By Connie Hurley
Tailgating during this football season is going to be very different for U of L’s faithful. Instead of the parking policy being on a first-come, first-served basis, fans who park in the green lot at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium have been assigned specific parking spaces. The green lot is the largest parking area located on the south side of the stadium.
“We have assigned the spaces and provided groups of tailgaters with the opportunity to park together. This guarantees groups of tailgaters the chance to park together without needing to hold parking spots. With additional signage added to the lots, finding your parking location is made easier, thus improving traffic flow inside the lot,” said Gary Friedman, associate athletic director for Development.
“The athletic department should have handled this a different way, a better way,” said U of L fan Courtney Gagel. “They could have sent a survey to the season ticket holders and asked for their input.”
This change came about after the athletic department received complaints from fans who said they arrived to park in the green lot only to be turned away because tailgaters were using multiple spots. “The change was initiated by the majority of our fans,” Friedman said. “The athletic department, for years, has been receiving complaints on the traffic flow getting into the green lot, the number of spaces taken up by fans who do not own parking spots, and duplication of passes. This was the last thing our athletic department had an interest in changing, but due to the overwhelming amount of fans’ complaints, we answered their concerns.”
Also, in an effort to aid the fans in getting to and from the stadium, Friedman said 10 shuttles and two TARC trolleys have been added. The lot will now open at 7 am on Saturday game days. Additional staffing has also been added.
Fans got a sneak-peek at their new assignments on Sept. 8. Some fans did a trial run of tailgating to see what they can do and what they can squeeze into their space. Overall, fans aren’t happy with the new idea.
Some are concerned with the amount of space that was taken from driving lanes to put the additional space for each vehicle. Roberta Hurley was hoping to bring her grandson tailgating and to the games this year. She said, “I am now concerned with the safety of the people who are tailgating. I think I will wait another year before I bring my grandson.”
Tailgaters have additional room behind and in front of their vehicle to tailgate. The driving lanes are now narrower, which makes for a difficult time in passing.
“The atmosphere is completely different,” said tailgater Andy Reynolds. “U of L used to be one of the top schools for tailgating and with this change, it won’t be. I feel there won’t be the number of people tailing this year as there were in the past.”
