BATON ROUGE –  Southern University fans packed A.W. Mumford Stadium for the Jaguars’ home opener Saturday, but many said parking remains one of the biggest challenges on gameday.

“For a university of this magnitude, parking for games will always be an issue,” Southern Alumnus Zan Jones said.

The university does not have a parking garage, and general admission lots are limited. That leaves many fans paying to park on private property near campus.

“It’s not like there’s a parking garage. So I think over the years, we’ve just made the best of a bad situation,” Jones said.

Along Harding Boulevard, property owners set up to charge for parking on gameday.

“We try to be here for all the home games, and we park right here,” Jones said “My husband knows the owner of this property, so we just try and connect for every game to make sure that he does have parking available. Because even in these spots, they sell out,” another fan explained.

Fans said the general admission lot isn’t big enough.

“There is limited parking. Even at the Mini Dome, they can only accommodate so many parking spaces there. So you’re looking at a stadium capacity that could be close to the first home game, 30,000 or more there. They’re not that many parking spaces around,” Jones.

This season, ongoing construction has further reduced parking. University officials are advising general admission parkers to enter through Mills Avenue.

Jones said their group avoided general admission because of the traffic after games.

“Not that you can’t get off the campus, but it's just a little bit inconvenient,” Jones said.

University officials said parking will remain limited through upcoming home games and are encouraging fans to plan ahead and arrive early.