‘Red Carpet’ rolls into third season of welcoming football fans

As colleges nationally deal with the issue of fan conduct at sporting events, the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s “Rolling Out the Red Carpet” campaign enters its third season of welcoming Badger and visiting fans to Camp Randall Stadium on game days.

“We continue to make progress in encouraging a fan-friendly atmosphere at Badger football games, and ‘Rolling Out the Red Carpet’ is one reason,” says Chancellor John D. Wiley. “We want to make Madison and Camp Randall destinations that fans want to return to time and again.”

The award-winning program is a partnership between the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics and University Communications, born out of a student-led effort that responded to numerous complaints about aggressive fan conduct during the 2003 football season.

The theme for this year’s campaign is “Welcome to Our House: Making Game Day Great.”

Among the most visible elements of the initiative are the Fan Ambassadors, volunteer students clad in green vests who distribute promotional materials and greet fans outside the stadium on game days.

Each year, more than 200 students from a variety of student groups volunteer for the popular effort.

“Both the fans and the ambassadors find the program fun and rewarding,” says John Finkler, guest services director for athletics. “We’re trying to make game day great by welcoming fans to the stadium and making them feel at home.”

In addition to the Fan Ambassadors, the program provides public service announcements featuring Bucky Badger and band director Mike Leckrone that are played on the Camp Randall scoreboard. The university also will reach out to local merchants with promotional material to help publicize the effort.

Badger coaches will also help carry the message to UW–Madison freshmen during a variety of events leading up to the season. The effort is also promoted through T-shirts, buttons, stickers, posters and other promotional materials.

Rolling Out the Red Carpet has been funded through the use of private donations to UW–Madison. No taxpayer funds have been used.