TLDR: SCHEELS Arena sits on 31st Ave S in one of south Fargo's busiest commercial corridors, and while parking itself is free for Fargo Force games and most concerts, the lots fill fast and everyone exits onto the same stretch of road at once — a charter bus or party bus keeps your whole group together, skips the caravan-through-the-lot problem, and gets you back out while the crowd is still hunting for their own car. Fill out the quick form or call 701-929-8110 and you can compare vehicles and see pricing for your SCHEELS Arena trip in about a minute.
Whether you're rolling up for a Fargo Force USHL game, a touring concert, or an NCAA hockey regional weekend that's packed South Fargo hotels for three straight days, getting a group of ten, twenty, or fifty people to SCHEELS Arena (5225 31st Ave S, Fargo, ND 58104) is a different problem than getting yourself there. One car finds a spot. A group of six cars trying to park together, then find each other again after the final horn, is how half your group ends up standing in the cold texting "where are you."
A Fargo party bus rental or charter bus solves that by treating your group as one vehicle with one arrival and one pickup time, not six separate plans that all have to work out.
Why Rent a Bus to SCHEELS Arena?
A SCHEELS Arena party bus rental turns the drive itself into part of the night instead of the part everyone dreads. For a Fargo Force game, that means your group arrives together with the pregame energy already going, instead of trickling into the lot in three or four separate cars and meeting up at the doors. For a concert or an NCAA regional session, it means nobody in your group has to sit out the fun to get everyone home safely — there's a built-in designated driver for the whole trip, and that's one less thing anyone has to plan around.
It also solves the more boring problem: coordination. Instead of texting a group chat five different pickup addresses across Fargo, Moorhead, or West Fargo and hoping everyone's cars leave on time, one quick form or one call to 701-929-8110 lines up a single pickup, a single vehicle, and a single drop at SCHEELS Arena's entrance. Compare a 15-passenger party bus for a small friend group against a 40-passenger party bus for a full section of season-ticket holders, and you'll see pricing and vehicle photos in about a minute — no account needed.
Charter Bus & Party Bus Drop-Off at SCHEELS Arena
SCHEELS Arena's own guest information confirms free parking for Fargo Force games and most concerts and events, with lots typically opening about two hours before the event starts, per the arena's official parking page. That sounds simple, but "free" and "first-come" are the same thing here — a lot that opens two hours out fills up well before puck drop on a big Force night or a sold-out regional session, which means your group's six or eight separate cars are not guaranteed to park anywhere near each other, or near the doors.
A charter bus rental or party bus bypasses that scramble entirely. Instead of circling for six adjacent spots, your group loads into one vehicle before the drive even starts, and the bus finds one spot for the whole crew — no splitting up, no "just meet us inside" text chains, no parking farther out than the people who arrived twenty minutes before you.
Where Buses Actually Load at SCHEELS Arena
For event logistics, SCHEELS Arena designates bus and truck parking along 30th Ave S, right next to the building's load-in area — a street the venue closes to public traffic during events and concerts, according to the arena's own event logistics information. That's a meaningfully different lane than the general fan parking lots off 31st Ave S, and it's the kind of detail a group planning its own trip to the arena would never think to ask about until the night of the event.
Passenger vehicles are not permitted to treat that load-in lane as overflow parking, so it's not a shortcut for a carload of fans — it's specifically for oversized vehicles handling group logistics for the event. That's exactly the lane a charter bus or party bus is built to use, which is one more reason a single coach beats a caravan of cars trying to find a spot in the general lot.
SCHEELS Arena on the 31st Avenue South Corridor
SCHEELS Arena sits inside one of south Fargo's busiest retail and entertainment stretches, reached primarily off 31st Ave S with easy connections to both I-29 and I-94. That's convenient on a quiet Tuesday, but on a Fargo Force Friday night or a big concert, 31st Ave S is also carrying regular retail and restaurant traffic from the surrounding corridor at the exact same time thousands of fans are converging on the same handful of intersections.
For a group traveling from a hotel base, the Courtyard by Marriott Fargo, roughly a mile from the arena, is a common staging point for visiting teams' fan groups and NCAA regional travel parties. Whatever hotel your group is working from, a private bus means one vehicle threading that corridor traffic instead of a string of cars trying to stay together through the same lights — and it means your group's exit timing isn't tied to finding each other in a packed lot afterward. Planning a bigger multi-stop weekend around Fargo?
The Fargo group transportation services page covers how one vehicle can handle hotel-to-arena runs across your whole visit.
Fargo Force USHL Nights: Party Bus Rentals for SCHEELS Arena Hockey
SCHEELS Arena has been home ice for the Fargo Force of the USHL since the building opened in 2008, seating just over 5,000 for hockey. The 2026-27 USHL season runs from the league's Fall Classic in mid-September 2026 through the close of the regular season in early April 2027 — 30 regular season home games, plus up to 12 more if the Force make a playoff run, per the arena's own suite information, which means Force home dates are stacked across an entire fall-through-spring stretch and there's real flexibility to pick a night your whole group can actually make. Check the arena's official Fargo Force schedule for exact home dates, then call to get started on your group's night.
A Fargo Force party bus rental works especially well for groups of coworkers, alumni groups, or friend groups splitting a suite or a block of seats — everyone rides together, the built-in designated driver means nobody has to sit out the celebration if the Force win in overtime, and the bus is waiting when the group is ready to leave instead of everyone hunting separately for their car in the same free lot. See the Fargo sporting event transportation page for how this works across the rest of the region's game nights, and compare a 20-passenger party bus against a 28-passenger party bus depending on how big your group runs.
NCAA Hockey Regional Weekends: The Biggest SCHEELS Arena Draws
SCHEELS Arena is a recurring host site for the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Regional, with the University of North Dakota serving as host institution for regionals held there in 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023, and 2025 — and the NCAA has already awarded Fargo the regional again for both 2027 and 2028, per reporting on the NCAA's regional host announcement. That's a multi-day event that pulls traveling fan bases in from several states, on top of every UND fan making the drive down from Grand Forks.
A regional weekend means multiple sessions across two or three days, hotel stays, and a lot of fans trying to get from the same handful of hotels to the same arena at the same times as everyone else. A charter bus or minibus rented for the whole weekend removes the driving and parking question entirely — one vehicle handles the hotel-to-arena run for every session, and it's parked and waiting for the return trip while single cars are stuck working through the same exit onto 31st Ave S. Groups coming down I-29 from North Dakota's other college hockey market can also compare a Grand Forks party bus rental for the drive south.
Concerts & Touring Shows: Party Bus Rentals for SCHEELS Arena Events
Beyond hockey, SCHEELS Arena hosts national touring concerts, family shows, and other large-scale events, with the building configured to seat up to roughly 6,000 for concerts. A concert night at SCHEELS Arena draws the same parking-lot crunch as a big Force game — the lots open about two hours ahead of showtime and fill accordingly — so a group heading to a touring show benefits the same way a hockey crowd does: one bus, one pickup, and no one splitting off to find their own car once the show lets out. The Fargo concert transportation page covers how this plays out across the rest of the area's concert venues, including the outdoor season at Bluestem Amphitheater just across the river in Moorhead.
What Size Bus Fits Your SCHEELS Arena Group?
SCHEELS Arena trips run from a handful of friends splitting a suite to a fifty-person alumni group or a full NCAA regional travel party, so the right vehicle depends entirely on headcount and how much gear (signs, jerseys, team gear bags) is coming along. Browse the full vehicle lineup to compare options, or use this as a starting point:
- 14-passenger Sprinter limo or Sprinter Van Rental with Driver — a tight friend group or a suite-holder party that wants a smaller, easier-to-load vehicle for a single game or show.
- 15-, 18-, or 20-passenger party bus — the common size for a group of coworkers or a section of season-ticket holders headed to a Fargo Force night.
- 25-, 28-, or 30-passenger party bus — fits a bigger celebration group or a mid-size alumni gathering with room to spare.
- 40- or 50-passenger party bus — built for a large fan group, a company outing, or a full NCAA regional travel party.
- 40-56 passenger charter bus — the pick for a multi-day regional weekend, with overhead and undercarriage storage for gear and luggage across several nights.
- 15-35 passenger minibus — a comfortable middle option for a mid-size group that wants easy loading without the largest coach.
SCHEELS Arena Bus Rental Prices
Pricing for a SCHEELS Arena trip depends on your group size, how many hours you need the vehicle, and the date — a Fargo Force weeknight prices differently than a sold-out NCAA regional Saturday. To give you an idea: 14-passenger Sprinter limos and vans typically run in the $130-$220/hour range; 15-20 passenger party buses run around $150-$250/hour; 25-30 passenger party buses run about $180-$300/hour; and 40-56 passenger charter buses run roughly $130-$250/hour, or by the day for multi-day regional trips. The real number moves with your date, vehicle, and hours needed — fill out the quick form or call 701-929-8110 and you can have pricing for your specific SCHEELS Arena trip in about a minute.
The Fargo party bus prices page has more detail on how rates typically break down across vehicle sizes.
Getting to SCHEELS Arena from Hector International Airport
For out-of-town fans, visiting teams' families, or a regional travel party flying in, Hector International Airport (FAR) (2801 32nd Ave N, Fargo, ND 58102) sits across town from SCHEELS Arena, roughly a 15-20 minute drive depending on traffic and the time of day. Rather than splitting an arriving group across several rideshares or rental cars at baggage claim, one bus can gather the whole party at the terminal and run straight to a hotel or the arena. See the Fargo airport transportation page and the Hector International Airport (FAR) shuttle guide for more on how airport pickups work across the rest of a Fargo trip.
Leaving SCHEELS Arena After the Game or Show
The exit is where a group traveling by car feels the crunch the most. When a Fargo Force game or a concert lets out, the same free lots that filled up two hours before puck drop or showtime now have to empty all at once through the same handful of exits onto 31st Ave S — and every car in your group is stuck working through that same bottleneck separately, trying to find each other in a dark, crowded lot before anyone can even start driving.
With a bus, that problem belongs to the vehicle, not your group. Because bus and truck parking runs along 30th Ave S — a lane the arena closes to general public traffic during events — your bus isn't fighting through the same fan-lot exit as everyone else. Agree on a pickup window before the event starts, and the bus is ready to go while the rest of the crowd is still working its way out of the lot.
Tips for Visiting SCHEELS Arena
- Parking is free but time-limited. Lots typically open about two hours before Fargo Force games and most concerts, per the arena's official guest information — arriving early matters more than arriving fast.
- Bring a clear bag. SCHEELS Arena's bag policy restricts backpacks and non-clear bags, and outside food and beverage containers are not permitted inside — plan snacks and drinks for before or after, not during.
- It's cashless inside. The box office, concessions, bars, and team store moved to cashless payment as of September 2024, so bring a card for anything you buy at the game.
- Accessible parking is on the south side of the building, with additional accessibility questions handled by arena guest services at 701-356-7656.
- Check the event calendar before you plan a season around it. SCHEELS Arena's official events page lists Fargo Force dates, concerts, and NCAA regional sessions as they're scheduled.
Types of Groups That Rent a Bus to SCHEELS Arena
- Fargo Force season-ticket and suite groups splitting a section for a run of USHL home games.
- NCAA hockey regional travel parties covering multiple sessions across a weekend, including UND's traveling fan base from Grand Forks.
- Concert groups catching a touring show, coordinated through the Fargo concert transportation page.
- Corporate and client groups using a Force game or concert as a night out — see Fargo corporate event transportation.
- Birthday and milestone celebrations built around a game night, covered on the Fargo birthday party bus page.
- Multi-event weekend trips pairing SCHEELS Arena with another Fargo stop — the Fargo private event transportation page covers custom multi-stop itineraries.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does a charter bus or party bus park at SCHEELS Arena?
Event logistics at SCHEELS Arena direct bus and truck parking to 30th Ave S, next to the building's load-in area — a street the arena closes to public traffic during events, per the venue's own event information. That's separate from the general fan parking lots reached off 31st Ave S.
Is parking free at SCHEELS Arena?
Yes, for Fargo Force games and most concerts and events, per the arena's official parking page — lots typically open about two hours before the event. Some specialty events may carry separate parking terms, so it's worth checking the specific event listing on the arena's official events page ahead of time.
How much does it cost to rent a bus to SCHEELS Arena?
Pricing depends on your group size, the vehicle, how many hours you need it, and the date. To give you an idea, 15-20 passenger party buses typically run about $150-$250/hour and full-size charter buses run roughly $130-$250/hour, with multi-day regional weekend rates available by the day. Fill out the quick form or call 701-929-8110 for pricing on your specific date in about a minute.
How far is SCHEELS Arena from Hector International Airport?
Hector International Airport (FAR) sits across town from SCHEELS Arena, roughly a 15-20 minute drive between north Fargo and south Fargo depending on traffic. One bus at the terminal is an easy way to gather an arriving group before heading to a hotel or straight to the arena.
What's the seating capacity at SCHEELS Arena?
SCHEELS Arena seats just over 5,000 for Fargo Force hockey and can hold up to roughly 6,000 for concerts, with 40 suites and 300 club seats built into the building.
Does SCHEELS Arena host NCAA hockey regionals?
Yes. The University of North Dakota has hosted NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Regionals at SCHEELS Arena in 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023, and 2025, and the NCAA has already awarded Fargo the regional for both 2027 and 2028.
Can you bring outside food or drinks into SCHEELS Arena?
No. The arena's bag policy prohibits outside food and beverage containers, along with backpacks and non-clear bags. Plan for anything like that before you arrive or after the event.
How far in advance should you arrange a bus for a SCHEELS Arena event?
NCAA regional weekends and marquee concert dates draw the biggest demand and are worth locking in as soon as your date is set. For a regular Fargo Force home game, a couple of weeks of lead time is usually workable, but the earlier you request pricing, the more vehicle options you'll have to compare.
Get Your SCHEELS Arena Bus Quote Today
Whether it's a Fargo Force game, a touring concert, or an NCAA regional weekend that has your whole crew making the drive to south Fargo, comparing vehicles for a SCHEELS Arena trip takes about a minute. Fill out the quick form or call 701-929-8110 any time to see party buses, charter buses, and minibuses sized for your group, with all-inclusive pricing and no account required.
