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Athletics

Individual chair back seats to be installed in Kenan Stadium

The project will begin in February and be ready for the start of the 2018 football season.

Kenan Stadium
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. North Carolina Tar Heels October 7, 2017 at Kenan Memorial Stadium on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

In order to create a more comfortable and fan-friendly game day experience at Kenan Stadium, Carolina Athletics will install individual chair back seats throughout the football stadium prior to the 2018 season.

Removal of the stadium’s current bleachers and installation of the chair back seats will begin in February. The seats will replace the bleachers in the upper and lower levels except for student sections. The new seats will be 22 inches wide with arm rests.

“We want our fans to have the best game-day experience possible, and this is a fantastic next step,” said Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham. “We look forward to seeing those Carolina blue seats filled – and we’ll continue looking at every area of game day to see how we can improve even more.”

Carolina installed chair back seats in sections 110 and 111 prior to the 2017 season as a test. Feedback from the fans who sat in those sections was overwhelmingly positive.

“I am excited to see us continuing to work to enhance the fan experience at Kenan Stadium,” said football head coach Larry Fedora. “I know this is something that our fans will enjoy and I appreciate the hard work of the athletic department and our facility management staff to make this happen.”

Replacing the seats is expected to cost $6 to 6.5 million. A facility improvements fee of $6 will be added to each ticket and will pay for the seats as well as future improvements and refurbishments at Kenan Stadium.

The change from bleachers to individual seats will reduce the seating capacity at Kenan Stadium to approximately 51,000.

Individual seats are another step in modernizing an on-campus facility that will host its 92nd season of college football next fall.

Over the last four years, Carolina has added field terrace club seating, upgraded the Tar Heel Town pre-game experience, and last season, teamed with Tailgate Guys to bring turnkey tailgating to Chapel Hill.

Athletic department officials continue to review other possible enhancements to Kenan’s infrastructure and the surrounding area.

Carolina’s first home game is scheduled for Sept. 15.