Fans to be greeted by new stadium graphics

Sept. 4, 2008

Photos of Stadium Graphics (PDF)

Fans will be greeted with several new stadium graphics as they attend Commonwealth Stadium during Kentucky’s home opener against Norfolk State, which begins Saturday at 6 p.m.

The UKAA Marketing Department has installed several new graphics inside and outside the stadium this year, with the goal of enhancing fans’ game-day experience.

“We are always looking for new ways to excite our fan base beyond the excitement that they already have,” said Jason Schlafer, Assistant Athletics Director. “Our single goal in this is to excite our fan base on game day and you will see that in our placement of the graphics. One of the critical points in fan momentum of the game is the `Cat Walk’ so we did a lot of things around Gate One, which is where the `Cat Walk’ occurs. The rest of the graphics work was done inside the stadium where the game is happening.”

The graphic at Gate One is a picture of a Kentucky running back appearing to break through one of the concrete walls of Commonwealth Stadium. A 180-foot long graphic of the Wildcats holding their helmets aloft was placed on the outside wall of the stadium that faces Alumni Drive. Schlafer says the graphic is viewable from a car on Alumni Drive and also from the blue parking lot. The final graphic is located inside the stadium on the ground-level wall that wraps all the way around the field.

Schlafer said that the idea behind the graphics came from looking at other major sporting events and the ways they tried to excite fans.

“We started looking around at some premier sporting events like the Olympics and Super Bowl and quickly found that environmental graphics are one of the vehicles they have used to excite fans around those events,” said Schlafer.