The 24th Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl kicks off at 4:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, December 23, 2026, at Amon G. Carter Stadium, 2850 Stadium Drive. ESPN carries the game. The bowl announced the date on June 3, 2026 and has not named the teams.
Two parts of the trip are fixed. The matchup is the variable.
What the bowl publishes about rooms
The FAQ carries one accommodation answer: “What are the team hotels? Omni Fort Worth Hotel & Worthington Renaissance.” Neither name carries a rate, a booking code or a deadline.
The bowl publishes no fan block. The Hotels tab leaves the bowl’s domain and opens a housing portal at presto.eventpipe.com. The bowl’s own /hotels path returns a 404. The FAQ, the ticket page and the June release carry no instance of “room block”, “group rate”, “cut-off” or “attrition”.
A fan room comes from a property, at a negotiated or a retail rate. That fact sets the timing.
Reset the portal calendar first
The housing portal opens with a check-in dated January 2, 2026 and a check-out dated January 3, 2026. That is last season’s game, and the portal’s own description still calls January 2 the 23rd bowl. Set the calendar to December 22 and December 24 before you read a rate.
A reader who follows the bowl’s Hotels link and presses search books a January stay.
Two nights, and one of them is fixed
The Kickoff Luncheon runs 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 22, at the Omni Fort Worth Hotel, 1300 Houston Street. The FAQ lists the luncheon as open to the public.
A reader who wants the luncheon needs the Tuesday night. The room is where that morning starts.
The game ends on Wednesday evening. Thursday, December 24 is Christmas Eve. Nights of Tuesday the 22nd and Wednesday the 23rd carry the trip, with a Thursday checkout. The night of the 23rd covers the game alone.
The three-week window
The bowl places the matchup announcement in early December. December 1 falls 21 days before the Tuesday arrival. Fan tickets go on sale once the matchup is announced, and the ticket page has carried that sequence since the June release.
Hold both nights now on a rate that cancels without penalty. Move to a firm rate on the day the matchup lands, with a team named and a ticket in hand. A firm rate bought today covers three weeks of a matchup nobody can see yet.
What the game clock does to the address
Lots open 4.5 hours before kickoff, at noon. Gates open 1.5 to 2 hours before kickoff, between 2:30 and 3:00 p.m. The CrossCountry Mortgage Tailgate Outpost opens 3 hours before kickoff, at 1:30 p.m.
RV parking sits in lot 13RV at $50 per pass and opens on the morning of the game.
The Omni at 1300 Houston Street measures 4.5 miles by road from 2850 Stadium Drive. A downtown room keeps the luncheon, the lobby and the drive in one place.
The two named hotels are the teams’ hotels
The Omni and the Worthington Renaissance carry the traveling parties. A fan who books either shares a lobby with a team.
Ask the property what it holds for fans, and put the answer in writing: the nightly rate, the cancellation deadline, the minimum stay. hotelhuddle routes group requests of 10 or more rooms to groupRooms, and publishes 15-40% off published rates with $0 fees.
Four moves this week
Hold Tuesday the 22nd and Wednesday the 23rd on a rate that cancels without a penalty.
Ask both named hotels for a written rate and a written deadline on those two nights.
Reset the housing portal’s calendar to the December dates before you read a nightly figure.
Re-price both nights when the matchup lands, and keep the number you held beside the new number.
The fixed points
Wednesday, December 23, 2026 at 4:30 p.m. CT on ESPN, Amon G. Carter Stadium, 2850 Stadium Drive. Kickoff Luncheon Tuesday, December 22, 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Omni Fort Worth Hotel, 1300 Houston Street. Lots open at noon, gates 2:30 to 3:00 p.m., tailgate outpost 1:30 p.m., RV lot 13RV at $50. Team hotels Omni Fort Worth Hotel and Worthington Renaissance. Tickets on sale when the matchup is announced in early December. The bowl publishes no fan block, nightly rate, cut-off or minimum stay.