The University of Louisville does not have immediate plans for a new Cardinal Stadium naming rights partner, as officials are holding off those discussions.
Formerly known as Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, the facility’s name was shortened to Cardinal Stadium this summer. That came as the result of Louisville dropping Papa John’s from the stadium’s name amidst controversy surrounding remarks by Papa John’s founder John Schnatter, as Forbes in July reported that Schnatter used the N-word during a conference call in May.
With no corporate naming-rights partner attached to Cardinal Stadium, there have been questions about whether Louisville will put the facility’s naming rights on the market. While that could happen down the road, it is not an imminent possibility, as Louisville athletic director Vince Tyra indicated recently that the program is focused on getting through this season. More from the Courier-Journal:
“There’s no deadline for us on that,” he said. “I think we wanted to, as we’ve said before, let’s get through the season, let’s kind of move our way into the spring and distance ourselves from it.”…
U of L hasn’t had any legal discussions concerning the stadium’s name with Schnatter or his team yet, Tyra said Thursday. He and other university officials plan to wait at least until next spring to hold any such talks or other conversations about potentially getting a new sponsor and renaming the stadium.
Students, faculty and fans shouldn’t expect changes any earlier than that.
“We haven’t set a time frame that we have to hit,” Tyra explained.
Prior to the name change, Cardinal Stadium had been known as Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium since its opening in 1998. It did receive a significant change recently, as Louisville debuted an expanded north end at the start of this season.
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