter buses, minibuses, and Sprinter vans for Five Star Stadium takes about a minute. Also headed to another Macon venue on the same trip? The Macon Coliseum and Atrium Health Amphitheater guides cover their own drop-offs, and groups coming from nearby towns can check Warner Robins party bus rental, Atlanta party bus rental, or Columbus party bus rental for their own pickup options.
Call 478-330-6880 or fill out the quick online form any time for a free quote — no account required, and you'll see vehicle options and pricing for your Mercer Bears game day in about a minute.
