Raiders/Fighters Mills Bowl Tickets Go on Sale Today

ASHLAND, Ore. — Tickets go on sale today (Wednesday) at 9 a.m. for the long-awaited fourth-round clash of the Mills Bowl between the Southern Oregon University Raiders and their Japanese counterparts, the Fighters, from Kwansei Gakuin University. Tickets can be bought at souraiders.com/tickets.

Tailgate Spots Will be Available on the Day of the Game

Raiders fans who fail to secure a ticket for a seat at the 4,000-capacity Raiders Stadium can still try for a tailgate spot that will be sold on a first-come-first-served basis on the day of the game.

Tailgate spots will be sold for $20 a space, starting at 3.30 p.m., and the Raiders/Fighters clash takes place at 6 p.m. on May 4. Tailgate season ticketholders for the 2023 season will receive emails about their spaces.

SOU Hall of Fame football coach, Chuck Mills, started the three-game series between the two university football teams in 1985, and it was in 1986 that the Fighters became the first Japanese team to play college football on American soil. Mills had previously taken college teams to Japan when he was head coach at Utah State and Wake Forest.

That historical game paved the way for the Pacific Rim Bowl, a cultural exchange with the all-star Japanese team. KGU has an impressive 34 national championships to their name.

Because next month’s clash is not technically an exhibition game, the May 4 statistics will not count on the Raiders’ record or be tallied on their win-loss standings.

The Raiders just wrapped up a promising 6-4 season, securing a tie for fourth place in the Frontier Conference standings in the debut year of head coach Berk Brown. They clinched victory in five out of their last six games, concluding the season with a remarkable 31-16 upset against the College of Idaho, a team that eventually progressed to the NAIA semifinals.

You can check out the Raiders 2024 Football schedule here.