Louisville to Engage in Third-Party Study of Gameday Experience

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville Athletics is set to begin a comprehensive study of its gameday experiences, with the department seeking feedback as part of ongoing efforts to improve the overall Cardinal fan experience.

In September, UofL partnered with Legends, a third-party firm which provides focused research and expertise in the sports, entertainment, hospitality and leisure industries. Louisville sought a third-party partner to ensure any biases were removed from the study process and findings, and to leverage the expertise of a company with Legends' level of research experience and understanding of the industry at a national level.

The fan feedback phase of the study will begin next week with a focus on football. The survey will be delivered by email Tuesday to a wide range of stakeholders in the program, including season ticket members. UofL encourages those who receive the survey to participate as soon as possible to help Legends advance the findings.

"Continued advancement of our comprehensive fan experience on gameday and otherwise, is not only for our fans and student-athletes – it is an imperative enterprise accelerator," said Josh Heird, Director of Athletics. "The results from these surveys will help inform the decisions we make in areas like infrastructure, operations, staffing, etc. We are excited to work with Legends and leverage their experience with some of the world's most successful sports brands and venues such as the Dallas Cowboys, New York Yankees and SoFi Stadium."

Providing fans with a best-in-class experience has been a priority for Heird since entering his role as Director of Athletics. Under his leadership, Louisville rolled out season ticket memberships and invested more than $5 million into the fan experience at Cardinal Stadium, including Wi-Fi in-stadium for all fans, expedited points of stadium entry, grab and go concession stands and complimentary fountain drinks and snacks in club spaces.

The new third-party study will be an extension of those internal efforts for improvement.

Legends research will look at all aspects of the Louisville football and men's basketball game experience, taking advantage of both quantitative data – including sell-through rates by section, scan rates, secondary market sales and previous survey responses – as well as qualitative feedback from the upcoming fan experience surveys, including attendance and buying behavior trends among many other topics, inclusive of ticket pricing. Pricing questions in next week's survey are all hypothetical dollar amounts for the intention of gathering information, and fan responses will be looked at along with historical data. Many of the pricing elements are key to understanding the fan base's interest in new seating options and enhanced premium offerings.

"I know we can count on our fans to let us know what they think," added Heird. "We have one of the most passionate fan bases in the country, and Card Nation is as invested in the future success of this program as we are."

BACKGROUND ON CSL/LEGENDS

Conventions, Sports & Leisure International L.L.C. ("CSL"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Legends, was established for the specific purpose of providing a source of focused research and expertise in the sports, entertainment, hospitality and leisure industries. Members of our firm have been providing services to these specialized industries since the mid-1990s and have been involved in over 2,000 engagements. We assist our clients from the earliest stages of project planning, ensuring that all decisions are informed ones. Our consultants provide in-depth information, creative solutions to underlying issues, a thorough analysis of financial implications, and various measurements of risk and return surrounding alternative courses of action. CSL has built its reputation on meeting client needs by delivering quality services that have credibility in the marketplace. Our firm is able to provide these services by drawing upon the years of experience of its professional staff. Being consistently involved in many major transactions allows our professionals to obtain knowledge of both tangible and intangible components of completed transactions, the reasons for failed efforts, and changes in the marketplace affecting revenue streams for a variety of universities, sports teams, leagues and facilities. Our project team has extensive experience in providing assistance for a variety of universities, teams, facilities and entities in the sports, entertainment, hospitality and leisure industries. CSL brings the experience of numerous prior engagements to the planning phases of your project. This experience will help you recognize the issues your project will be facing and efficiently identify solutions to each. Our experience will ensure that you are maximizing the potential revenues from your project. CSL operates within Legends' Global Planning Division.

In addition to numerous elite professional clients, Legends has provided similar services on over 125 collegiate engagements for clients such as Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Texas A&M, among others.

More information about Legends can be found at Legends.net.

University of Louisville Athletics

Louisville to Engage in Third-Party Study of Gameday Experience

Related Videos