We all wait for it. The team is warming up, the crowd in Tiger Stadium is in a frenzy, and then out of the speakers blares the familiar line, “I spent last night in the arms of a girl in LOUISIANA!”
Even if you aren't a country music lover, Garth Brooks' version of “Callin' Baton Rouge” still finds you pumped up and singing along with thousands of Tiger fans.
Coach Les Miles feels the same way. That's why he's requested it for every game since he arrived at LSU in 2005.
“It's the last thing he wants his players to hear before he brings them into the locker room,” says Luke Lovell, the new director of fan experience for LSU Football. Of course, Brooks' popular track predates Miles' tenure at LSU by about 13 years—and it's been played at home games before Miles, too. But it's now part of the Tiger Stadium tradition.
So is the country music legend's bank account growing every time the song blasts across Death Valley? According to Lovell, LSU has licensing rights that allow the university to play popular songs at events without incurring royalty fees, even if it happens to sneak into the background noise of a live game telecast. Which means all Lovell needs is an iTunes account and recommendations from the team and his audio engineers in the control booth to get fans on their feet.
And that's just what Lovell's position as director of fan experience is designed to do. He credits General Business Manager Matt Shanklin and Senior Associate Athletic Director Herb Vincent for streamlining the behind-the-scenes action so one person is focused on writing scripts and coordinating popular tunes for those moments when Dan Borne's voice isn't booming across the field—basically, creating a full experience for Tiger fans.
“Our goal,” he says, “is that we're either trying to get butts in the seats, or while they are in the seats, we're trying to entertain them.”
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