There will be no Louisville Live in 2023

We now have a definitive answer to the question that has been popping up consistently for the last few weeks: There will be no Louisville Live in 2023.

U of L slipped the announcement into its Wednesday press release about the date and time for the annual Red/White Scrimmage.

A single line in the release read: “UofL will not host the preseason event Louisville Live this season, opting to take a break from the event before determining the next iteration.”

Louisville Live had served as the official kickoff event for U of L’s men’s and women’s basketball teams for the last four years. The event was held at Fourth Street Live in its first two years, Churchill Downs in 2021, and then Louisville Slugger Field last season.

Considering the popularity of the event, which seemed to grow with each successive year, this is certainly an interesting move. All we can do is speculate about the rationale behind it.

While last year’s Louisville Live certainly had moments that seemed cluttered and chaotic, it’s still an event that Cardinal fans showed up for in fairly large numbers. I think the hope of most fans was that those moments could be cleaned up and the event could still serve as both a useful recruiting tool and a fun season kickoff event for the U of L supporters. It also was a nice opportunity for the women’s team to get some much-deserved time in the preseason spotlight.

Fans will get an opportunity to see the Louisville men’s basketball team for the first time at the annual Red-White scrimmage, which will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. ET at the KFC Yum Center.

Tickets, priced at $10 each for lower-level seating, will go on sale Wednesday, Sept. 20 at 10 a.m. online at Ticketmaster.com. All Louisville men’s basketball season ticket members will have the ability to claim complimentary tickets to the scrimmage. Season ticket members can access this offer by logging into their My Cardinals Account. U of L students may also claim up to two free tickets for the event.