LOUISVILLE, Ky. — University of Louisville Athletic Director Vince Tyra outlined a list of items meant to "improve your game day experience" in an email to football season ticket holders Tuesday morning. The email follows complaints about the Cardinals' opening game last Saturday.

Tyra said UofL plans to:

• Activate 25 in-seat vendors who will accept cash.
• Accept cash at select concession stands on the concourse, which will be indentified.
• Anticipate a 40% increase in point-of-sale locations over Saturday.
• Transition four concessions stands to beverage-only (serving water, soda and beer) within the concourses, which will be labeled accordingly.
• Centerplate’s IT department is working with point-of-sale payment partners to determine the root cause of credit card processing delays on Saturday and provide resolution.
• Centerplate and UofL's IT department are conducting a networking overview to improve the speed of service and throughput. 
• Activate all concourse water fountains to be open and operational. Free cups will be available for fans at concession points.

Tyra said on a typical game night, it takes close to 1,000 subcontractors from several partners to staff Cardinal Stadium. Approximately 400 of the 1,000 contracted employees are Centerplate workers focused on food and beverage service, but there were only 250 last Saturday, he noted.

Attendees at Friday's game will also receive 50% off all beer, fountain drinks and water prices from the time gates open until halftime, Tyra announced.

In an "effort to expedite gate entry," Tyra said additional staff and supervisors will be provided training for scanners, and additional supervision will be provided at each gate for troubleshooting and guest services.

"As a reminder, we ask that you download your mobile tickets prior to leaving for the game to expedite entry," Tyra wrote. "For the home opener, less than half of fans downloaded their ticket before they arrived."

UofL will take on the University of Central Florida on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

 "While many challenges have presented themselves since March 2020 and we have navigated it all, we will do so again here. Given where we all were 18-20 months ago, creating solutions to fan experience issues is a challenge we accept. Because it means we are back together," Tyra wrote.