Victoria Doll —

The University of Louisville’s Athletic Department announced significant changes scheduled to take place at Cardinal Stadium to improve the game-day experience for the 2020 season opener. 

“This is another major step forward in our fan engagement strategy,” said U of L Athletic Director Vince Tyra. “The partnership established with Tailgate Guys last season was a great starting point, but this is an investment in every fan, not just those with premium seats, and this will help create more of a tradition around our football program. We’re excited to create this family environment that is missing around our stadium today.”

There are plans to have a new fan zone on the south side of the Central Avenue tunnel which will include a stage for live music, a beer garden, food truck options, a turf field and a family fun zone. U of L football spokesperson Rocco Gasparro said, “The construction of the fan zone is fluid, but could spend up to $1 million.”

These changes in the fan experience come with some drastic changes to parking. To help make the traffic flow more efficient, the purple lot will become a first-come, first-to-park model. A pass is still required to park in the purple lot; however, there will no longer be section-number parking for fans. 

U of L Athletics will no longer have access to the platinum T-lot located on the southeast corner of Floyd Street and Central Avenue due to the renovations of the parking lot and the addition of a new hotel; therefore, reserved parking will only remain in the platinum S and bronze lots. 

In an attempt to remain loyal to previous ticket holders, March 2020 ticket holders can make their parking decision before they open up the new options to the public. They can choose from the limited number of reserved parking passes, or choose the first-come, first-to-park option. The fans who have Cardinal Athletic Fund priority points will be presented the parking options first. 

In addition to the improvement in parking, U of L is working with multiple vendors in an attempt to improve both WiFi and cellular connection for fans. U of L Athletics has a goal by 2021 to have full mobile ticketing, and they view these changes as great steps forward. 

They will resume the seat refurbishing project that began last summer too. There are more than 37,800 seats in Cardinal Stadium that are receiving a new protective coat of paint that will return them to their former red color.

File Photo // The Louisville Cardinal