Fan in MAGA hat denied entry at Arizona Cardinals’ home stadium unless she threw it away, prompting apology from team
The Arizona Cardinals organization has issued an apology after a fan was initially denied entry to the team’s home opener because she was wearing a Make America Great Again hat in support of the presidential candidacy of former President Donald Trump.
On Sunday, thousands of football fans flocked to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, to watch their hometown Cardinals take on the Los Angeles Rams in just the second game of the 2024-25 season.
‘I do feel like part of the problem was this security woman definitely had a bias with my hat.’
Among the crowd were Susan Rosener and her husband, who have owned season tickets to the Cardinals for nearly 30 years.
Rosener happened to be wearing a black MAGA hat as she attempted to enter the stadium, but as she tried to make her way through, an unnamed female security guard, who worked for a third-party security company, apparently ordered Rosener to stop.
“You can’t bring that in here,” the security guard said, according to Rosener.
Rosener was surprised by the directive and asked the guard to explain the problem. When the guard said that political attire such as a MAGA hat was forbidden, Rosener responded with skepticism.
“She’s like, ‘No political hats or shirts.’ And I said, ‘I haven’t heard that at all.’ And I said, ‘That doesn’t make sense to me.’ And she goes, ‘I said, Take your hat off,'” Rosener recalled of their exchange.
According to KPNX-TV, the list of forbidden items at State Farm Stadium makes no mention of political apparel. The only vaguely relevant items on the banned list are clothing deemed “obscene or indecent in a public setting” and “any item deemed inappropriate or hazardous by stadium security,” the outlet said.
Rosener tried to plead her case, but her husband ultimately intervened and offered to have Rosener remove the hat so they could attend the game. The security guard agreed, provided they threw the hat in a nearby trash can. The couple complied.
“In retrospect, I wish I would have stood my ground a little bit, but I wasn’t sure what the repercussions would be,” Rosener told KPNX-TV, “and my husband would kill me if I did something with the season tickets or that jeopardizes them somehow.”
Rosener also believes that the security guard targeted her on purpose.
“I do feel like part of the problem was this security woman definitely had a bias with my hat,” she said, noting that she is a strong advocate for free speech and would have had no problem seeing attire in support of Kamala Harris at the game.
The Cardinals have since issued a statement, claiming to have clarified with all staff their policies regarding politically themed items and to have given Rosener an apology.
“In an isolated incident at Sunday’s game, a stadium security member misunderstood a policy on prohibited items. Like most venues, ‘signage, posters, flags, or displays that are … political in nature’ are not permitted. However, that did not apply in this instance. Moving forward we will work to provide clarity to all stadium personnel in these situations. We have also reached out to the individual involved to communicate that their experience was not consistent with our policies and practices and to apologize for that,” the team statement said, according to KPNX-TV.
Rosener looks forward to returning to State Farm Stadium wearing her MAGA gear.
She will have a chance this Sunday when the Cardinals host the Detroit Lions (1-1). Though they dropped their first game of the season against the Buffalo Bills, the Cardinals trounced the visiting Rams 41-10 last weekend to bring their record to an even 1-1.
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