The 24th Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl kicks off at 4:30 p.m. Central on Wednesday, December 23, 2026, at Amon G. Carter Stadium on the TCU campus in Fort Worth. The bowl announcement of June 3, 2026 carries the date, the kickoff time and the ESPN broadcast. ESPN Events lists participating teams as to be announced.
The date is fixed and the field is not
The bowl FAQ places the matchup announcement in early December and puts the home team on the east sideline. Ticket Options states that fan tickets go on sale once the matchup is announced. No fan ticket price is published, and the ticket terms bar transfer and resale.
A room request placed today covers a game with two unknown teams. Put the dates and the term in the request before the matchup lands.
Two team hotels and no rate
The FAQ answers the team hotel question with two names: Omni Fort Worth Hotel and Worthington Renaissance. Neither name carries a price, a block size, a cut-off date or an attrition term on any bowl page. The Fort Worth CVB hotels page lists properties with street addresses and prints no rate on any of them. Its meetings page gives the city line of over 4,000 downtown rooms.
The housing link opens on last season
The Hotels control in the bowl navigation resolves to a live EventPipe booking page under the bowl name. The record reads the venue at 2850 Stadium Drive, and the default stay reads January 2 to January 3, 2026. The page description still calls the January 2 game the 23rd Armed Forces Bowl. A reader who follows the link and books without changing the calendar books January 2026.
What the page quotes for a December stay
Set the dates to December 22 and December 24 and the page returns per-night figures. The Omni comes back at $164.87 a night before tax and $199.69 after tax on a refundable rate, with 179 rooms open on that room type. The Worthington comes back at $179 a night before tax on a non-refundable rate and $210.23 on a refundable one, with 5 rooms open on the standard room types.
The refundable term costs thirty-one dollars a night
The Worthington $179 rate forfeits the full prepayment from the booking day. The $210.23 rate carries a cancellation deadline of 11:59 p.m. on December 19. The difference is $31.23 a night, $62.46 across the stay, and it buys the right to cancel.
The Omni $164.87 rate carries a one-night penalty from 11:59 p.m. on December 20. Two nights come to $329.74 before tax.
The two nights the schedule needs
The Kickoff Luncheon runs Tuesday, December 22 at 11:30 a.m. at the Omni, and the bowl lists it as open to the public. The game follows on Wednesday. Parking lots open 4.5 hours before kickoff, the Tailgate Outpost opens 3 hours before, and gates open 1.5 to 2 hours before. On a 4:30 kickoff the lots open at noon, the outpost at 1:30 p.m. and the gates between 2:30 and 3 p.m.
Two nights, Tuesday December 22 to Thursday December 24, cover the luncheon, the game and the night after it. One night forces a choice between a room for the luncheon and a room after a 4:30 kickoff.
What the drive is
The FAQ gives the stadium address as 2850 Stadium Drive. By road from the stadium, the Omni is 7.0 km and the Worthington 7.3 km, both about 11 minutes. Both stand in downtown Fort Worth.
The RV lot takes $50 a pass at lot 13RV. The parking page defers its opening time to after the matchup announcement, and the FAQ puts the opening on the morning of the game.
What to ask both desks
Ask for Tuesday December 22 to Thursday December 24, one room, at a rate that separates room, tax and any fee. Ask whether the rate is refundable and ask for the cancellation deadline in writing.
Ask for the group threshold and the cut-off on any block offered. hotelhaggle sends one request to 50+ hotels in a destination at no charge, and prints group rates as typically 10 rooms a night with some properties discounting from 5. Ask whether the team hotel status carries a fan rate, and ask who holds attrition. No bowl page states an attrition term, so a party of ten needs one in writing before it signs.
The one price the bowl does publish
A suite reservation reads $5,000 and carries four VIP parking passes, 20 seats and 35 tickets donated to veterans. The form places the request behind the annual offer to current TCU suite holders. Complimentary tickets for veterans and active duty run through VetTix, and the FAQ states that all ticket requests will be fulfilled.
Kids two and under ride as lap children without a ticket. The ticket terms state that every person regardless of age must present a ticket. Ask which rule applies before buying a seat for a toddler.
One last check on the address. The FAQ prints the stadium ZIP as 76129 and the EventPipe record prints 76109. The TCU campus ZIP is 76129. Send the room request with the stadium name and the date, and confirm the address in the reply.
