LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — For Louisville basketball this fall, the fireworks won’t come from a smoke machine or a spotlight. They’ll come from center stage matchups against Kansas, Kentucky and UConn.

The school has decided to shelve Louisville Live for the second time in three years, pressing pause on the preseason spectacle that once hauled a portable court to Fourth Street Live!, Churchill Downs and Louisville Slugger Field — and most recently lit up the KFC Yum! Center.

The event has delivered some unforgettable visuals (and some dunk contests you’d rather forget). It drummed up excitement, especially for students and recruits. And it was a fun show but it was never the main show.

Whether the program offers a red-white scrimmage remains up in the air, according to a spokesperson. 

But this year, Louisville doesn’t need the extra hype. The women are opening their season in Germany against defending national champion UConn. The men have an October exhibition against Kansas then host Kentucky in the second week of November — the earliest the rivals have ever met. In other words: The real pyrotechnics are already built into the schedule.

Taking Louisville Live off the preseason schedule is a loss but won’t feel like one for long. In the age revenue sharing and NIL, recruits are weighing contract offers and opportunities more than staged introductions. The TV images have less strategic value than they used to have. And the cost of constructing Louisville Live is as high as it ever was.

Fans want wins more than fireworks.

Remember, Louisville Live was born in 2018 when the program was emerging from NCAA penalties and badly needed positive publicity. Putting a basketball court in the middle of downtown, or under the Twin Spires, was a way to remind the city — and the sport — that Louisville basketball still mattered. It has served its purpose. And may again.

But year two under Pat Kelsey feels different. The men are ranked in ESPN’s too-early preseason top 10. Kelsey reloaded his roster with five-star freshman Mikel Brown Jr. and impact transfers Ryan Conwell, Isaac McKneely and Adrian Wooley. They return proven contributors in J’Vonne Hadley and Kasean Pryor. Last season, Louisville snapped its NCAA Tournament drought. Now, expectations are higher than they’ve been in years.

The women are right there, too. Jeff Walz returns much of a heralded freshman class while adding transfers like Skylar Jones, Reyna Scott and Laura Ziegler. They’ll start the season on an Air Force base in Germany, taking on the reigning national champions. That’s a bigger stage than any pop-up court could provide.

None of this is to say Louisville Live won’t ever return. It might — maybe in a year when the schedule is lighter, or when recruiting buzz needs a boost or when the calendar is more forgiving.

NCAA rules complicate things, too. Events have to be held within a set radius of campus. Once you draw that circle around Belknap and the med school downtown, your only other option is Shelby Campus. Not exactly the same as Churchill Downs.

It’s a great showcase for the city, and it’s hard to argue with the photos and highlights it produces. But this year, it would feel like dressing up a party that’s already plenty loud. And yes, other schools can have their big seasons and celebrations too. But the days of blowing big money on big events, for most, is over.

The truth is, Louisville basketball doesn’t need the gimmicks right now. It needs to win big games, and it has plenty of those on tap. The program’s biggest show is about to unfold where it belongs — under the lights of the KFC Yum! Center and beyond.

And that’s where the fireworks will be.

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