New ASB GlassFloor at Big Blue Madness will be something fans have 'never seen before.'

Mark Pope has promised a Big Blue Madness event unlike anything Kentucky fans have ever experienced. The ASB GlassFloor being installed at Rupp Arena certainly fits the bill.

The ASB GlassFloor isn’t like your usual hardwood basketball floor. The wood has been swapped out for glass that serves as a fully functional LED screen from baseline to baseline. This gives the operator full control of what appears on the actual floor. The possibilities are literally endless. Cool animations, marketing ads, player tracking, and even fully functional video game capabilities are all ways the floor can be used. This is one of the few situations where having a seat higher up in the arena might be a good thing.

As you can imagine, it should create a spectacle once Big Blue Madness tips off on Friday night with the Kentucky men’s and women’s basketball teams.

“Something they’ve never seen before,” Benedikt von Dohnanyi, ASB GlassFloor’s strategic advisor told reporters on Wednesday about what fans should expect. “The wood floor hasn’t been innovated in over 100 plus years. This is something brand new. The University of Kentucky has done an unbelievable job of creating great content together with us… I think it’s going to enhance the experience and that’s why we’re doing this.”

Okay this is cool. The floor can change colors on command. https://t.co/qCodLH7AWC pic.twitter.com/Ix6LmIucGZ

— Zack Geoghegan (@ZGeogheganKSR) October 9, 2024

I was able to step on the ASB GlassFloor and experience what it’s like compared to the usual hardwood. Obviously, the feel of the ASB GlassFloor is the first thing that stands out. It has a rubbery texture with a much better grip than a traditional floor. The actual LED lights are installed under the glass floor and shine through the glass. Millions of tiny ceramic dots coat the top of the glass to ensure it’s less slick than playing on hardwood.

Sweat and water also dissipate faster on this floor than what we’re used to. The LEDs help evaporate any liquid more quickly while the tiny dots prevent a flat surface from becoming even slicker than it already is. A bounced basketball does exactly what it does on a normal floor, although the sound is slightly different. That’s another thing too — there are no “dead spots” on a glass floor, whereas wooden planks on a floor can shift and bend over years of wear and tear. Shock absorption will help reduce the stress on a player’s joints and bones as they jump up and down on the court.

Player tracking is another intriguing component of the floor. It can be used to monitor shot location and player movement. Scouting, training, and game preparation can all be utilized more directly. The information or data needed can be presented right there on the floor in real-time.

“The coach can basically take an iPad and draw everything on the court,” von Dohnanyi added. With that kind of power, the entire court can be changed in an instant. Whether that means going from basketball lines to volleyball lines or changing logos and sponsorships by the second, the process of doing that is now much simpler from a production standpoint.

Once the floor is installed, it’s rather low maintenance. Other than changing out any burnt-out LED lights, the only real managing of the court is to sweep, wash, and dry it. This particular glass has been tested for over 70 years in Europe, so there aren’t any worries about it potentially cracking or being damaged to the point where it becomes dangerous to play on. It’s been successfully used for significant international competitions before.

“I really feel that this changes the way we perceive sports in the future,” von Dohnanyi said. “I see this as basically the court for the future.”

Here’s the floor changing backgrounds. https://t.co/0HMuYRrMCX pic.twitter.com/g6SIYba1kZ

— Zack Geoghegan (@ZGeogheganKSR) October 9, 2024

Kentucky will be the first-ever college team to utilize this technology, but it’s not new to European basketball. The likes of Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Dirk Nowitzki, and Goran Dragic have all got up shots on it. The ABS GlassFloor actually made its way to the United States back in February when the NBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis used it for the Skills Challenge, Dunk Contest, and 3-Point Contest. The goal is to have all 30 NBA teams using this technology someday down the road.

Other schools were in consideration for the college debut, but Kentucky’s tradition mixed with the opportunity to showcase the floor in front of more than 20,000 fans was the “perfect match”. UK is helping create the content you’ll see on the floor, so everything will be tailored to the Kentucky fan experience.

You’ll be able to see the ASB GlassFloor in action at Rupp Arena on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. EST for the program’s annual Big Blue Madness preseason event.