Picturesque Papa John's Cardinal Stadium will play host to its 14th season of Cardinal football in 2011 and has become one of the best home field's in the country.

Since 1998, the Cardinals are 61-21 at home and had their 20-game-home winning streak snapped in 2007.

The U of L football program and its fans have the privilege of spending more than a handful of autumn Saturday's competing and cheering in a newly expanded stadium, which boosted seating capacity to 55,000 in 2010, for a cost of $72 million.

The opening of the state-of-the-art facility in September of 1998 concluded a decade's worth of private fund-raising and commitment to the dream of giving Louisville an on-campus football stadium which is second to none in the nation.

Papa John's Cardinal Stadium allows an up-and-coming professional city to become a college town on Saturdays every autumn as the Cardinals play host to a number of national-caliber opponents.

The opening of the facility in 1998 allowed U of L to play seven home games for the second time in 51 years during the 2000 campaign and a school-record eight in 2008.

Fans are treated to a one-of-a-kind feature in PJCS with all 55,000 seats being of the chairback variety. No other university-owned and operated stadium in the nation can make that claim.

The structure, which sits on the south end of the metropolitan campus, is constructed with the ability for future expansion to more than 80,000 seats.

Along with the most modern press facilities, which accommodated many ESPN national television broadcasts over the last four seasons, PJCS holds the impressive Brown and Williamson Club.

The B&W Club runs 100 yards in length and 20 yards in width and gives the stadium the ability to play host to a number of indoor banquets and parties. A new and improved Howard Schnellenberger Football Complex stands in the north end and provides student-athletes with a number of world-class facilities.

After initially installing SportGrass in PJCS, the Cards are in their eighth season with a new, artificial playing surface in FieldTurf.

The stadium's multi-usage came into play in May of `99 as the George Strait Country Music Festival invaded PJCS and entertained more than 51,000 concert goers. Kenny Chesney and Sugarland played at PJCS last May. The PJCS pitch also played host to the 1999 World Cup Champion United States Women's Soccer Team as part of a trio of facilities to house the U.S. Cup.

Fans visiting PJCS also are safer in the stadium than they would be in their own homes should they encounter a medical emergency. U of L's partnership with Jewish Hospital and the Frazier Rehab Center allows the University to have three fully staffed first aid stations along with a full trauma center located in the stadium. Should a fan need to be transported to a hospital, one of three paramedic-staffed ambulances will get them there. Should a fan need to be transported to a hospital, one of three paramedic-staffed ambulances will get them there.

With its state-of-the-art construction and fan-friendly environment, Papa John's Cardinal Stadium is one of the finest in the nation.

The Howard Schnellenberger Football Complex which honors the former Cardinal head coach, also sits inside the stadium area and houses the team's coaches, staff, training room, strength and conditioning area and academic services.

Note: Prior to the opening of Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, the Cardinal played in Cardinal Stadium from 1957-97 at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center. It was built during the tenure of Governor Lawrence Weatherby (1927-28), a football and baseball letterwinner at the University of Louisville.

STRENGTH & CONDITIONING

In the highly competitive world of collegiate football, the off-field preparation of the student-athlete is one of the most important aspects in building a successful program on the field. At the University of Louisville, Cardinal football players are fortunate to train in a state-of-the-art facility at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

The Director of Strength and Conditioning believes that solid training in the weight room can improve levels of performance, as well as reduce the chance of injury. The philosophy is to make strength and conditioning a 12-month job for the Cardinal football program.

At the University of Louisville, the Cardinal coaching staff believes that a strong strength and conditioning program is the cornerstone of building a championship product on the field. To accomplish this requires more than just strength and training in the weight room. Speed improvement, agility, flexibility, conditioning and nutrition are all critical roles in the development of the student-athlete.

The Cardinal staff places emphasis on all of these areas, with special focus on the improvement of speed. The strength and conditioning staff employ a wide variety of state-of-the-art training methods to assist in the speed development.

Located in the football complex, this facility has aesthetic appeal with large glass windows overlooking the Cardinal practice fields. U of L's weight room includes 8,500 square feet of floor space.

Cardinal football players train with the best equipment available, including 20,000 pounds of free weights, a full line of Hammer strength equipment, power rack stations, Olympic lifting platforms with Eleiko bumper plates and upper body pressing stations.

Fun Figures on Papa John's Cardinal Stadium

- The Cardinals are 61-21 all-time in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

- Louisville won a school-record 20 straight home games from 2004 to 2007 (Syracuse snapped the streak with a 38-35 win in 2007).

- The Cardinals have won 17 of their last 19 non-conference home games since 2003.

- The largest crowd in the history of the stadium is 55,327, which was set in the 23-16 loss to Kentucky on Sept. 4, 2010.

- Louisville went undefeated at home in 2006 (6-0), 2005 (6-0) and 2001 (6-0).

- Papa John's Cardinal Stadium was built for $63 million in 1998 with a capacity of 42,000. The stadium was expanded to 55,000 in 2010 for a cost of $72 million.

- Increased capacity from 42,000 to 55,000 -- all are chairback seats with arm rests, the only on-campus stadium in the nation with all chairback seating.

- 33 new luxury suites, each with 18 seats, increasing the total number of suites within the stadium to 63.

- 1,725 loge seats with access to the 20,000 square feet PNC Club. With existing premium seating on the west side with access to the Brown and Williamson Club, there are over 4,000 club seats within the stadium.

- 10,400 seats in the new upper deck

- 35 rows of seats in the upper section -- known as the UPS Flight Deck -- including three rows in the front of the cross aisle

- 1,500 feet is the distance of each of the two ramps from ground level to the upper concourse.

- 20 new spacious rest rooms -- four on the south terrace; four on the loge level; four on the suite level; eight on the upper concourse.

- 24,600 square feet of space on the Norton Healthcare Terrace, room for 2,500 fans

- $72 million construction cost, surpasses the $63 million construction cost for the original stadium when it opened in 1998.

- Two new 345 x 3 feet LED ribbon boards, located on the fascia of the east and west sides of the stadium.

- New 60 x 20 feet LED video board on the south end of the stadium, matching in size the existing board at the north end.

- New 13 x 9 feet LED video board facing outside the stadium to the south.

- New 18 x 5 feet LED information board on Central Avenue, replacing a previous display.

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