Kenan Stadium Seating Reworked

The student section will be moved to the lower level of the stadium. It now occupies more than 12,000 seats in sections 113-124, said Clint Gwaltney, assistant athletic director for ticketing.

Carolina Athletic Association President Kris Willett said the seats were moved to give all UNC fans a better view of the video board that will be located in the east end zone. Officials have said they anticipate that the board will be installed next year. "We wanted to give our fans the best view possible," she said. "We moved the visitors into worse seats in the upper decks."

The student block seating sections, which were located in the upper levels of Kenan Stadium, were moved into the corner in sections 118 and 119, Willett said. "The seats there are better," she said, "so we're hoping we'll have more groups show interest in the block seats."

The additional bleachers, which will be set up between the east end zone and Kenan Field House, were added due to high demand for tickets to the games against Texas and N.C. State, said Steve Kirschner, athletic department information director.

The bleachers, which already have sold out, also will be in place for the Georgia Tech game because it takes place between the two high-profile matchups.

Officials said the bleachers were added after tickets for the Texas game, scheduled for Sept. 14, and the N.C. State game, set for Oct. 12, quickly sold out. "All the tickets were sold out, and a lot of people were still calling about tickets," Kirschner said, "so we decided to add some more seats to the stadium."

Tickets for both games, including seats in the extra bleacher sections, were $35. Both games already are sold out, Gwaltney said. Tickets for the Sept. 28 Georgia Tech game are still available.

This is not the first time extra seats have been added to the 60,000-seat stadium, Kirschner said. Extra seats also were installed for last year's football game against East Carolina University.

None of the extra bleacher seats are reserved for students, he said.

Tickets for all other football games are available for $33, Gwaltney said. They can be purchased at the UNC ticket office at 962-2296 or 1-800-722-4335.

CAA is also expecting a lot of student interest for the two football games, Willett said. "There are a lot of tickets available, and we're hoping we'll be able to get 80 percent of the student body to come out for the (Texas and N.C. State) games," she said.

In order to avoid heavy traffic and overcrowding in the student sections, tickets for the games will be distributed in advance, Willett said.

The same ticket distribution policy was instituted last year for the football games against Florida State University and ECU.

To get a ticket for the Texas and N.C. State games, students must present a UNC ONE Card at the box office near the Smith Center. Dates and times for the distributions will be released after Labor Day, Willett said.

Students can gain admission to all other football games by presenting their ONE Cards at Gate 5 of the stadium on game day.

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.