When we say college football, you say tailgating. For students and fans of football alike, tailgating isn’t an option, it is a tradition that needs to and will be upheld for years to come. The Missouri Students Association understands the student football fan’s need to tailgate and has supported that need with the creation of the student tailgating space The EndZone.
For those of you that were around last year, you have heard about or might have even experienced The Jungle, MU’s first MSA sponsored tailgating space and the brainchild of former MSA President Tim Noce. The Jungle was in reaction to the shutdown of the last MU student dominated tailgating space, [Recator Field]( https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2009/8/25/reactor-closed-without-notice-tailgaters-season/).
According to Athletic Director Mike Alden [in a Maneater article published in 2009]( https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2009/8/25/reactor-closed-without-notice-tailgaters-season/), it was the combination of student misuse and misconduct in Reactor during the 2008 football season that lead to the shutdown of the space.
Students were left without a tailgating space when Reactor was shut down, and MSA would not have it. In their belief that the MU student population needs a space to tailgate, The Jungle was created. Although The Jungle ultimately failed due to lack of advertising and student and organization attendance, MSA has renamed and revamped the space into The EndZone, and students shouldn’t think twice about taking advantage of this space that MSA has to offer.
The EndZone is in a great location on campus (lot CG-17 at the corner of Maryland and Rollins), MSA provides students with free food and beverages at the space and The EndZone also provides a space for students to barbecue as well as a space for students, of age, to drink (BYOB, of course).
MSA went the extra mile to make sure a student tailgating space was available to students after Reactor Field was shut down, and students should not let the space that MSA reserved for them become just another parking lot on game days.
Although The EndZone has yet to see crowds at lot CG-17 before home games at The Zou, MSA President Eric Woods has confirmed that spots to tailgate at The EndZone before the centennial Homecoming on Oct. 15 against Iowa State are close to selling out completely.
Students, don’t stop tailgating at The EndZone after Homecoming. The space will only be as great as students want it and make it to be. The Jungle was never the huge tailgating space Reactor was in its heyday. The EndZone isn’t either, but it has the potential to become a long-lasting part of the tailgating tradition that comes with football season.