KFC Yum! Center: Student opinions of the new home of Cardinal basketball

The 2010-2011 University of Louisville basketball season is right around the corner. It marks the inaugural season in the KFC Yum! Center. The men will tipoff their season against national runner-up Butler University on Nov. 16, while the Lady Cardinals will host Pat Summitt and the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers on Nov. 11. Following in the footsteps of Freedom Hall – U of L basketball’s former home – the KFC Yum! Center has steep expectations to meet. Freedom Hall was the home for the U of L men’s basketball team for 54 years and the home for the Lady Cardinals from their inception in 1975. 

Construction began on the new arena in December of 2008 and it opened on Sunday, Oct. 10, 2010. The arena cost an estimated $238 million to construct and, with its 22,000 seat capacity, is the fifth largest college basketball arena in the nation. The Yum! Center is already scheduled to host first and second round games of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in 2012, as well as the 2012 Division I women’s volleyball Final Four.

After nearly 18 months of construction, several delays and $238 million, some have asked if the project was worth it. According to Tad Porter, a junior pre-dental major, the Yum! Center will be well worth the cost.

“Everyone loved the atmosphere of Freedom Hall,” said Porter. “It was electric to say the least. But you have to think about the whole city of Louisville. The Yum! Center is going to bring in a lot of money to the city. NCAA Regional final games, volleyball Final Fours and music artists are going to be begging to come here. In the long run, the city of Louisville will start to see the effects.”

One of the main issues concerning the new arena is parking. Where are the 22,000 fans going to park in the downtown area? One of the solutions is a 949-car parking garage that was constructed as part of the $238 million budget.

Thirty students were polled on their reactions to the new arena. Of these, all 30 said that they believed parking would be a major issue. One student, junior business major Somesh Rai, said that he saw other problems arising out of the parking issue.

“I believe parking will be an issue for the Yum! Center, but I think the congestion getting out after the games are over will be a bigger issue,” said Rai. “Just think about how long it took to get out of the [Kentucky Fair and Expo Center] after a game in the past – about 30 minutes if you’re lucky. That place had multiple exits. And downtown Louisville is far from that accessible. Needless to say, I’m not looking forward to getting out of downtown after a Louisville basketball game.”

Regardless of the questions in some students’ minds, the anticipation and excitement for the Yum! Center seem to outweigh the negatives for most students. One of the highly anticipated attributes of the new arena is the Internet capability. Students will be able to access high speed Internet from anywhere in the arena. This includes Internet-capable cell phones being used by fans in the Yum! Center. Thanks to this and many other features of the new arena, the student body is buzzing about the upcoming home games.

“I can only imagine how awesome the atmosphere is going to be in the Yum! Center,” said Jimmy Conklin, a junior sport administration major. “The arena is just top notch. And it’s going to put the student section closer to the floor. That was one thing I disliked about Freedom Hall, was how far the students were from the floor. I’m really looking forward to taking on the national runner-up, Butler.”

The KFC Yum! Center has the city of Louisville energized, despite the fact that no one has actually seen a game there or felt the energy of the crowd. No one really knows what it is going to be like. But, if it is anything like Freedom Hall, it will certainly be loud.