Senior Bowl Tickets On Sale for Jan. 30 Game as NFL Coaching Staffs Return to Mobile

MOBILE, Ala. — Football fans can now lock in their seats for one of Mobile’s signature winter events. Senior Bowl tickets went on sale Thursday for the 78th annual Panini Senior Bowl, which will be played Saturday, Jan. 30, at the University of South Alabama’s Hancock Whitney Stadium.

Tickets start at $15.

The 2027 game comes with two notable changes. It will be played a week earlier than it otherwise would have on the NFL calendar, a shift designed to ease the overlap between Senior Bowl week and Mobile’s Mardi Gras season. And for the first time since 2022, the National and American teams will be coached by two full NFL coaching staffs.

Senior Bowl week meets Mardi Gras

Senior Bowl week brings players, NFL coaches, general managers, scouts, media and fans from across the country to Mobile. Organizers say this year’s timing, which coincides with the city’s Mardi Gras celebrations, will create a uniquely Mobile experience for those visitors.

As the NFL calendar has shifted in recent years, Senior Bowl week has increasingly run into Mobile’s Carnival season. Mobile, which bills itself as the birthplace of Mardi Gras in the United States, stages a Carnival season whose weeks of parades and balls draw large crowds and fill hotel rooms across the area. Two major events competing for the same downtown streets, restaurants and lodging can strain a city of Mobile’s size.

To give both traditions room to thrive, the Senior Bowl submitted a formal request to the NFL in early 2025 asking to move the 2027 game one week earlier on the league’s calendar. The NFL’s league office approved the change. The Senior Bowl then worked with Mobile’s city and county leaders, the Oak View Group and local hotels to set the new date of Jan. 30.

In 2027, Fat Tuesday falls on Feb. 9, which means the Senior Bowl will be played during the heart of the Mobile parade season.

NFL coaching staffs return

The earlier date also opened the door to another change. For the first time since 2022, the NFL will provide two full coaching staffs to lead the Senior Bowl’s National and American teams.

Having NFL staffs on the sidelines gives coaches a chance to work directly with prospects over the course of a week of practices, meetings and installation, while players get a preview of what life is like in an NFL building. The participating NFL teams will be announced in early 2027, before game week.

Senior Bowl Executive Director Drew Fabianich said the return of NFL staffs will raise the level of the event.

“The Senior Bowl is truly the first stage of the NFL Draft process, and with representation from all 32 NFL teams, it’s the perfect opportunity for the best college players in the country to showcase their talent right here in Mobile,” Fabianich said. “Bringing back two full NFL coaching staffs for the first time since 2022 will only elevate the experience for our players, coaches and fans.”

Fabianich, a former NFL scout with the Dallas Cowboys who later served as general manager for West Virginia University’s football program, was named the Senior Bowl’s executive director in April 2025.

A Mobile tradition since 1951

The Senior Bowl is college football’s premier all-star game for draft-eligible players. The game was first played in 1950 in Jacksonville, Fla., and moved to Mobile the following year. It has been a fixture of the city’s winter calendar ever since.

For most of its history, the game was played at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. It moved to Hancock Whitney Stadium on the South Alabama campus in 2021, a year after the university opened its new on-campus football stadium.

The game itself is only part of the draw. Throughout Senior Bowl week, the practices give NFL personnel an up-close look at many of the country’s top senior and draft-eligible prospects, and players often say the week’s practices and interviews matter as much as the game. Many players who compete in Mobile go on to be selected in the NFL Draft each spring.

The Senior Bowl’s reach extends well beyond one week in late January. The organization also supports local football through community programs, including equipment donations to area high schools and its Senior Bowl Spotlight series recognizing Mobile and Baldwin County natives who reached the NFL.

What fans should know

• Event: 78th annual Panini Senior Bowl
• Date: Saturday, Jan. 30, 2027
• Location: Hancock Whitney Stadium, University of South Alabama, Mobile
• Tickets: On sale now, starting at $15
• Coaches: Two full NFL coaching staffs, with participating teams to be announced in early 2027

Because Senior Bowl week will overlap with the Mardi Gras season, visitors planning to attend the game and practices should expect busy downtown streets and heavy demand for hotel rooms, and may want to make travel plans early.