Chris Stapleton is bringing his 12-time Grammy-winning act to the University of Texas campus for free, but the show is not open to the general public. The Sept. 10 concert at LBJ Lawn is reserved exclusively for UT students who hold a Big Ticket, the university's annual athletics pass, and tickets are neither purchasable nor transferable to anyone else.
The show, called the EA Sports Presents College Football 27 Ultimate Tailgate, runs from 7 to 10 p.m. on the LBJ Lawn in Austin, according to the Austin American-Statesman. It lands two days before Texas hosts Ohio State at Darrell K. Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 12, a matchup that kicks off at 6:30 p.m. Central on ABC and marks the second leg of a home-and-home series after Texas played the Buckeyes in Columbus in 2025, according to Texas Football Schedule.
Stella Lefty opens the concert, and the Longhorn Band performs as part of the night, per the Statesman's reporting. Only students who have already purchased the Big Ticket are eligible, and even among that group, entry into the student section is first-come, first-served — the Big Ticket does not guarantee entry into every event it covers.
How the Big Ticket Actually Works
The Big Ticket is UT Austin's annual sports pass, and any active full-time student can buy one using a school email address. It covers more than 120 home regular-season events a year, including football, volleyball, baseball, softball, men's and women's basketball, and the Texas Relays.
Pricing depends on whether football is included: a Big Ticket with football access costs $270, while one without football runs $110, per the same Statesman report. Students with football access still have to claim a mobile ticket ahead of every home game and then enter the student section using a physical student ID.
That demand has been building for years. Big Ticket sales climbed from roughly 16,900 in 2021 to 22,800 in 2026, even as available student stadium seating grew by fewer than 1,000 seats over that same span, according to The Daily Texan. The football-inclusive price has risen accordingly, from $175 to today's $270.
A Separate Path Through the Longhorn Foundation
Beyond the student pass, a Longhorn Foundation membership costs $140 and provides 24-hour early access to football ticket sales, though those memberships are currently sold out, per the Statesman's reporting. Eligible students set to attend the Stapleton concert will receive an email with additional ticket-claim information, and free concert tickets themselves will be distributed to that eligible group on a first-come, first-served basis.
A Kickoff Built Around EA's New Gaming Partnership
The concert doubles as the official debut of the EA Sports Presents College Football 27 Ultimate Tailgate, a partnership with Visa that extends EA's live gaming tailgate concept into college football for the first time, according to Electronic Arts. The concept builds on EA's existing event franchises like the NFL-focused Madden Bowl.
Programming around the concert includes a live stream from creator Sketch, digital content from former NFL quarterback Kurt Benkert and creator Katie Feeney, and a “4th & 1” digital show hosted by Cam Newton featuring Longhorn legends Vince Young and Ricky Williams alongside Buckeye legends Braxton Miller and Cardale Jones, per University of Texas Athletics. The lineup brings together national championship alumni from both programs just ahead of a game that will mark the fifth overall time — and third consecutive matchup — that ESPN's College GameDay originates from a Texas-Ohio State game, with prior broadcasts dating back to 2005, 2006, 2024, and 2025.
Stapleton's Momentum Heading Into the Show
Stapleton arrives on campus fresh off a run of career milestones. In January, his signature song “Tennessee Whiskey” became the first country song in music history to achieve an RIAA Double Diamond certification, representing more than 20 million certified units sold, according to information from ChrisStapleton.com. The track originally appeared on his 2015 debut solo album, Traveller.
At the 68th Annual Grammy Awards in February, Stapleton won Best Country Solo Performance for “Bad As I Used To Be,” pushing his career total to 12 Grammy Awards, per the Recording Academy. He had also been nominated that night for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. The free campus show is not his first Central Texas appearance this year — Stapleton headlined the Two Step Inn festival at San Gabriel Park in Georgetown on April 19, according to Ticketmaster.
The Bigger Stage for LBJ Lawn
The Stapleton show is the latest entry in Longhorn City Limits, the free gameday concert series Texas Athletics launched on LBJ Lawn in 2018. Now entering its eighth season, LCL has hosted more than 80 acts over the years, including The Beach Boys, Nelly, Ludacris, and Spoon, per The Alcalde. Hollister Co. has served as the series' official presenting sponsor since a multi-year agreement signed with Texas Athletics in September 2025, which debuted with an on-campus Hollister Feel Good Fest.
.jpg){kind=link}