All Entries Tagged With: "season tickets"

Update: Louisville Football Season Tickets

Season ticket sales for University of Louisville football have eclipsed 31,000 for the upcoming season, according to Courier-Journal columnist Eric Crawford.

That’s a significant increase from a couple of months ago when U of L indicated it was 6,000 short of reaching 33,000 in sales, which have been achieved the last eight seasons.

Meanwhile, officials at the University of Cincinnati, which went to the Orange Bowl last season, are excited that UC has sold 12,784 season tickets for the 2009 football season, an 8.3 percent increase over last year’s 11,795. Athletic Director Mike Waddell told a Cincinnati blog:

“I think in this economy, for us to be up shows a great deal about where our program is, especially in this climate where so many schools across the nation are having difficulty maintaining the status quo. It’s a direct result of a lot of hard work by our coaches getting out in the community. Whenever you’re winning on the field, people want to be part of the process. We were Cincinnati’s championship team last year. People want to be associated with a champion.”

Obviously, a matter of perspective.

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Tom Jurich And The Louisville Football Promise

Season ticket sales for the upcoming University of Louisville football season are reportedly down 6,000 from last year. This is regrettable but not surprising, given all the grumbling surrounding the program.

A significant portion of the non-renewals has to include avid fans who want to send a message to Vice President of Athletics Tom Jurich expressing their displeasure about the disappointing descent of the program under Coach Steve Kragthorpe over the last two seasons.

The number also includes a large number of Johnny-come-lately types, those who jumped on the bandwagon during the years leading up to the historic Orange Bowl victory.

And there are undoubtedly many individuals and families whose disposable incomes have been affected by a sour economy.

One suspects, however, that many from the above categories come from those who continually roam the concourses during games, those who show up late for game starts, and those who hit the exits early in spite of what is happening on the field.

On the other hand, the 27,000 ticket holders who will be at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium include people who know that U of L football will have its ups and downs. They may have serious doubts that Steve Kragthorpe is up to the job. However, they will be there for the program as they have been in the past, knowing their support is essential for future success.

They also are willing to tolerate the current coach, hoping Kragthorpe will defy the odds, hoping that he is a better manager of the game than he has demonstrated heretofore. They refuse to throw in the towel before a season has even begun.

They recognize that the long-term future of the program is defined in the steel framework of the expanding stadium. The construction is a guarantee that Tom Jurich will make the right decision at the right time to make good on his commitment to a much stronger future for the program.

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For The Future Of Louisville Football

Fans who attend the spring football scrimmage will be rewarded with an up-close look at Tom Jurich’s long-term commitment to the success of the program as the expansion of Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium moves forward.

The naysayers who said it would never happen, the defeatists who have thrown up their hands after two losing seasons, and those not planning to renew their season tickets because the current coach was not fired — they’re shortsighted, making hasty decisions, wrong about the direction of the program.

The expansion is about the long term future, a future to which Jurich is totally committed, knowing that a part of his lasting legacy at the University of Louisville is inextricably tied to reestablishing U of L football as a nationally competitive program.

That’s why he’s giving Steve Kragthorpe at least one more season to show real progress. Hell, he may even give Kragthorpe more time if he really meant it when he put the program in a rebuild mode and said he hoped we could make it through the next two seasons.

Jurich has expressed confidence that Kragthorpe will get it done eventually, knowing full well that attendance could take a big hit this season if things keep going south. The fickle nature of fans is such that they will fall all over themselves getting back on the bandwagon if Kragthorpe miraculously manages to turn things around. The same thing would occur if the miracle required still another year.

Louisville needs to quit being a stepping stone for young coaches using the football program primarily to advance their own careers while screwing Louisville fans.

Sorry to disappoint those who want Jurich fired if Kragthorpe fails to get the job done. Not going to happen, according to two members of the U of L Athletic Association this observer has known for years. Jurich will make the call on Kragthorpe if and when it becomes necessary. If that time comes, expect Jurich to have learned from any mistakes.

When the first phase of the expansion is complete, seating capacity will have expanded to 55,000 seats, just in time for at least two sellouts against West Virginia and Kentucky during the 2010 season. The additional capacity will make it somewhat easier to schedule other major opponents at home. Jurich will get it done in spite of significant hurdles.

Despite winning two national championships in basketball, it was not unusual to hear Louisville referred to as a mid-major program that long ago. Jurich recognizes the value of a successful football program in building national respect. U of L is still benefiting from the BCS Orange Bowl win in terms of perception. When was the last time you heard someone refer to Louisville as a mid-major program? Not in the last two years, I’ll bet,

Many good years for Louisville football are ahead. But patience, perseverance, loyalty will be required, along with a few more humbling experiences on the field before getting there. But with the expansion project, Jurich is laying the foundation for prolonged, long-term success.

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