New era, new-look student section coming to IU football, Memorial Stadium this fall

BLOOMINGTON – Leaning into momentum created by Curt Cignetti’s hiring and subsequent team-building success, IU Athletics plans to alter the footprint of Memorial Stadium’s student section.

In an effort to centralize that section, as well as bring it closer to the band and DJ providing gameday atmosphere, Indiana will expand the traditional student section on the northeast side of the stadium. Where in the past overflow kicked students to the other end of the bowl, that section will now sweep all the way across the North End Zone facility, washing one entire end zone in student noise.

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Vacating that area will be regular season-ticket holders, some of whom have expressed frustration at having already selected seats in the NEZ, only to find themselves moved.

Eager to appease those fans — and receptive to their complaints —the department, IndyStar has learned, already plans to offer more premium seating to fans, faculty and staff displaced by the change.

Reseated fans will be placed in more coveted areas of the bowl, many of them with lower sightlines to the field. Some could move as close to midfield as the 30-yard line, and all will receive seatbacks placed on the stadium’s bleachers.

Positioning of the student section is one of a number of changes or adjustments fans should expect to see inside Memorial Stadium this fall.

On top of his success in the portal this winter and spring, Cignetti has been handed what could unfold into the most favorable IU football schedule in years. The Hoosiers host eight home games, with a forgiving nonconference slate, no USC, Wisconsin or Penn State, and neither Michigan nor Ohio State until November.

Once…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/era-look-student-section-coming-190906942.html

Author : Indianapolis Star

Publish date : 2024-06-01 19:09:06

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