LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- Jim Riggs says, "We're hoping to kick off the excitement for a fun season," but with the new season comes a change, one that will affect every person who steps inside the gates. Mark Hebert says "This year, as part of the university's new smoking policy and trying to become a smoke-free campus, you're not going to be allowed to smoke once you get inside the gate at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium."
The policy went into effect earlier this year campus-wide, but still allows people to smoke in designated areas on campus. However, at Cardinal Stadium, there will not be a single designated smoking area, and if you leave the stadium to go outside to smoke, you won't be allowed back in.
Mark Hebert says "Our goal and our mission as a university is to provide a healthy environment for everybody here and we're the campus that goes out and does research on cancer. We're trying fight cancer and get Kentuckians to be more healthy, and we can't very well say we're trying to do things to make Kentucky more healthy, but we're allowing smoking on our campus."
Smoke-free stadiums and arenas are nothing new in Kentucky. UK's Commonwealth Stadium began operating smoke-free back in 2008, but fans seem to have mixed opinions on the new smoke free policy at Papa John's Stadium.
