LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The home opener game for Louisville City FC’s 2020 season kicked off Sunday with 4,850 fans in attendance, a capacity of 30 percent for the 11,700 seat stadium.
“We’re at low capacity right now, and that’s okay,” said Derrick Davis who plays the drums for Groove Machine. The drummers work together with another group called The Coopers to help fire up fans at most games.
“I think when we are at full capacity, this place is going to be crazy,” Davis told Spectrum News 1.
The new Lynn Family Stadium is the largest soccer-specific stadium in the region. A spokesperson for the team said seating at capacity is 11,700, but according to the stadium’s website, the venue can expand to more than 15,000.
Even though the stadium was only at 30 percent capacity for Sunday’s game, the venue still came to life and attracted season ticket holders, the only ones allowed admittance to the game.
Tape blocked off seats throughout the stadium to ensure fans only sat where they were supposed to so attendees could socially distance. Other measures included temperature checks before going through security, posted signage about Centers for Disease Control guidelines, stickers used as social distancing markers, plexiglass barriers at all food and beverage stands, and mandatory masks for the whole game, even as temperatures reached over 100.
Philip and Mary Sapienza are die-hard fans who said they have been supporting the team since before they became an official one. They were impressed by the guidelines in place at the stadium.
“They always say without us they are nothing, and I really think that they’ve done every precaution that they can to make us, and the players, and the people that are working here as safe as they can," said Mary.
The married couple was also blown away by the new stadium itself.
“The stadium is phenomenal, I mean there is not a bad seat on the house,” said Philip.
From a bar that overlooks the field to the field that looks out to Louisville’s skyline, fans can look forward to when Lynn Family Stadium opens to full capacity in the future.
The final score of Sunday’s home opener game was 3-1 Pittsburgh. Louisville City FC’s next home game is Saturday, July 18 at 8 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online.