At the next football game, Gators fans will be turned away at the gates of The Swamp if they bring certain bags.
A new policy prohibiting bags will begin Sept. 3, the first home game of the season.
Kara Campbell, a program assistant for the operations department at UF, said the new policy is working toward similar standards set by the NFL.
Each fan can bring a clear one-gallon, resealable bag or one clear, 12-inches-by-6-inches-by-12-inches bag, she said, but not both.
Fans may also bring “a non-clear clutch” 4.5 inches by 6.5 inches in addition to their clear bags, Campbell wrote in an email.
In April, the Florida Gators athletic website announced the bag size as 18-inches-by-6-inches-by-18-inches, but the size has shrunk since then. Campbell said the new bag size is in accordance with other Southeastern Conference schools that will implement, or have already implemented, this policy.
Lt. Alton McDilda, the special events coordinator for the University Police, said UF is starting the policy this year, but the SEC is standardizing it by 2017.
“The University of Florida has always tried to be in the forefront of security considerations to make the venue as safe as possible for fans, players and staff,” McDilda said.
While the policy is only for football games at UF, he said, there is discussion of extending it to other sports games.
Officer Wayne Clark, a public information officer for UPD, said people frequently try to bring banned items, such as alcohol, into games.
“Hopefully the general public realizes that this is not only to keep everyone safe, but it’s also put into practice to decrease the amount of wait time that people have to be standing in line to enter the stadium,” he said.
Clark said if people come to the gates with banned bags, they will be turned away before their bags are even inspected.
“We’re not going to provide protection or a place for them to secure those items,” he said. “They will have to return to the car.”
McDilda said the rule is more of a security enhancement.
While there may be complaints, he said, it’s not too problematic.
“In our eyes, it’s a minor inconvenience,” he said. “We apologize that they’re upset about it, but we can’t make any exceptions to that policy.”
For a full list of prohibited items, visit the Florida Gators website.
Cornerback Jalen Tabor high fives fans while walking out of the tunnel prior to the Orange & Blue Debut on April 8, 2016, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
