Reserved tailgating spots, cooling zones and live music can all be expected at tailgates for this upcoming fall 2015 football season.
The Student Government Association announced today that they are working with the Campus Activities Board to implement Knights on the Mall, a program designed to revamp UCF tailgating on Memory Mall.
With the new tailgating program, students and alumni will have to reserve their tailgating spot online instead of arriving early to claim a spot on Memory Mall. Reservations will be required in order to have a tailgating area.
The reservation system will only affect tailgating on Memory Mall. The new program will not affect Lake Claire and other tailgating areas.
SGA President Weston Bayes said they are still developing the online system for tailgating reservations but that information will be available in upcoming months.
SGA is searching for a company to manage the new system in order to create a smooth process on game days.
Knights can also expect live music at upcoming tailgates.
Knights on the Mall will also include cooling zones where Knights can go to hydrate and relax.
“A lot of times people get, you know pretty hot on the mall and need to hydrate so this is an area that they come it’ll be a safe place to make sure everyone stays safe and gets to the game okay,” Bayes said.
These efforts are in order to ensure students are having a “good, safe, healthy” time tailgating, according to SGA President-elect Cait Zona, who takes office next week.
Because SGA is partnering with CAB for this project, funding will be pulled from service and activities fees toward CAB.
“It’s really not going to be any type of new money it’s a little bit of a reallocation of resources,” Bayes said.
“I’ve been working on this for a few months now so Weston brought myself, some non-Greek students, some students outside of SGA and different outlets of campus together a few months ago and we tried to come up with the best thing that would serve all students and kind of create this new experience so it’s been a few months now that we’ve been planning for it, we’re really excited to roll it out and show students what we have to offer,” Zona said.
The changes will be introduced at the season opener home game on Thursday, Sept. 3 when UCF plays Florida International University. Classes will be conducted through noon and tailgating will begin at 1 p.m., which is three hours earlier than a usual weekday game. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
