A small college in Illinois is making a big statement on the football field – with the football field.

This season will be the first year of football at Lindenwood University-Belleville. We don’t know yet how competitive the team will be, but the school wants to make the inaugural year a memorable one – the university had an original field designed to incorporate the school’s colors in a striped maroon and gray design.

This isn’t the first color-schemed field. Boise State had a blue field and Eastern Washington had one that was all red. Stripes also are not new (Central Arkansas). But, according to one sportswriter, this field will be unique – it will have the appearance of a flattened barbershop pole.

The Illinois school’s field is part of a $2.3 million stadium renovation that includes a new press box and new seating. The LU-Belleville Lynx will play its inaugural season in the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) with a schedule that includes Kentucky Wesleyan, Oklahoma Panhandle State University, University of Saint Francis, Valley City State University and Central Methodist University.

These games between first-year LU-Belleville and its opponents won’t create any kind of national buzz about Lynx football. But, with the playing surface already a hot conversation within the sports world, the striped design could generate a significant amount of regional attention. The new field will provide the Lynx with the opportunity to showcase its football program, and the publicity just may attract student-athletes and local sponsors to help grow the program.

Standing out from the crowd, in a positive way, always is good for branding and business. But this visual will work only for a short time. Customers, and fans, quickly will want to see positive results. As with any business, the LU-Belleville Lynx must make sure that its first-year football program plays on a solid foundation, no matter the color, and that it remains focused on building for future success.

Jim