What Louisville City FC’s home opener means for Louisville football

Louisville football could learn a lot from LouCity home opener.

• Last week, the ACC announced that teams would move to a conference-only schedule in 2020, which means three less non-conference games for Louisville football.
• Louisville basketball canceled team activity for two weeks after two members tested COVID-19 positive.
• Still, local USL team LouCity FC became the first American team of any sort to have fans in the stands.

Sunday afternoon was a testament to hard work for a local Louisville football team. However, it wasn’t the type of football many are used to around the falls city.

After months of logistics, calculations, and preparations, Louisville City FC became the first American sports team to host a game with a crowd in attendance.

It was a massive achievement for the five-year-old club, who held the game in a sparkling new Lynn Family Stadium and played on national television to boot.

This became the first major sporting event to host fans since the worldwide coronavirus pandemic shut things down in March, and the Louisville faithful packed the stands- Or, at least, the stands that didn’t have pink tape blocking those in attendance from sitting down.

ESPN announced the crowd at just over 4,800, which would be just shy of 33 percent of Lynn Family Stadium’s maximum capacity of 15,000.

Though the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC ultimately spoiled the party for Louisville City’s inaugural game in its sparkling new stadium, there is a lot more to take away from this one than the final results.

Here are three big takeaways from the Louisville City FC opener.