Louisville Football Announces Significant Changes at Cardinal Stadium

Mark BlankenbakerJanuary 13, 2020

University of Louisville’s athletics department is making several improvements to further enhance the fan and game-day experience for the 2020 football season at Cardinal Stadium.

The new features, which involve tailgating, include construction of a Fan Zone, boosted WiFi access, seat re-coating process, and significant parking improvements.

Construction of a Fan Zone, located in the Purple Lot on the south side of the Central Avenue tunnel, will begin this spring for an improved pre-game experience. A live music stage with a beer garden and food truck options will be added, as well as a Family Fun Zone with a miniature turf field and additional reserved space for tents and tailgating opportunities.

“This is another major step forward in our fan engagement strategy,” Vice-President/Director of Athletics Vince Tyra said. “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.”

UofL is working with multiple vendors to improve the mobile services, both WiFi and cellular, for fans attending games at Cardinal Stadium. Additional cellular access is needed as mobile devices continue to enhance the fan and in-game experience, and will be needed to accommodate the move to full mobile ticketing in 2021.

The re-coating process to refurbish approximately 37,800 lower bowl seats in Cardinal Stadium, which started last summer, will resume this spring. A number of seats on the east side have been treated, and the rest of the stadium will finished this year. The weather faded the seats from their original red color, and an industrial UV protective coating was applied on the existing seats through a special process to restore the color and strengthen the seats.

With construction in the parking area due to the addition of a new hotel, Louisville Athletics will no longer have use of the Platinum T Lot — located on the southeast corner of Floyd Street and Central Avenue. This change has triggered a parking reshuffle for all season ticket holders. Reserved parking spaces will only be available in the Platinum S and Bronze Lots.

In a continued effort to provide more efficient traffic flow, the Purple Lot will become a pass-required speed parking option. This is first-come, first-to-park model is used in all NFL stadiums and most college programs across the country.

Any season ticket holder that currently has reserved parking will be presented with all parking options available in March 2020 and will then be able to make their selection for the 2020 season. Parking options will be presented based on CAF Priority Points. There will be a limit placed on the number of reserved parking passes available for each account.

Fans should visit http://gocards.com/fbgameday to find additional information and available parking information at http://gocards.com/fbparking to check their parking location based on the location of their tickets.